Benefits of building a global team in the digital workspace era

As the world progresses through our modern age of technology, our workspaces are progressing too. The digital workspace era has allowed companies to utilize global teams that bring diversity and various perspectives from all over the world. Global teams consist of employees that work remotely across different countries and times zones. A global team can benefit companies by implementing skill sets and knowledge from diverse employees residing in some of the best and most competitive markets around the globe.

Global Teams Example

Examples of successful global teams include two of the largest and most successful companies in the world, Amazon and Google, both of which utilize global teams. These companies continue to be successful because of their continued innovation, which drives a competitive advantage. Working and growing with ever-changing technologies is vital for keeping up with the global economy. Each of their teams around the globe is driven by specific company strategies to allow for the optimization of their goals. It is important for these companies to continue to be consistent with their strategies throughout each sector of their workforce. This allows for a cohesive company and a continued path toward innovation.

Benefits of Global Teams

Companies can benefit greatly from building global teams for many reasons. One of these reasons is to expand their product or service to new markets, ideally creating more revenue for the company. The company is expanded to countries and regions that house employees with expertise about their local market. Talented employees that benefit the company may also be sourced from areas with lower costs to hire. Another reason companies should consider building global teams is to benefit their diversity efforts to maximize the inclusivity of different people, perspectives and strategies. Not only does this promote a better understanding of different cultures and identities from employees, but diversity in the workplace may also contribute to a larger pool of strategies to help increase profitability and innovation at a particular company. Basically, employees from different backgrounds may have ideas to help grow their company that someone with a different background or identity may not have considered.

How might a company approach team expansion globally?

A great tool companies may choose to take advantage of when building global teams is global staffing solutions. Companies that have positions with a high turnover rate may benefit from using a staffing solution company to be a liaison between the higher-ups and the employees without the company having to waste extended time going through the hiring process. Global staffing solution companies may use technology and/or human resources to recruit or seek out ideal candidates for the positions that need to be filled on a temporary basis or indefinitely. Similarly, global team staffing companies focus recruitment efforts on specific teams or positions within a company, rather than the entire company. For example, a team staffing company may only fill a position in one specific department with their resources. Using staffing companies can simplify the process of creating global teams to expand and grow a company.

These global staffing companies have various ways to recruit people, with companies that have begun to use artificial intelligence to match candidates with jobs. This technology is fast and efficient when finding profiles of potential employees that coordinate closely with what a company is looking for in a candidate. Staffing companies may then conduct screening interviews, send offer letters, etc. to make the hiring process of global teams quite easy for their clients.

Managing Global Teams

Although the benefits typically outweigh the costs to implement global teams within a company, it can be quite difficult to manage teams across different regions and countries. Managing global teams can be difficult for many reasons, one of which being the physical distance between managers and their employees. This social distance can negatively impact communication efforts, which is heightened by varying time zones. Though management of global teams may prove difficult, there are ways to combat these inevitable obstacles to create a global team that is beneficial to the company and its employees.

One of the most important values to maintain when managing a global team is open communication. Communication is vital in creating a workspace that maintains trust and respect between employees and their bosses as well as each other. Without this communication, cultural differences and physical separation can act as a barrier to efficiency. Everyone should also feel comfortable speaking up for themselves while being active learners to avoid exhibiting any behavior that may offend another’s culture. To ensure this respect and communication, managers themselves should be clear about their expectations and assess each situation based on what is best for the company and its employees. They should have clear strategies with collaboration of diverse people and ideas implemented to utilize global teams to their fullest potential and maximize their time.

A company deciding to expand globally must determine how they would like to recruit or hire employees. When staffing internationally for your company either through staffing assistance or internally, there are four approaches to consider. These four approaches are ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric and geocentric staffing. Ethnocentric staffing means sourcing an employee from the company’s parent country and relocating them somewhere else. The polycentric approach aims to hire local experts for jobs in other countries where they can apply their specific expertise. Regiocentric staffing aims to hire or transfer those within the same region for open positions. Finally, geocentric staffing simply hires those who are the best fit for the job, regardless of where they live.

Each approach may be utilized by companies for a multitude of reasons depending on the context of their individual situations. Often, money is saved by hiring strategically for global teams as it can be more complex than hiring within one country. Different roles may also require different strategies. Each company should assess their individual needs and priorities when determining which strategy is best for their company.

Technology has allowed connectivity of people all around the world and given people of different origins and cultures a way to connect more easily than ever before. This connectivity has also been transferred to workspaces in which we can determine the benefits to companies and workers that are derived from a geographically diverse population. Working remotely is also a relatively new reality for many people and can prove to be beneficial for companies and their workers.

Key Takeaway

The most important thing to take away is that the world is changing and evolving. Fast. If companies fail to adapt and innovate, they will risk their potential to grow and expand. Although global teams may sometimes be difficult to accumulate, the conglomerate of different perspectives and experiences often propel groups forward with an open-mindedness towards other identities and cultures.

If you are looking to explore an AI sourcing tool to build a team, check out how Arya by Leoforce can help. Book a demo today!

Resources

https://hbr.org/2015/10/global-teams-that-work