The benefits of globalization for growing companies

It's never been easier to set your company up for global success. Thanks to the benefits of globalization, even small companies can hire and onboard workers from around the world. Nothing guarantees success like hiring the best people for all your open roles.

Despite the ease with which companies can hire internationally, many companies have been tentative about working with a remote team. Some employers are still hesitant to take the leap out of concern for productivity or a lack of experience hiring and managing a remote team.

Now that the whole world has had a taste of remote work, a lack of experience is no longer an excuse. Today’s most talented workers expect the option to live where they choose and work remotely. The benefits of globalization apply to workers just as they apply to the companies employing them.

Companies seem to be listening. Gartner’s research shows 74% of companies plan to shift at least some employees to permanent remote work in their post-pandemic strategies.

All these changes add up to one truth: Now is the perfect time to embrace the benefits of globalization and grow your international team.

How does globalization help businesses?

Today’s global interconnectivity is unlike anything the world has seen before. Networks of commerce, supply, culture, and geopolitics, not to mention the actual internet tying it all together, have brought us all closer together. That blurring of borders means businesses of all sizes are now just a moment away from working with employees in other countries.

Entering new markets with a global team

While global markets are only ever a click away, the complexity of managing your company’s growth in those markets can be daunting. With different time zones, languages, and cultural customs, maintaining a consistent global presence presents its fair share of hurdles to overcome.

Those opportunities are worth the effort, though. That’s why a global workforce can be so essential to growth for companies big and small. Instead of forcibly relocating employees or demanding odd work hours, everyone can work from the comfort of their own location and time zone — bringing with them all their local and cultural expertise.

Globalization opportunities for employers

After being forced into a global experiment of remote work in 2020, the biggest questions about remote work’s viability proved to be unfounded. Working with remote employees has positive effects on productivity, and employees overwhelmingly appreciate the flexibility remote work can offer. Thanks to modern tools, even collaboration with distributed teams is easy and straightforward. Suddenly, every company’s future now includes a global component.

Remote work increases productivity.

Many employers were scared to lose the value of in-person collaboration and workplace culture. Though maintaining a workplace culture without a physical workplace is a little different, the past year has proven that it's not necessary for team cohesion or quality of work.

People are not only capable of staying productive, but most people can work more efficiently remotely than they could in offices. Without commutes and cubicles, factors including absenteeism and distractions drop significantly.

Technology makes collaboration easy.

In the new, interconnected world, your remote employees are only an email, Slack message, or video call away. Technology makes it simple to replicate the parts of the office that facilitate collaboration while eliminating the parts that do not. For example, instead of long email chains, public documentation tools allow workers to keep projects and notes available for all to see.

The biggest hurdle in using these technologies is simply practice. The more your team uses these tools with a remote-first mindset, the more efficiently your team will be able to work asynchronously — another boost to productivity.

Working outside the office reduces overhead.

After salaries and benefits, one of the largest costs for any company is office space. Not only do you need to rent an office large enough for your employees to work comfortably, but you also have to maintain and stock the place.

By setting up your company to work remotely, you greatly reduce the need for office space. You can either choose to let go of your office completely or save on surface area by not having all your employees come in every day.

Globalization benefits for employees

Many employees don't want to go back to the office full time, if they want to go back at all. Research from Remote found that 81% of workers would move to a new area if they could do so without jeopardizing their upward career mobility. For the average employee, the ability to work remotely is a welcome perk.

No more daily commute

The amount of time people lose by commuting to and from work is substantial. A one-way trip to the office can easily take more than an hour in some areas. Even in small cities, it’s normal to spend at least 30 minutes a day going back and forth from the office to home, and that’s assuming the employee doesn’t head home for lunch. Remote work eliminates hours of wasted commuting time every month.

Reduction of stress

While working during a pandemic is stressful, normal remote working actually relieves stress. Parents, for example, don’t have to deal with school closings in normal circumstances. Employees looking to relocate don’t have to worry so much about whether their choice of living situation will hurt their careers. When opportunities are global, everyone benefits.

