By Alice Burks, Director of People Success at Deel
Workplaces have evolved beyond the office, with hybrid and remote models now central to how businesses operate. Remote and hybrid working is no longer just emergency measures or an experimental perk – they’re a core expectation for employees and a strategic priority for businesses. Yet while many organisations have already embraced distributed teams, more are still looking to expand flexible options to attract and retain talent. For HR, this creates a new challenge: ensuring compliance, connection, and consistency across a workforce that may never share the same office.
The complexity of distributed HR
Managing a workforce spread across borders brings a host of practical and legal challenges. From dealing with different local labour rules to making sure payroll and benefits are accurate and on time, HR teams often find themselves working with many systems, languages, and sets of regulations. Hybrid work can be even more difficult to coordinate than fully remote arrangements, since expectations and routines vary from person to person.
One way to handle these challenges is to bring payroll, HR records, legal compliance, and benefits together into a single, easy-to-use system. With the right tools, HR teams can support all types of workers, from contractors, employees, or freelancers, across multiple countries without getting lost in paperwork. This straightforward approach cuts down on tedious tasks and helps teams keep up with rule changes and important deadlines.
Compliance: the invisible barrier to global hiring
One of the biggest issues facing HR leaders is making sure their company follows the rules, especially as these can change quickly. Laws like IR35 in the UK, GDPR rules in Europe, or visa requirements in the US can create confusion and headaches. If a company slips up, it could face fines, hurt its reputation, or have to put business on hold.
Deel’s Compliance Hub helps companies keep up with these changing rules. It checks for new laws, sends reminders about possible problems, and includes tools like the Entity Cost Calculator, which helps businesses plan when they want to hire people in new places. For companies like Zerve AI, Deel’s system made it possible to hire people in five different countries and keep all HR, equity, and performance details in one place.
Efficiency through automation and integration
Efficiency is about making things easier, not just faster. Deel helps HR teams cut down on repetitive work by automating processes like hiring, paying employees, and tracking their progress. This means teams can spend more time on important tasks instead of paperwork.
Deel also works smoothly with other tools such as Hubstaff, making it simple to keep track of hours and manage employees in different countries. For example, TXOne, a cybersecurity company, used Deel to organise 75+ employees in 14 European countries. By relying on Deel’s support for local rules and paperwork, TXOne was able to add more staff every year and lower its costs for hiring new people.
Employee experience: the human side of HR tech
Technology alone isn’t the answer. Keeping a positive company culture when people work in different places means making an effort to connect and communicate clearly. Using tools like Slack and Teams as virtual gathering spaces helps people feel part of the team even when they aren’t together in person. When companies merge or bring in new staff, it is vital to make sure they feel included and supported, not just trained for their job. This personal approach helps everyone feel valued, wherever they work.
Real-world impact: from startups to enterprises
Deel works with over 35,000 businesses, from small startups to large companies. For many companies, this support means they can hire and pay people around the world without confusion. Zerve AI, for example, was able to manage all its employees on one system, making budgeting, hiring, and tracking progress easier and clearer. With Deel, teams can understand their costs, welcome new staff smoothly, and keep their records organised as they grow.
There is also the tangible benefit of employee retention. Streamlined HR processes create a positive candidate experience and build trust, making it easier to attract and retain top talent. By reducing administrative burdens, HR teams can be allowed to focus on engagement and support, which boosts employee satisfaction and loyalty.
A New Era for HR
As workplaces change, HR teams need practical tools and approaches to stay organised, follow the rules, and keep people connected. Deel’s straightforward platform and experience learnt from operating in over 150 countries make it a leader in streamlining HR effectively.
By simplifying workflows, removing unnecessary steps, and maintaining a personal touch, HR teams can support global staff more effectively and stay focused on what truly matters: people.
Alice Burks
Alice is Director of People Success at Deel, the all-in-one payroll and HR platform for global teams. She has a decade of experience in people leadership spanning both in-house and consulting roles. She has previously worked for high-growth startups, including the Danish unicorn Trustpilot, as well as with global clients across industries such as IT, manufacturing, and retail. At Deel, she owns the delivery of our people success strategy, impacting results across every stage of the team member journey: from new hire onboarding to leadership development, as well as performance and engagement initiatives.
