February 4, 2021 
With the world becoming a global village of sorts, more and more businesses are looking to scale-up and dip their toes in international waters.
But when looking to expand, the question beckons, “how can one focus on growing a business, as well as make sure it remains compliant at the same time?”
The answer is simple: it’s impossible to do both well at the same time.
Between creating a new localised business and marketing strategy, deciding on which setup is most effective for your business and its goals, as well as finding, employing, training, paying and managing new people, etc. business expansion is no walk in the park.
In fact, making a mark in a new market is most probably going to be one of the biggest challenges your business will ever face. Not only is it an expensive and time-consuming exercise, when you add the risk of non-compliance to the mix, business expansion can be quite intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be.
So, when in doubt, it’s best to outsource your HR.
Typically responsible for all facets of employee management, HR is a key function for company set-up. With employees being a business’ biggest asset, managing them well is paramount for business growth and success.
Since growing companies tend to have limited resources, lack of local market knowledge and / or tend to run short on time, choosing to outsource is a no brainer.
Key Advantages
1. Reduced Risk
Managing employees globally through a solid and compliant HR function can seem daunting, especially with local jurisdictions and employment laws differing across countries.
Hence why partnering with an outsourcing firm with local knowledge, presence and expertise will help you from the get-go.
Not only will they work as your company’s HR advisor and oversee compliance with local employment rules and regulations, they will also guide and walk you through everyday HR issues such as ensuring that employment contracts are compliant or that redundancies are done correctly for instance.
Government regulations and laws are continuously changing, and the role of HR advisors is to keep on top of workplace regulations and oversee compliance so that you don’t have to. This helps an organisation avoid hefty fines and other penalties, as well as help operations run more smoothly.
2. Cost Saving
Partnering with an HR outsourcing company gives you access to a team of qualified HR advisors, experienced in the regulations, administration, tax compliance and employee-related scenarios within that local region, at a reduced cost.
Indeed, outsourcing your HR functions will not only eliminate risk and time involved, but also the high cost of hiring and training a full HR department in-house. Instead, you’ll work with experts who will manage your local and global end-to-end HR operations.
It will be your partner’s responsibility to ensure you have a dedicated account manager at all times, as well as make sure they remain trained. This saves on direct cost, but also saves immense amounts of time you would usually need to spend on building a team from scratch. And the money saved can be allocated towards other resources.
3. Flexibility
Partnering with a firm that provides a diverse range of services is beneficial for a business in the long run, especially when it comes to international mobility.
Some select human-centric HR firms also offer international mobility functions such as:
– Visa project management
– International assignment employment contracts
They also tend to provide cross-cultural coaching, so that you or your employees are better prepared to start with your business expansion in the new country.
Should you choose to partner with a more holistic partner, your business will have greater flexibility when it comes to hiring & training your international team.
Furthermore, when a one-off project or ad-hoc needs arise, you know you can count on your partner to take care of it so that you may focus on your core competencies.
4. Hiring
This brings us to our final point, hiring better staff.
When expanding overseas, there is a high chance your business will not have the time to do market research on local employment best practices.
By outsourcing your HR, you can rest easy knowing that you have experts in your corner to help you build and manage your team from A t Z.
This includes, but isn’t limited to:
– Give you market insight on salary and benefit benchmarks to remain competitive.
– Suggesting top recruitment platforms and keywords to use to attract top talent.
– Taking care of the search & interview process all the way to the hiring and writing ofcontracts.
– Conducting both onboarding & offboarding processes.
– Taking care of local payroll, including taxes and any other extra 3rd party requirements.
Opting for HR outsourcing means, as a business, you have the advantage of a single point of contact for multiple processes.
Further Benefits
TIP: As a global business, it helps to partner with a firm that has a global footprint and presence. This way they have local knowledge and awareness of the challenges that come with being an international brand. Cross-cultural awareness has become critical, even more so when partnering with firms for your ongoing HR functions.
In the end…
Human resources play a crucial role in helping businesses expand internationally. Establishing an entire HR department can strain your initial set up budget and take away a huge chunk of your time during the initial establishment. By outsourcing your tasks to HR, you can focus on tasks that are paramount in the establishment of your business.
