At The Chapman Consulting Group, we are finding that there is an ever increasing desire for people looking for their next challenge to be based in an international location, or at least a location different to their current place of work. This appears to be driven by a number of different elements, but it relates primarily to their aspiration for personal career development. The motivations for movement around the world vary by region as follows:
Geographical Motivations of HR Talent
Often people living and working in Europe, whilst they may have responsibilities in other regions, see this as sometimes superficial and may crave the adventure of living in a new and exciting location. In most cases this is viewed as a means of gaining more experience and exposure whilst they build their international careers.
Within Asia, HR professionals are often keen to gain exposure within the APAC hubs first, while they are also enthusiastic about going further afield — particularly the Middle East and Europe. The United States is highly desirable, but is commonly known as a difficult place to obtain a work visa.
Post-recession, there is a much greater emphasis in the United States being placed on HR talent who have lived and worked internationally, as opposed to purely a global title. Therefore, many ‘up and coming’ U.S. HR talent are far more adventurous than previously in regards to living and working internationally. This is particularly the case in key emerging markets, as they see that the CHROs of the future will be expected to have this experience.
The Company Approach to Identifying and Securing International Talent
So what are companies doing to ensure they identify and secure the best possible international talent? In our experience, most organisations are still predominantly focused on finding HR talent that is currently living in the country where the role is based. The main reason for this is that most roles are inherently local in nature, regardless of the country. For positions where foreigners are desired, or at least can be considered, there is still a preference for local hires (whether local nationals or local hire foreigners) to lessen risk, both from a longevity and financial perspective. This of course assumes the company hires from outside — as opposed to bringing in an internal transfer from HQ or another country or region — another ‘safe’ route to take.
These days, there are some companies that are becoming a lot more flexible (within reason) in allowing employees for certain roles to be based anywhere as long as they are willing to travel e.g. anywhere in APAC for a APAC regional role, anywhere in Europe for a European regional role and in some cases, anywhere in key locations globally for global roles). This level of flexibility tends to apply more to existing employees with good levels of equity and company knowledge rather than new hires.
Advice to Prospective Employees
The good news is that some of the more forward thinking, creative and flexible organisations are seeing the need to be more open minded and consider people from other regions, especially where the need is specific and there is a talent shortage. Other times, this open-mindedness can stem from a desire to have a more diverse team. (Note to employers: If you are looking for the best talent to join your team you will require flexibility on location, if not, bear in mind some of your competition may be offering this.)
Overall, for HR positions where foreign talent is to be considered, the talent is most commonly secured through (in order):
- Internal transfers — (if possible!)
- Returnees who are ready for bigger/broader regional or global roles
- Referrals from colleagues/networks
- Specific specialist experience in demand
- Foreigners who have had the geographic role responsibilities, but not lived in the region before; and/or foreigners who have demonstrated cultural adaptability by working previously in multiple geographies
We suggest that if you are looking to build your international HR career, then do what you can to get the exposure to other regions no matter what your location is — or where the opportunity is (within reason of course). Bear in mind that you may need to be open and flexible in working on secondments as a way of gaining living experience in other regions. It will be important to use your networks, both internally and externally, and be extremely proactive. You should also keep a lookout within your current organisation for opportunities to get involved in international or regional projects — a great credential builder.
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