We’re all aware that the revolution in communications over the past decade has meant that businesses of all sizes now operate, not just in domestic and regional markets, but in a truly global one. Given this, it’s not surprising that many organisations now look for global service models from their suppliers. But how realistic is it to demand a worldwide approach to the outsourcing of recruitment, let alone the wider aspects of talent management?

Although a genuinely international model might at first seem attractive, the devil is of course, in the detail – detail which suggests that a single, templated approach to talent acquisition is unlikely to work effectively. We hear a lot of talk about a global recruitment arena and the movement of talent across borders, but it would simply be wrong to believe this has eroded the key differences between key regional and even local markets. Take, for example the use of networking tools, both physical and online.

While these may be highly effective in Western European countries such as France and Germany, they are much less so in Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union where candidates respond better to targeted, individual approaches. Online sourcing is also fraught with difficulties in one of the world’s fastest growing economies, China, because its rigorous firewalls render many of the tools commonly used in the US and UK, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, virtually useless.

This seems to means that, at least for the foreseeable future, in-depth local knowledge combined with international reach will provide the best competitor advantage in the battle for talent. The challenge is to turn a regional partner model into an effective global solution for the client. At Ochre House we’re attempting to achieve this with our partnerships in the USA and on the Pacific Rim by combining adaptation to individual geographical markets with a common, consistent approach to those things that should be regarded as ‘universal’ – the criteria that are non-negotiable wherever hiring is undertaken.

Into this category will fall such things as buy-in to the company’s business and social philosophy, its basic standards and its commitment to diversity and work/life balance. And we tend to believe this combination of local and international is not a stop-gap or a compromise while we wait for some completely global hiring platform to be devised. Perhaps the most effective solution to international talent sourcing model is not in the pipeline - it may have already arrived.