The American activist, Marian Wright Edelman said, “You can’t be what you can’t see”. The current global remote work revolution is certainly helping businesses all over the world provide opportunities for people to “see” and to “be” in ways that before now were not possible.
Communication is a key tool in driving this democratisation of opportunity and language has an important role to play in this. By speaking to customers and employees in their native tongue, we can better identify and achieve our common goals and provide real opportunity for people everywhere. As an example, Globalization Partners, the world’s leading global employment platform, has taken this a step further and translated their website into fifteen new languages. In doing so they are now directly communicating, in language, with 160 countries globally.
In a world where local and global sit more comfortably side by side however, a more authentic and recognisable voice is becoming increasingly important, and language is key to engaging with customers on all channels. A recent CSA Research report into business user language preferences and behaviours found that when faced with the choice of two similar product offers, 76 percent of people are more likely to purchase the one that is in their local language.
Eliminating ANY barriers between the consumer and what they need from you is important, but for a company emerging from pandemic business conditions it is likely to be even more critical. As many far-sighted and dynamic organisations look to capitalise on the ‘new normal’, where remote work has been embraced and talent more widely spread throughout the neighbouring region or even the world, finding new markets is becoming a fundamental part of their plan.
With this breaking down of traditional geographic barriers, it makes sense to not only find talent in new jurisdictions, but also to open up business channels there and tap into new markets.
Again, a major role in opening those markets is to present customers with information that is accessible. Having local-language advertisements or articles that lead to an English-language website is inefficient and will place a barrier between you and your customer.
Recent research from Globalization Partners has established that to reach 160 countries worldwide, it is necessary to localise material into 15 different languages – out of a grand total of 6909 known, living languages. While most organisations who are looking to explore new markets in their region will not need that kind of global scale, it will still be necessary to consider communications material and digital channels in a local language.
Further investigation from CSA research suggests that – as a very minimum – 73 percent of consumers want product reviews available to them in their own language. While nearly two-thirds will tolerate mixed languages on a website, a further 40 percent simply will not buy products or services in other languages.
Looking again at changing trends in global business, it becomes apparent that companies are revisiting their approach to finding talent and looking beyond borders to new jurisdictions. Research by Australian recruitment firm Robert Half, as reported by Staffing Industry Analysts, suggests that as many as 70 percent of Australian business leaders will seek to permanently hire international talent in 2022. A further 61 percent will look for international talent on a contract basis.
While the majority of these hires will be brought into the country to work, many are also embracing the remote workforce, with up to 68 percent of companies set to hire international talent to work remotely. When looking specifically at the technology sector, this figure rises to 77 percent when limiting the results to CIO-level respondents.
These figures are compounded by a recent CFO Survey conducted by Globalization Partners, which suggested that 74 percent of CFOs were considering a shift to remote or hybrid work, and a further 80 percent were considering an expansion into new countries where they did not currently operate as part of as long-term expansion strategy.
With this level of regionalisation and indeed globalisation it is clear that companies are embracing the changed business landscape and will seek to leverage remote workforces in new jurisdictions to both find the talent they require to maintain business continuity, as well as tapping into new markets.
Making this transition even easier, a global employment platform can now facilitate that expansion in a matter of hours, saving businesses the weeks or even months it can take to set up an entity and hire employees in new jurisdictions. With all payroll, insurance and local laws adhered to, it is possible to have a fully compliant employee working productively in a new country rapidly, with little risk to the organisation.
With more ‘feet on the street’, the world subsequently becomes a smaller place. New markets are easier to find, new customers easier to win. All of this of course can be much easier and more effective, IF the company also has the foresight to properly prepare and engage with their new market in their own language.
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Globalization PartnersCategory: Business Services Outsourcing Profile: Globalization Partners simplifies global remote team building by making it fast and easy for companies to hire anyone, anywhere, within minutes via its global employment platform. Hire anyone, anywhere, quickly, and easily. Use our AI-driven, automated, fully compliant global employment platform powered by our in-house worldwide HR experts.
