Nick Adams is the Vice President of EMEA at Globalization Partners based in London, UK, where he leads the company’s international expansion into Europe. He discusses his job role and explains how the company works with channel partners.
Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging?
The focus of my role is running Globalization Partners’ commercial business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This entails sales, marketing and managing our partner channel strategy as we continue to increase awareness about our solution that helps companies hire talent anywhere in the world, quickly and easily.
It is both challenging and exciting that the Employer of Record (EOR) business model is a fairly new concept in Europe. Our role over the next 24 to 36 months is to raise awareness of what an EOR is, so we can ensure that when C-suites are ready to take the next steps to international expansion, they understand that there is potentially a quicker and more cost-effective route to market than the traditional route of setting up their own branch office or subsidiary, which can be a costly, complex and time consuming process.
Globalization Partners simplifies global expansion – simply put, companies find the talent and Globalization Partners puts their new team member on its fully compliant, in-country payroll. This allows businesses to expand into almost any country around the globe-quickly and easily. With our solution, they can bypass the legal, HR and tax complexities of hiring in another country, while getting all the benefits of a global team.
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners?
Globalization Partners has a well-established partner strategy. Our varied partner ecosystem ranges from payroll and HR vendors, to consulting, legal and accounting firms, to investor, venture capital and M&A communities – with a variety of small, medium and large sized partners.
We work primarily with strategic partners promoting each other’s services to raise awareness of our brands and to promote mutual lead referral opportunities. We do also work with smaller partners but mostly on a relatively infrequent referral basis. Our partnership programme is flexible and allows our partners to either choose to monetise a new revenue stream or to remain as an impartial independent trusted advisor to their clients.
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market?
We have the largest partner team in our industry and ensure that we provide a high level of support to our partners through all stages – from onboarding, to sales enablement. Having an established programme, led by an experienced team, allows us to provide our partners with the due care and attention required to ensure they are successful.
We provide partners with specialist marketing support to ensure they have the latest content on our offerings and share in the spoils of results from our regular surveys and marketing events. We also invest in the latest tools and products, including our super new partner portal, so we can efficiently manage our partners’ interactions.
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel?
A whole host of firms have sprung up during the pandemic or have really pivoted their business model to embrace the new style of remote working – hiring the best talent wherever it resides. Recently, we have seen an influx of new partners who focus on specialist subjects, such as remote working or post-COVID international expansion. This is opening up a whole set of opportunities to work with partners who are well placed for future growth.
With this trend set to continue as globalisation and remote working increases, we are uniquely positioned to help partners make the shift and reap all the benefits of a global remote workforce. Our own expansion into EMEA and APAC at the start of the pandemic has meant that we have had to build our own business remotely and in uncertain times, though, needless to say, our own EOR model means this ‘new’ way of working is in our DNA.
What is your management philosophy?
I have always been an advocate of hiring great talent that aligns with the organisation’s values and culture – employees that are able to hit the ground running. In this hyper-growth environment, I aim to empower others to execute their tasks autonomously, providing support and coaching when required.
Setting out a concrete set of KPIs and encouraging my team to think about succession plans to replace themselves from the get-go ensures employees and the business can scale fast.
When you look back at your career what has been the most memorable achievement?
Early in my career, I was in the armed forces and then went into roles in creative industries such as film and television. However, I craved a career that embraced innovation.
I applied for my first sales job as a field salesperson selling telecoms equipment having seen an advert for the role in The Evening Standard. Despite there being more than 100 applicants for the role, I got the job with no prior sales or technology experience. They took a gamble on me, and I’ve never looked back since.
What made you think of a career in technology?
I come from a family who love to experience the latest technology, constantly investing in new gadgets or computer gaming – so I’ve always been interested in innovation and looking ahead to what’s coming next. Technology is always changing and evolving, and I thrive off being a part of such a fast-paced exciting environment.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point for the year ahead?
As employers continue to gain confidence in remote working, they will become much more open to hiring the best talent in the world, no matter where it is. New technologies that enable the hiring of talent include the use of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics. These provide better identification of talent and enable customers to calculate the optimal time for market entry. More workforces are also likely to be paid and managed through digital wallets and next-generation workforce management platforms.
These technologies will enable the continuation of the gig economy: empowering workers to be able to work for anybody regardless of where they are based, as and when it suits them. In the year ahead, I think self-service technology will also become more common. Our own Self-Service Global Expansion Experience, which allows businesses to compliantly grow and manage their global teams in one place, comes at a time in which the Employer of Record industry is increasingly on the rise as the most efficient way for forward-thinking companies to expand their teams globally.
What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work?
I have three children and love to spend time with my family, whether that’s going on holidays (when it was allowed) or biking around local parks. While I enjoy travelling around Europe (again, when it’s permitted once more) to see my favourite bands, at home I am also extremely sporty and enjoy running and playing squash. I am also a part of a volunteer programme which helps refugees find employment, which I find very rewarding.