A lot of employers now look to other countries to fill vacancies especially when they are having a particularly tough time finding qualified candidates from their own area. This is when they start looking outside the United States and they are often surprised to see just how many qualified individuals there are from all over the world. Hiring international employees is one thing but if they speak a language different from your own, it is an entirely different thing.

While there are perks to employing workers from all around the globe, it also presents the employer with a unique set of challenges. One such problem may be getting employees to coordinate with one another. Here are a few helpful tips to manage your international workforce effectively.

Hold employees responsible for their actions

Having a boss located in another country may give the employee a sense of complacence which may lead to missing deadlines and other snags. One way to handle this is to establish a set of rules which makes sure that if any employee does not meet expectations and other problems, they are going to have to have the face the consequences. Let them know exactly what will happen if they do not produce quality output on time. Another way to keep track of what your employees are doing is to require them all to have mobile phones so leaders can track them down if they fail to show up for work.

Take cultural differences into consideration but remain firm

When employing workers of different nationalities and cultures, you must learn to be sensitive to them. However, you should not allow them to have all the holidays they want because someone will have to do double the work. Coordinate the holidays and schedules of your employees all over the world so you can arrange one office to remain open when one is out of commission. Communication can also be an issue due to the language barrier. One of the best ways to remedy this is to make communication both verbal and visual. Show your employees pictures and videos so they get a better idea of what needs to be done or discussed. This increases the likelihood of getting information across regardless of language. Most people comprehend things better when shown a visual accompaniment and this does not only apply to international employees.

Stay in touch with your employees

It is much easier to keep track of your employees and how they are when you see them daily. However, for employees in other locations, you only get to speak to them through a VoIP phone service and may not be able to notice if something is wrong. It is easy to forget to touch base with employees so you must make sure that leaders have regular discussions with their staff so they get feedback. It is easier to keep track of their emotional or mental wellbeing and to watch out for potential red flags.

Do not work 24 hours a day

The main problem with having employees in different time zones is that the employer may be tempted or compelled to work at all hours of the day and night. One way to avoid this is to ask remote employees to report for work as close to the company’s time zone, even if it means starting very early in morning or in the afternoon.

Author’s Bio: Henry Conrad is a 29-year-old game developer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Aside from gaming and being a tech junky, he also dabbles in creative writing, which allows him to create great storylines and backgrounds for his characters. Follow me on Twitter and join me in Google +

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