Think globally, act globally.
It continues to intrigue me on how limited in scope some organizations can be. Except for maybe what are considered the top strategic roles in a company, i.e. CEO, President, CFO, COO, and CIO, identifying and recruiting for positions is very parochial.
Part of the limitation in vision necessarily starts at a country level. If a country makes it difficult to recruit, hire, place and retain talent from outside the country, a company has to be willing to negotiate the complexity of the process. The United States is certainly one of those countries which sets up hurdles to hiring talent from outside its borders. Recently, the UK, Canada and Australia have put in place a process called “Talent Visas”. The UK specifically is making it simpler for individuals with talent in academia or research, arts and culture, or digital technology, to apply for a visa. The United States will certainly be left in the dust if it doesn’t adjust to a global talent pool.
Is there a different way to deal with global myopia?
It starts with a business vision that builds on core principles of understanding what a business does and how it does it. Requirements and process go hand in hand; and re-evaluating these often is critical. When there is a clear understanding of what business an organization is in and what success looks like, pursue the objectives without necessarily being constrained by boundaries.
Boundaries surely do exist, be they geography, time zone (geography driven), language, culture, rules and regulations. But if the question is finding and employing the best possible talent for the job at hand, isn’t exploring how to break down the boundaries worth pursuing?
Maybe hybrid work on a global scale is the right approach to test. Given today’s technology, let alone what will be possible tomorrow, isn’t it worth considering how to truly become a global team of the most talented professionals focused on the task at hand?
Maybe recruit in place versus recruit and move will become a mantra. And if an individual doesn’t have to move, the visa becomes a non-issue. Maybe the Human Resources organization of the future is the globally mobile and fluid talent acquisition engine that identifies talent at the source and, working in tandem with technologists, enables the productivity and organizational collaboration and cohesion necessary to get the job done.
