It’s often said that your people are your biggest asset. Although some people disagree with this idea, the importance of human capital to your business can’t be understated. In fact, some people go to the opposite extreme, suggesting the only thing that sets you apart from your competitors is your people.

Once you’ve gone to the work of hiring someone, you want to make sure they stay on your team. After all, you spent time considering why they were the right fit for your organization. If they leave soon after, it will cost you in many ways.

In the current market, it’s also more difficult to replace talent. Talent shortages have started cropping up in some markets, and falling unemployment rates in places like Canada and the United States have meant there are fewer people searching for jobs.

You have plenty of reason to retain the people you’ve already hired. Doing so can be difficult, even when you’re overseeing the day-to-day operations in the office. What happens when your employees are in another country altogether?

These five talent retention strategies will help you keep international employees on your roster.

1. Trust Is the Basis of All Talent Retention Strategies

If you want your employees to stick with you, you have to show you trust them. While this is true for all employers, it’s particularly true when your employees are located in a different country.

If you’re constantly checking in or smothering employee attempts at independence, your employees will quickly become dissatisfied and move on. Treat your employees like the talented, intelligent professionals they are. Allow them to exercise some of their better judgement.

2. Give Employees Room to Grow

One way to demonstrate your trust in an employee is to invest in their career development and growth. Sign them up for a workshop on improving their sales skills or assist them by providing a mentor.

You can also assign employees to new tasks. This challenges them to continue learning. It also demonstrates that you have faith in their ability to master new skills and succeed in an expanded role or with new responsibilities.

3. Focus on Communication

How do you communicate with your employees, particularly those who are located in another country?

Communication should be a key pillar of your talent retention strategies. Focus on how you talk to your employees. You should ask them to voice their concerns or offer feedback. Encourage them to table new ideas.

You need excellent communication with those employees living and working in another country. They’re the only ones who can tell you what’s happening in the business and what they’re seeing on the ground. Fostering open and honest communication helps employees feel valued.

4. Respect Cultural Differences

One big stumbling block for international employers is adjusting to local expectations and cultural norms. Even Canada and the US have quite different business cultures.

Take, for example, communication standards. Americans are more likely to value being concise and direct. Canadians prefer small talk and consensus building. They’re more likely to see it as polite. This can sometimes cause animosity and confusion. Americans may want their Canadian counterparts to get to the point, while Canadians can sometimes see American-style missives as borderline rude.

Keep these sorts of cultural differences in mind whenever you deal with employees in another country. Being aware of differences and adjusting for them will help your employees feel more like part of the team.

5. Give Employees a Sense of Purpose

Today’s workforce is looking for meaning in work. They want their work to have a purpose, even if it may not change the world. Help your employees build a sense of purpose, and they’ll be more likely to stick with your company for the long term.

Talent retention strategies are wide and varied. These few can help you work towards higher retention for your international operations.