There seems to be a mixed perspective in the American corporate world about outsourcing assignments to Mexico. From a corporate standpoint, there are several benefits to consider if you are thinking about outsourcing to Mexico, but there is also a flipside that includes risks. What are the positives and negatives of outsourcing jobs to Mexico, and how can you increase the positives while decreasing the negatives to succeed with this business strategy?

With labor costs rising and worker supply diminishing in 2018, many corporations are looking to Mexico when considering outsourcing because labor costs are much less than in the United States. Also, Mexican employees offer vast amounts of skilled labor and a culture that is familiar to many Americans. However, finding top talent takes time and financing, and training can often take a long period of time. Retaining employees in Mexico can be tricky if businesses aren’t familiar with Mexican labor practices, management preferences, and cultural differences.

How To Address Retention Issues

Since most businesses know that retention is a huge key to success, human resources needs to figure out ways to retain these employees after training them because it is not only cost-effective, but it produces better results from Mexican workers in the long run. Your business can focus on retaining Mexican employees by obtaining a better understanding of their culture. Once you comprehend their cultural needs, you can adjust your business strategy accordingly to ensure that you are making them feel included and respected, which means retention is far more likely.

Incentives become very important to increase employee retention, and this is also true of Mexican employees. Since most Mexican workers are already familiar with the American employment culture, they have no problem with moving on to the next job higher salaries and better benefits. Since wages have not kept up with inflation in Mexico, compensation and benefits are important for Mexican employees, so you need to be able to offer competitive pay and benefits to retain them. Particularly in Mexico, the nature of rewards is a critical factor for talent attraction and retention strategies.

However, when you recruit your Mexican employees and want to figure out pay, you need to know that job titles in Mexico are not equivalent to their American counterparts even when the same names are used. Sometimes, titles in Mexico don’t hold as much responsibility as similar jobs in America. If you want to improve retention of Mexican employees, helping them succeed is important, and you want to make sure you provide them with jobs and duties they feel comfortable performing. Pay close attention to what their previous titles really mean and provide the appropriate salaries with the responsibilities assigned.

Factors Besides Compensation

Even more important than compensation, family is a deciding factor with jobs for most Mexican employees. If the business doesn’t bend a bit to understand how important family is to the Mexican culture, then they will wind up losing those employees. Also, for many Mexican workers, it isn’t difficult to transition to new jobs at other companies where they will receive the flexibility needed to accommodate their family needs. Retaining employees requires understanding their culture and being somewhat flexible. For example, in cities like Mexico City, employees spend up to three to four hours in their daily commute to work. With over 18 million residents, heavy traffic is the norm and it is not getting any better. By the time people get to work, their energy and interest is spent, and their stress levels are through the roof. This is why employees living in Mexico City prefer the flexibility to have home-office arrangements or flexible hours. Also, remote workers can avoid being distracted by co-workers, allowing them to be more productive.

Moreover, providing individual recognition to Mexican employees is also extremely important to them culturally. Much like family, feeling recognized is more important than compensation. By treating your Mexican workers with respect and recognition, you’ll wind up earning their loyalty, and retaining them more easily.

By adjusting your human resource practices in your Mexico business, you’ll be able to improve employee retention. This requires not only strengthening your Mexican worker benefits and assigning a competitive compensation tailored to the job, but also promoting family values, providing the flexibility and the recognition that the Mexican employee needs. Focus on these recommendations and you will be able to strengthen your retention strategy that will directly impact the success of your business in Mexico.

Should you need additional guidance on hiring and recruiting executive leaders in the Americas (Mexico, Latin America, Canada or the USA), please visit us at: https://www.bipsearch.com, or email us at: barbachano@bipsearch.com.

Written by: Barbachano Staff