We talk with Sherrie Fernandes, vice president of product management and user experience at Globalization Partners. Their platform makes it easier for businesses to hire and manage international talent.
Transcript
Mark:
Welcome to PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. I’m Mark Feffer. Today we talk with Sherrie Fernandes, vice president of product management and user experience at Globalization Partners. Their platform makes it easier for businesses to hire and manage international talent. We’ll hear about how it works on this addition of PeopleTech. Hi, Sherrie. Thanks for coming in. Now, can you tell me about Globalization Partners and what it is that you do?
Sherrie:
Globalization Partners, we are a technology company at our core. We have a best in class global employment platform where we help our customers hire the best talent across the world quickly and compliantly without having to go out and set up subsidiaries in each country, which can traditionally take anywhere between six to 12 months. Our CEO, Nicole Sahin really invented this industry about a decade ago. We are the established leader in the market as recognized by Nelson Hall. And this can be supported through our rigorous legal and compliance capabilities, are strong financials, and proven operational success. Our mission is really to change the way the world works by simplifying global expansion and breaking down those barriers.
Mark:
Now I’m guessing that you’ve seen some changes in the dynamics of the global workforce recently given the pandemic and the economy and such. Can you talk about that? What are you seeing out there?
Sherrie:
Absolutely. So the global pandemic has definitely accelerated this trend of remote global work and it’s taking hold everywhere. And with that comes some real complexities in global hiring and the need for stability, dependability when it comes to managing a global workforce. So our platform automates the onboarding and the life cycle management processes for this global workforce. We offer 24/7 support through an AI chatbot as well as we have a team in country of global HR experts that are there for our customers and can answer any more nuanced questions that they might have. We’re really the only company out there that has HR experts on the ground globally. And we’re really at a turning point with this global economy and we feel that Globalization Partners is positioned at the forefront of this transformation.
Mark:
Okay. Now let me ask the question a slightly broader sense, because what I’m thinking is that you folks really sit in an interesting spot, working with folks all over the world and seeing how these trends like the economy and COVID are impacting workforces in different parts of the world. And without talking about globalization partners so much, because this is sort of a broader question, what are you seeing out there with the workforce in terms of behaviors and fears and optimism just because of where we are now, how are they reacting to it?
Sherrie:
We’re definitely seeing as the global pandemic recedes that there’s a talent war out there and companies are looking for strong talent and they need to obtain that talent quickly in order to be competitive. So what our platform allows them to do is grow their revenue faster, reduce their operating costs by hiring in lower cost jurisdictions. It allows them to improve access to talent that they wouldn’t normally have access to through our platform. And it also, our platform is helping minimize risk by avoiding all of the calls to the lawyers, tax advisors, and HR advisors. We’re handling all of that for them.
Mark:
Now, one of the things about Globalization Partners is you have a lot of partner helping you accomplish your mission, accomplish your goals. Can you tell me about them and what role they play in the business?
Sherrie:
Absolutely. So we’re getting really close to launching a strategic integration with ADP TotalSource, where our joint customers will be able to have access to the globalization platform and be able to hire and manage global teams. So ADP TotalSource users will be able to retain the talent that they need in minutes and automate their payroll, their time and expense management, benefits offering, reporting, and generate locally compliant contracts through the globalization platform. Partners are a strategic part to our product strategy as we look to become agnostic from an HR perspective.
Mark:
Are these partners integrated or is this basically a business relationship and that’s all or is it deeper than that?
Sherrie:
It’s a deep integration. So we have a single sign on capability with ADP where it’s one entry point to manage all of your employees and team members. And we will continue on that integration path. We have a couple of other partners that we’re working on integrations that we’ll be launching in the near a future.
Mark:
Okay. Now it strikes me that you must have a sizable technical challenge operating as you do around the world, tracking all of these different laws and all these different economies. Is that true? Is the challenge pretty big?
Sherrie:
Yes, that is true.
Mark:
And can you tell me about it and what’s involved with it and how you face it?
Sherrie:
Sure. So we have over 150 engineers working on our platform. Our next generation platform is based on microservices, based on node and react and everything is done through AWS. So that is how we’re able to build products quickly and get them to market.
Mark:
Just when I ask you about the business and by the business, I mean, the field that you work in, not Globalization Partners itself, but what are your thoughts about the business right now? I mean, what happened during the pandemic, has it caused things to change and seriously change or how does the future look for companies like yours?
Sherrie:
Yeah, absolutely. The pandemic has really skyrocketed the market that we’re in. There’s a lot of smaller companies that are trying to invest in this area. They see it as a large opportunity, but again, we’ve been at this even pre pandemic for a decade, really building out this industry and our CEO, Nicole really saw where this was going in terms of a remote global workforce. And so we are really well positioned to capture a large percentage of that market that’s out there.
Mark:
Okay. Anything else you want to say? Anything else about the state of the world or anything at all?
Sherrie:
I think by opening a world of talent and possibility to companies that are pursuing expansion, we’re really creating a stronger global workforce and unlocking new markets. This global compliance and intuitive technology that’s built on empathy for our users and a tailored experience is really our vision for a better, more inclusive global economy.
Mark:
Okay. Well, thank you very much. Thanks for coming in today.
Sherrie:
Thank you for having me.
Mark:
My guest today has been Sherrie Fernandes, vice president of product management and user experience at Globalization Partners. And this has been PeopleTech, the podcast of the HCM Technology Report. We’re a publication of Recruiting Daily. We’re also a part of Evergreen Podcasts. To see all of their programs visit www.evergreenpodcasts.com. And to keep up with HR technology, visit the HCM Technology Report every day. We’re the most trusted source of news in the HR tech industry. Find us at www.hcmtechnologyreport.com. I’m Mark Feffer.
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