WHEN A COMPANY is setting up business abroad and expands in a new market, one of many questions is: Do you employ Swedish or local personnel? Even though it is convenient and easy to have Swedes in the new office, there are advantages of hiring local personnel, says both Ekaterina Komarova, Managing Director and partner at Ekaterina Law Consulting AB and Stanislav Guchia, Axis Communications, Russian country manager. To begin with, they know the business culture, the
market and the language. Secondly, you don’t need to spend time getting visas, work permits and accreditation cards (required for foreign citizens employed in representative offices and subsidiaries in Russia).
SWEDISH BASED IT COMPANY Axis Communication is opening a sales office in Moscow, September 11. It has compared pros and cons with hiring Swedish or Russian personnel for the new office.
– The positive thing about hiring Russian personnel is that they know the Russian business mentality and culture. In Russia, it is still hard to find people with good command of English and it is an advantage to have personnel who speaks Russian, says Stanislav Guchia, country manager in Russia and in charge of the new sales office.
Axis Communication believes that there are more advantages in hiring Russian personnel as opposed to transferring Swedish personnel. This makes Stanislav Guchia the only Swede in the new office.
– To have at least one Swede in the foreign office to handle contacts with the head office and make sure everything runs smoothly is good, he concludes.
EVEN THOUGH Stanislav Guchia is born and raised in Russia, he understood the difficulties in finding appropriate Russian personnel.
– It took much longer than I thought. I assumed my Russian contacts
would be sufficient, but in a little while I realised that was not enough.
As a result, Axis Communications called in Ancor, one of the largest recruiting companies in Russia for assistance in finding skilled Russian personnel. Stanislav Guchia’s advice to Swedish companies expanding in Russia is to consult a recruiting company.
– In my experience it is quite hard to find the right personnel in Russia with appropriate education and experience.
EKATERINA KOMAROVA, Managing Director and partner at Ekaterina Law Consulting AB, assists Swedish companies with legal issues related to Russian legislation. She agrees with Stanislav Guchia that it is a good idea to hire a recruiting company when looking for Russian personnel.
– It is getting more and more difficult to find the right people for your company in Russia. Subsequently, I suggest you hire a recruiting company specialised in your area.
Emelie Ring