An Employer of Record is invaluable for SME’s looking to grow their team without the big administrative issues that setting up an infrastructure in another country can cause.

Since the pandemic, the EoR industry has grown significantly for good reason and looks set to keep that trajectory. The World Economic Forum predicts an annual growth rate of 6.9% until 2028.

It makes sense; remote workforce technology and AI has enabled seamless communication, and a truly global workforce is accessible for companies of any size. The only roadblock left is navigating the complicated field of international employment law and customs.

Companies will often opt for an EoR solution to ensure compliance with local and regional employment laws—and a good EoR provider will make sure this is the case.

However, compliance is only one side of building a global workforce. Understanding cultural differences is key.

Culture

A functional global team is more than just Zoom call participants turning in from across the world. Just like each country’s employment laws are different, so are their work cultures.

Some may be more obvious, like the Japanese custom of bowing or addressing employees by title and surname. However, there are many more subtle and less obvious customs that are nonetheless important.

Consider a country like Belgium, where a clearly defined break between working and non-working time is the standard. Employees can become upset if their company doesn’t adhere to this.

Or in the Netherlands, where a participative business culture is commonplace, focusing on equality instead of more traditional hierarchical structures–the idea being that everyone has something to add.

Language differences can also cause problems. Beyond the obvious, some employees may not speak English fluently. A partly fluent employee may be able to keep up with the more formal language of an interview but then need help understanding more informal business slang daily in professional settings especially when they are working remotely.

Think about how confusing the phrase “Get all your ducks in a row” could be taken by someone from outside the UK!

Cultural differences aren’t something to sniff at. When handled poorly, they can disrupt even the most efficient workplaces. The cosmetics giant L’Oreal fostered a culture of open disagreement within its workplace. This worked in the US, where discussions tend to be more open.

However, when L’Oreal expanded its workforce into Latin America, this approach caused some difficulty, as employees didn’t like openly disagreeing with each other. As one Mexican employee pointed out:

“In Mexican culture, open disagreement is considered rude, disrespectful, and too aggressive.”

Even Google, known for its strong and effective workplace culture, had issues expanding into France, where the company’s positive feedback working environment wasn’t well received by locals.

A Unified Solution

A global workforce is a compelling opportunity for any company. You get access to the world’s premier talent without necessarily having to pay a premium salary. EoR offers a reliable solution for dealing with the administrative pitfalls that come with expanding your business globally.

However, a good team is more than just the sum of its parts. A global workforce requires employers to properly understand and appreciate the work culture of the countries where they operate.

Ultimately, a quality EoR solution is more than a facilitator to filling a position without local legal employment challenges — that’s the bare minimum.

A proper solution will help your company culture adapt to a global workforce and provide the infrastructure needed for your international employees to feel the corporate embrace of inclusivity as the employees in your Head Office.

If you’re looking to expand globally or would like some more advice on what sets Portas Global apart from other providers, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.