Best Practices: Managing Compensation for an International Team

Current hiring trends have made it increasingly challenging for companies to hire top talent. Over the past year, the Great Resignation shifted much of the hiring narrative so much so that there were 10.4 million job openings this past fall. Suddenly, the interview tables were turned, and employees had all the leverage. And with that increased leverage came increased expectations.

Candidates now demand more from the hiring process, including:

  • A fast-moving timeline,
  • Mobile availability,
  • Simplified offer experiences,
  • Customized compensation packages,
  • Clear communication around total compensation, and
  • Technology-driven solutions.  

But here’s an upside: As technology continues to advance, so does our ability to connect with a previously out-of-reach global workforce expanding the network of available candidates.

Candidates have been reprioritizing everything about their relationship to work, affecting everything from where they work to how they work to what matters most in a benefits package.

The process of hiring internationally needs to change, given this hiring climate. If there are challenges surrounding total compensation when both parties speak the same language and work with the same currency, how does that translate (pun intended) to different languages and currencies? For these companies, new questions must be considered:

  • What is the offer worth in their currency?
  • What about equity?
  • What are the exchange rates?

Don’t Let Candidates Get Lost in Translation

The challenges presented by the Great Resignation, coupled with the advancement of our increasingly connected global workforce, is allowing more companies to look outside of U.S. borders to find top talent.

To do so though, these companies must consider best practices for easing the compensation conversation when hiring internationally.

1. Look for software that allows you to make offers in multiple currencies.

To ensure each candidate understands what is being offered, hiring teams need to easily create and send offers in various global currencies. Sending the offer and paying the salary and bonus all in a candidate’s local currency will eliminate much of the confusion surrounding compensation when hiring abroad.

In this highly competitive market, when candidates have the unique ability to see the cash compensation offer in both their local currency and in USD, it will set the offering company apart from others. Teams also need to save time with the ability to create new offer templates for specific currencies for future candidates.

2. Turn to software that structures total compensation in multiple currencies.

Another valuable practice is the ability to show equity in the local currency—a crucial component for the candidate to understand their total compensation.

Equity will likely be set in USD, as most companies anchor to the U.S. dollar. Ideally, your tool has educational resources for the employee and administrative side to help navigate conversations on what that means for the employee and the total value of their compensation. This will help ensure both parties have a clear understanding when it comes to total compensation.

3. Manage exchange rates and display them to international candidates.

The term “exchange rates” will become a part of the vocabulary of any team hiring internationally. There is simply no way around it. When selecting a currency type for an offer, the hiring team should use the annualized exchange rate for that currency — and clearly communicate the rate used to determine the offer.

4. Ensure methods are GDPR compliant.

Compliance becomes increasingly important when we engage in business in other countries. And while there are numerous specific country and regional regulatory bodies that require compliance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is what comes to most people’s minds when discussing international business of any type.

The GDPR is a framework with a set of guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). Essentially, it governs privacy in the EU. Teams must ensure that any feature they use when extending offers and engaging in hiring efforts throughout the European Union and the United Kingdom are GDPR compliant.

In today’s rapidly changing job market, companies need to proactively forge real connections with candidates to stay competitive enough to hire the best. And more are recognizing that those candidates may be outside of the United States. From a logistical perspective, with new technology and improving virtual capabilities, geographical boundaries do not present as much of a challenge as they once did.

Has your compensation structure adapted to today’s hiring market? Download our guide to reimagining your compensation structure for the high-level overview.

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