Businesses advised to develop cross-cultural recruitment processes

Companies may be missing out on top talent by not adopting a multilingual and cross-cultural approach to candidate testing and recruitment, new research has suggested.

The study by human resources (HR) group Penna found that 57% of companies do not have an effective cross-border assessment process, Online Recruitment reports.

In addition, 71% of HR professionals admitted to having difficulty in implementing a standardised international recruitment and retention strategy, while 33% struggled to set a benchmark for candidates from different countries.

'Businesses undertaking cross-border recruitment projects need to ensure that they have processes in place which account for the various lingual and cultural differences between the regions in which they are hiring,' Diana Haddad, Managing Director of the firm's international operations, remarked.

'Otherwise they are at real risk of eliminating top talent from joining their organisations,' she warned.

Human Assets has offered recruiters advice on this issue, suggesting that they avoid making stereotypical judgements based on a person's nationality and try to take into account cultural differences when considering the way a candidate has presented themselves.