International recruiting activities have become increasingly important and at a Global Level.

International recruiting activities, for bigger corporations or smaller companies having multiregional business,  have become increasingly important and at a Global Level. Working for Phénicia Group, we are daily facing these needs coming from our customers and we arrived to a conclusion that there are:

Three different approaches to international recruiting.

Before making a decision on which one to use, the company should carefully consider the different aspects. This could include processes and legal issues in the country of interest, or firm-specific factors like their general international strategy, or economic dependence on the country in consideration.

None of the approaches are superior to the others; each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Often different approaches can be integrated in a company at the same time, depending on the positions that are being recruited.

1. The ethnocentric approach is when all the management roles are filled with people from the organization’s home country, called expatriates. This approach is suitable for organizations where the need for control and internal cooperation is predominant. A good example is organizations that have recently started operating internationally. One advantage of this approach is how easily the organization has control over the processes in the host country. A disadvantage is the possible  lack of flexibility.
2. The polycentric approach, Managers are recruited from the host country. They report to managers who work at the company’s headquarters in the home country. This approach works well when the organization’s host country has a large effect on their daily operations. An advantage with this method is the intimate knowledge of the host country’s market. Another would be the commitment and motivation of the host country’s managers. Though the local focus and the possibility of losing the bigger picture are disadvantages.
3. The geocentric approach in which the best people are selected to fill the management position regardless of their nationality. For this approach, national differences will be “wiped out” and the focus will be company-specific qualifications. This form of international recruiting is most suitable for companies that already have international experience and structure.

These strategies may seem like they are only for large, global organizations. But that’s inaccurate. Every company that has at least one overseas company should consider this question: Should we send our managers or recruit locally for people to establish our new overseas team?

Whenever a company decides to recruit employees in the host country, even when the recruiting is done completely by the overseas company, they should carefully consider which tools to use. The anticipated and accepted forms of applying can vary between countries. This is something to keep in mind when making these decisions.

That’s why any decision will be adopted by a customer, Phenicia Conseil is able to answer to his needs! 

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