Strategy
Better Together…
As organisations of all sizes seek to develop their global strategy, this has important implications for the development of their talent pipeline. Regardless of nationality, new hires need to demonstrate a global outlook and communicate sensitively and effectively across borders, with a highly developed cross cultural awareness. Sharon Bell, Associate Director, Careers and Employability Service, The University of Nottingham, believes many recruiters are missing the opportunity to tap into international talent in the UK - and that British universities are uniquely positioned to help them remedy this…
The University of Nottingham, where 23% of the 2012-13 cohort is international, is not alone in having a significant population from overseas. An additional 17 institutions have an international student population comprising over 20%. Graduate recruiters do not need to look far to find a source of talent with expert knowledge from another culture.
I When responsibility for
overseas recruitment lies in-country, the
overseas employer is paramount.
importance of relationship building between the British HEI and the
Some Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have taken this further and developed an in-country response to the global priority. The approach ranges from a partnership agreement facilitating the mobility of students, through to the establishment of an overseas campus. This has been the Nottingham response – a further 11,000 students study on the University’s campuses in Ningbo, China and Semenyih, Malaysia. They undertake the same
programmes (in English) as in the UK. Whilst both locations attract a significant
proportion of local nationals onto their
programmes, there are also international students from several countries including
14 Graduate Recruiter |
www.agr.org.uk
n 2012-13, 420,000 students in the UK were international (15% of full time first degree students and 71% of full time taught postgraduates).
the UK. 23% of Nottingham students have an international experience as part of their studies – the target is 25%. Accessing global graduate talent the way in which a British HEI can help a recruiter respond to the global imperative depends on what the organisation is trying to achieve. The term ‘global graduate’ is frequently used, and universities are seeking to prepare their students for the global marketplace (see box out).
There is an often missed opportunity for recruiters to engage with international talent in the UK. These students, by the very nature of their decision to study in the UK, are more culturally adaptable. We all know that visa restrictions may make it difficult to retain that talent in the UK. If the graduate recruitment and selection processes adopted within a multi-national organisation were more consistent globally, there would be the opportunity to select in one country for a posting elsewhere – or at least a fast tracking to the final stage of a process. Unilever actively target international students studying in the UK for positions in China, Africa and Russia. A similar approach is adopted by Mars for their China-based opportunities.
In our experience, whilst some recruiters are looking at the possibility of a more co-ordinated approach, it’s not that common. One organisation seeking to address this is GSK. Earlier this year, all of the graduate recruitment leads from around the world gathered together in London. They considered the opportunities for consistency and where there were opportunities to source graduate talent from other countries. GSK have been actively engaged with the global agenda at Nottingham, meeting international students from a wide range of countries at the Go Global Conference 2014. A recent recruit to their organisation was a UK student studying at the Malaysia campus who has clearly benefitted from that international dimension to their studies.
However, more often than not, graduate programmes are developed within country, and the decision on how to recruit is made locally. Some organisations will actively seek a recruit with an international education –because they have seen the value of the internationally honed skill-set in recent recruits. As Arthur Wang, Deloitte China Recruitment Director explains, “Obtaining an international education from a world recognised university increases a student’s chances of being
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