The U.K. is still the most popular destination for expatriate workers, so how do we continue to attract the best foreign talent post-Brexit?
In the eBook, “Attracting and Retaining Top Talent in Times of Brexit,” you’ll find best practice advice from 28 industry thought leaders on how to Brexit-proof your talent strategy.
Crown World Mobility, is one of the 28 experts who contributed. Read our extract below or download the free copy of the e-Book.
“Is your talent planning strategy about filling vacancies or future proofing the business? Any meaningful talent strategy is a long term investment, and as we are constantly reminded, the value and risk associated with long term investments is that they can go up and down over a period of time, but ultimately the aim is that they will pay off.
Brexit is one of those challenges and should not override thinking to the extent that it detracts from the same long term goals.
Traditionally, an expat is someone who relocates with a range of benefits and will be supported by their company to succeed. The emergence of the early-career backpack expat has, however, changed this dynamic.
We now have raw talent who will take the budget airline ticket and seek new adventures. Their enthusiasm can be built into a long term talent plan. The key is to set the right mentality early in a career and continue to focus on the end goal rather than the short term roadblocks. Cost, logistics and new political borders will always come our way and part of succeeding is to embrace these changes and use them to your advantage.
The backpack expat is looking to go on a journey – help them map it out and enable them to make it happen. It’s up to each inpidual to own their career – crossing a new border shouldn’t change that. With so much technology at our fingertips, there is no “out of sight, out of mind”, there is no excuse for an inpidual to not stay in touch, and there is no reason why an organization can’t track the career progression of their future assets.
The key to success is about setting clear expectations. The talent journey is not about making a fast buck, it’s about learning to navigate your way around an organization and overcoming the challenges that come along the way. The reward comes through learning as you go, creating networks and owning your career. Ride out the lows and take advantage of the highs when they come. Financial reward comes with career progression and knowledge. As long as this expectation is clear, the expat will own their career and find a way to make things happen, as opposed to relying on others to do it for them.
Brexit is just another short-term challenge/opportunity – we don’t yet know what it means for the European border with the U.K. and what extra challenges it may bring from an immigration perspective, but it should not detract from developing a long term talent plan that enables an organization to future proof its business.”