04:05 GLOBAL
Expanding your lens without lowering your bar Offshore hiring isn’t about compromise. Companies that succeed globally don’t lower standards - they redefine them in ways that travel across borders. They stop over-indexing on brand names and start paying attention to behaviour, ownership, and adaptability. This is why some offshore hires outperform local ones. They’re used to navigating complexity and are comfortable operating with less certainty. They also understand that trust is built through delivery, not proximity. The companies that struggle are usually those trying to replicate their local hiring playbook in a global market. They make these mistakes: use the same interview questions and have the same expectations and assumptions. Remote work didn’t only change where we hire from, it also changed how we evaluate what “great” actually looks like. And once you get that right, geography stops being a risk and starts becoming an advantage.
Context questions surface this quickly. Ask candidates how they would approach a decision without full authority. Ask how they’d escalate an issue. Ask what they’d do if priorities conflict across teams.
This is especially important when hiring into markets like South Africa, where the talent is strong but the working context may differ from US, UK, or European norms. For example, a developer may be technically excellent but struggle if they don’t understand how product decisions are prioritised in your company. A finance professional may know the numbers but miss the commercial nuance of how your revenue model behaves. Context questions surface this quickly. Ask candidates how they would approach a decision without full authority. Ask how they’d escalate an issue. Ask what they’d do if priorities conflict across teams. You’re not looking for identical thinking, but you’re looking for alignment in approach.
66 I 04:05
GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 20
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online