How to Overcome HR Challenges to Drive Rapid Global Growth: A Fireside Chat with Deliverect

Many experienced leaders now find themselves taking advantage of the fast and compliant expansion solution an Employer of Record (EOR) provides. By removing the need to set up an entity, companies no longer have to stress about the HR and legal compliance requirements that can complicate the global hiring journey – and that opens up a world of opportunities.

In our eBook “Global Employment Guide: Strategic Alignment for Executive, HR, Finance, and Legal Leaders” we discuss the differences between navigating global expansion alone versus using an EOR. Regardless of the path you choose, global expansion requires strategic alignment and collaboration from every department. 

Laura Maffucci, VP and Head of Human Resources at G-P, sat down with Regina Simao, Global Head of Reward at Deliverect, for an insightful webinar that dove specifically into some of the HR hurdles that come with global employment and how partnering with an EOR can help overcome them.

How an EOR can be valuable at any stage of global employment

Maffucci: In our case study with Deliverect, your CEO described the company as being in hypergrowth mode, and you’ve expanded into 40 new markets within the last few years. Are you still in hypergrowth mode or how would you describe your strategy today?

Simao: We still want to grow, and we want more employees, more clients — but the strategy is a bit different.

So for context, in 2019, we closed the year with around 50 employees. In 2020, we had 500. Now, we’re also growing through mergers and acquisitions. With that, we can get new companies, new products, and expand our offering. But with this version of growth comes the challenge of onboarding professionals all over the world to integrate them into the Deliverect team.

 Maffucci: From an HR standpoint, how does that shift to M&As change things and what kind of new challenges does it bring?

Simao: On the HR side, that’s particularly tricky. It’s really important to take the best of what the company you’re acquiring offers. 

Your perception of doing things the right way, might not be the same perception as the company you’re acquiring. It doesn’t mean their approach is wrong — it’s just a different way of doing things. So you need to be able to align on processes, ways to go forward, and ways of working.

It can be difficult to achieve that balance, but we’re getting there. 

What to know when partnering with an EOR provider

Maffucci: When it comes to issuing contracts and hiring in specific locations, what are some of the other considerations that are specific to HR when you’re partnering with an EOR?

Simao: I think above all is the simplicity. It’s the fact that you can tell the team at G-P that you want to expand or relocate an employee, and you don’t get a “no.” You get an, “I will get back to you” — and it is usually that same day, which makes us really happy.

On top of that, our finance team really loves G-P because they just get an invoice. There are no taxes, no social security, no legal requirements, setting up an office, registering, going to a legal team. That doesn’t exist. It’s perfect.

Maffucci: So what ultimately led Deliverect to decide an EOR was right for them, and why G-P?

Simao: Whenever you are expanding a business, you might not always choose the right location, and you need to try to see if it’s working, and then decide to hire more or not.

And that was the idea. Because we sell technology, we can have people anywhere in the world, we can deploy the technology and sell it to our clients. So the idea was to set up new markets, but we needed to see first if that would work or not.

We had two big markets at the time: Mexico City and Sydney. The relationship with G-P has continued because after we opened entities in those locations, there are now other markets we might consider.

And I think there are things that come into play even beyond cost. Labor regulations in some countries are so much harder to navigate. G-P is there. You will guide us. You will share the knowledge. We know why you are doing a, b, and c. But at the end of the day, we have the reassurance that we’re doing the right thing.

How an EOR enables collaboration within organizations

Maffucci: Our Global Employment Guide talks a lot about how EORs can help navigate expansion challenges and create new strategic opportunities for each member of the leadership team.

Can you talk a little bit about how leveraging an EOR has allowed your team to be more strategic in thinking about growth and collaborating with peers in other departments?

Simao: Right now, the perception is that we can hire anywhere. When managers come to us and say, “I would like to hire in Chile. Can we do that?” I can say, “I believe we can — these are the requirements.”

It also plays a huge role in deciding where to hire. Whenever we go to G-P, we know the salary that we need to pay, the benefits — not only the mandatory but also standard offerings. Also, what are the legal requirements? When you work from the HR side, you don’t want to look at everything just from the higher perspective.

So not only can we go to the board and say yes, we can hire someone in this or that location, but we can also retain talent.

Say someone has a life change. They have a baby and want to go back to their country. Why not move them to G-P and keep on working with them? We’ve been doing that quite a lot.

Trending benefits global professionals are looking for

Maffucci: When it comes to employee benefits, what are some of the key offerings you were looking for? 

Simao: I think the desired benefits vary not only by country but also depending on the generation you’re working with. For some generations, pension is crucial. For others, if we don’t have gym benefits, they look at us like we are aliens. And that’s good and shows benefits are something that everyone values in different ways. 

Maffucci: How about the uncommon benefits? What are you seeing trending and becoming more common?

Simao: We did a survey recently, and one thing that I never considered before, but now we do, is pet insurance.

If it’s what they want, then why not meet their expectations? We need to retain talent. But I guess what we have the most is employees trying to get benefits that will give them some tax relief. There are a lot of requests from employees on how to get a more tax-efficient benefit.

Overall, there’s also a huge concern about savings. So I think that is what is coming next. Employees are worried about more savings and being more efficient when it comes to taxes.

Let global employment products from G-P fuel your expansion.

Navigating global employment alone is difficult, but with an EOR like G-P by your side, you don’t have to. We help companies overcome the many challenges that arise throughout the global hiring journey, including HR hurdles. 

Our global employment products, G-P Meridian EOR Core™ and G-P Meridian EOR Prime™, are both backed by a global team of HR and legal experts, so you no longer have to decipher ever-changing labor laws or spend time and resources setting up entities.  

For more insights into the HR challenges of global expansion, check out our full conversation with Regina Simao from Deliverect. If you’d like to know more about how to hire, onboard, and manage global teams quickly and compliantly, contact us or request a proposal.