Flexible working hours

One of the best parts of working remotely is the ability to create your own schedule. When everyone works asynchronously, what does it matter if someone wants to take a long lunch or run a few errands? Measuring employees based on output instead of hours allows leadership to focus on meaningful metrics and gives employees a greater sense of freedom.

Globalization and opportunities for talent acquisition

The benefits of a remote global workforce don’t stop at increased productivity, cost savings, and happier employees. Expanding your employment strategy to hire globally allows you to hire and retain the best talent, regardless of where they live.

Access to the best of the best

The idea that top talent will move for the job is outdated, if not outright wrong. A 2020 study from Harvard shows that between 65% and 82% of Americans who move stay within their county or state. The most common reason for moving is for better housing, followed by family-related reasons. Job-related reasons only accounted for 21% of moves in the study.

The simple truth is that most people, American and otherwise, prefer living near friends and family in a place that they know. Even if you convince some employees to relocate, you have to make your offer even more attractive by adding relocation fees and other benefits — especially since highly skilled employees can always find work without moving.

The beauty of globalization is that you don't have to miss out on hiring top talent because of location. You can hire the best employees globally without asking them to uproot their lives. Plus, if any of your more adventurous employees want to move, you can retain those employees without having to replace them.

Increased diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are good for every organization. Studies show again and again that nailing diversity and inclusion in the workplace work miracles on your bottom line. Plus, tackling inequity in your company is just the right thing to do.

It's hard to hire a truly diverse workforce if you're limited to local talent only. When you take away the restrictions of working at headquarters, increasing diversity of talent within your organization becomes much easier: a natural extension of the ability to hire people from anywhere in the world.

Globalization also helps your employees showcase their talents on equal ground. Introverts tend to fly under the radar in an office environment, but working remotely allows introverts to excel. Extroverts can participate in team bonding activities, meet with nearby coworkers, or even spend time working from a coworking space. With remote work, the possibilities are endless

Overcoming challenges of globalization

Hiring international employees globally can add complexity if you don’t have the experience or expertise. The task of figuring out local employment laws can seem daunting.

Luckily, that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the benefits of globalization when building your remote team. At Remote, we specialize in local employment law across the globe. We help you manage risk, fast-track onboarding, and scale effectively while avoiding the legal risks of international expansion.

Manage global payroll

If you own a legal entity in the country, you either need a trusted local payroll provider or an internal team of local payroll experts. That may make sense if you’re planning a major expansion into the country, but most businesses don’t need to go to that much trouble. Working with an EOR that owns its own local legal entity is the safest, smartest way to manage payroll and benefits in another country.

Avoid permanent establishment risk

The only way you can avoid the risk of a permanent establishment in a country is by knowing the law and legislation. As a tax classification, permanent establishment could cost your company a lot of money if you don’t understand the risks. Our guide to permanent establishment risk can help you learn more.

Calculate compensation

People are compensated differently in different countries. Do you want to pay everyone the same salary, independent of location, or would you rather adjust salaries based on cost of living? The answer is not always straightforward and requires you to establish a global compensation strategy before proceeding with new hires.

Keep control of your intellectual property

Protecting your IP in every country where you have employees is challenging. Some global employment providers may even pass your IP to their partners. No matter where you hire, make sure your IP stays protected. As experts in international employment law, we created Remote IP Guard to guarantee the maximum protection for your intellectual property abroad.

Reap the benefits of globalization with an international workforce

The time to expand your hiring search and enjoy the benefits of globalization for yourself is now. Remote work provides benefits for employers and employees alike, allowing you to access the best talent and provide a better experience for your hardworking employees.

Allowing employees the flexibility to work from anywhere is no longer a perk, but a requirement, especially for the most experienced and in-demand workers. Don’t give the competition an edge — embrace globalization and let remote work become your organization’s superpower.