Attracting internationel talent: Interview with Michel Daenen

More and more organisations are turning to international and multilingual professionals. Understandably so, as labour market shortages are forcing employers to look beyond the familiar talent pool. But anyone who thinks that a competitive salary and a relocation package are enough is in for a surprise.

Michel Daenen knows what he is talking about. As an expat specialist, author of Expatfactor and former adviser to internationals in dozens of countries, he has seen from the inside what goes wrong when organisations hire international talent without being truly prepared. He sees the same pattern time and again: good intentions, but too little structure. During an online knowledge session with Exactpi, he will share his insights. And they are remarkably practical.

You have found a strong candidate. The contract has been signed. Time to celebrate, right?

Not so fast. Michel Daenen identifies a recurring pattern: once the contract is signed, communication falls silent. For weeks, sometimes even months. And it is precisely during this period, while you have already moved on to the next priority, that the candidate may be considering another offer.

Attractive talent receives attention from multiple directions. That attention does not stop once someone has said “yes”. What you do in the period between signing the contract and the start date partly determines whether someone will actually join your organisation.

Many organisations begin the recruitment process externally: writing a vacancy, selecting channels and searching for candidates. But according to Michel Daenen, the first step should actually be internal.

That requires honesty. What kind of culture exists within your organisation? Who thrives there? And are you genuinely prepared to make room for people who approach things differently, communicate differently or bring different expectations? Because when you do not allow that space, you remove precisely the strength you were looking for.

This is what Michel Daenen calls the big surprise. Organisations that adapt their working practices to international employees benefit on a much broader scale. The ability to work with people from different cultures, with different communication styles, different views on hierarchy and different expectations, is exactly the capability you also need to manage generational differences, remote teams and a rapidly changing labour market.

So it is not only about the expat. It is about what your organisation learns by taking international talent seriously.

Michel Daenen is an expat specialist, expert in expat policy and author of Expatfactor. He helps Dutch employers successfully attract international talent and Highly Skilled Migrants, support their transition and retain them sustainably.