Hiring a workforce in a new location requires you to change your mindset, processes, and tools. In this article, I’ll explore the five ways to help you pivot to a new way of working, leading your global teams to success. 

1: Clear communication is key

Whether teams are 100% remote, entirely in-office, or somewhere in-between, a high percentage of global communication is probably happening digitally. We all know digital conversations don’t create the same automatic sense of connection, so how do businesses keep teams connected?   

Action: Choose the right tech for your team. Business owners must decide on how colleagues communicate with one another, giving them the technology and guidance on how to do so. Should all discussions happen via email or a messaging tool? There’s no wrong answer, but setting this expectation is important.

Leaders also need to set time zone boundaries to encourage respectful communication, ensure nobody expects colleagues to log into meetings at unreasonable hours, and schedule messages to arrive during the recipients' working hours. 

2: Addressing language barriers

While communication can’t happen without the right tech to support it, it can’t happen at all if people don’t understand each other. Yet, in global teams, it’s likely that not everybody has the same native language. Assess your team's linguistic landscape instead of assuming a universal business language. In the Americas, Spanish may be more common, while in Europe, English is often the default.

Action: Establish a common working language that best suits the majority while accommodating regional differences. Support multilingual communication by signposting free translation tools or multilingual team leads. Use clear, simple language in meetings and written communication to ensure accessibility for non-native speakers. By adapting to your team’s linguistic diversity, you’ll improve collaboration, reduce misunderstandings, and create a more inclusive work environment. Managers should be empowered with training on how to handle communication that gets lost in translation, enabling them to mediate miscommunication conflicts sensitively and inclusively. 

3: A culture of inclusion

Organisational growth brings increased workforce diversity, and people from different cultures and age groups have different expectations and work styles. These expectations range from workplace attire and religious observances to the hours of the day employees feel they are most productive.

Action: The best way to create an inclusive, consistent company culture is to start at the top. If you lead by example, your employees will follow suit. Provide cultural awareness training for everyone – and I mean everyone – from C-Suite executives to team members. HR tools can be invaluable in codifying workplace standards and codes of conduct. Encouraging open dialogue about different work styles, and setting clear expectations that mutual respect and adaptability apply to everyone – not just those being asked to accommodate others.

4: Prepare managers for the new world of work

Leading a global team presents unique challenges and dynamics that go far beyond managing a local workforce – managers need to be upskilled and shown how to modify their management styles to lead remote and global teams.

Action: Set expectations. Managers should maintain regular contact with their team, sharing clear, consistent information on tasks and constructive feedback. Outside of work specific tasks, managers should be encouraged to set up regular one to ones to connect with them on a level outside work – while also respecting work-life balance. This is particularly important with global teams as it can be challenging for managers to form strong bonds with employees who aren’t in the same office.

5: Create an equal employee experience

Global employee experiences should be the same as global shopping experiences. If you walk into your favourite shop in London or Miami, you recognise and feel the brand. This sense of cohesion comes from culture – the challenge is applying the same culture across every location in every country your company has offices and team members.

Action: Support all managers in internalising, championing and supporting the desired culture. From keeping things transparent with people, no matter their location, to communicating a solid vision and mission that applies to everyone, managers are essential to culture. Using communication tech and HR systems built to support these initiatives will provide managers with a blueprint to follow, ensuring cohesion.

Go on and grow!

The global push for a culture of belonging has transformed workplaces worldwide, creating increasingly multicultural companies. True success lies in creating an environment where every employee's unique needs are not only recognised but meaningfully addressed.

Creating a culture of belonging across all locations is key to building an environment where diverse teams can collaborate seamlessly and reach their full potential.HR leaders must properly prepare their organisation, equipping managers with the tools and training they need to respond to the challenges inherent to global expansion.

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