The world of work is becoming more global than ever, yet many businesses still fail to see global mobility as a strategic asset. A recent survey by Vialto Partners highlights a persistent blind spot among businesses that view global assignments as a logistical headache rather than a tool for talent development and business growth.
To understand how HR leaders can bridge this gap, we spoke with, Eileen Mullaney, Global Leader, Workforce Transformation and Managed Services, Vialto Partners.
Despite clear business pressures, Vialto Partners’ survey indicates that less than a quarter of firms view global mobility strategically. What are the primary reasons for this ongoing ‘blind spot’ in workforce strategy, and what specific steps can HR leaders take to effectively communicate mobility’s value and integrate it into broader business objectives?
Global Mobility teams can demonstrate value by bringing knowledge and insights to the business to help solve resource and talent challenges, as well as delivering innovative ideas for complex mobility scenarios. This starts with Global Mobility groups having a deep understanding of the business unit, including goals, objectives and growth strategy, as well as resourcing plans, which ultimately enable them to bring ideas and solutions to the table which are meaningful and relevant.
Overcoming Data Gaps
The survey highlights a significant data gap, with many teams failing to track key success measures and post-assignment outcomes. What essential metrics should global mobility teams prioritise tracking to demonstrate their strategic impact, and what practical strategies can organisations implement to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting to key stakeholders?
Overall, the critical question is whether the mobility programme is delivering on the organisation’s strategy, in other words, “why” do we have the mobility programme in the first place? Is the objective to support resourcing to meet business requirements, enable the talent agenda using mobility as a lever to build a global talent pool and leadership pipeline, or support the employee value proposition to make mobility opportunities available to all employees? Is it a combination of the three? Once these are clarified, the team can determine data points that will be tracked in order to measure the success of the programme.
Addressing Compliance and Cost Challenges
Compliance and cost management remain persistent top challenges for global mobility teams. In today’s volatile business climate, what innovative approaches or best practices can organisations adopt to navigate complex regulatory landscapes and optimise costs, without compromising the employee experience or limiting strategic talent deployment?
The dynamic regulatory environment and current geopolitical landscape present challenges for Global Mobility teams and broader organisations. Companies across all industry sectors are facing tremendous cost pressures and looking for overall programme efficiency, through an assessment of both policies and operating models. The policy benchmark analysis helps Global Mobility teams identify any “above market” benefits and align to an “at market” policy.
In addition, Global Mobility teams are looking at the overall cost of delivery of the programme and aligning the activity with the most cost-effective “owner” from the internal team location (for example, Corp HR and People Operations/GBS, both onshore and offshore locations) as well as areas for vendor support.
Enhancing Employee Experience in Global Mobility
“Enhancing employee experience” is a core priority for global mobility leaders. From your perspective, what defines a truly excellent and consistent global mobility employee experience, and what practical actions can HR and mobility teams take to deliver this, especially when managing diverse global assignments?
Employee Experience continues to be one of the highest priorities for Global Mobility teams. It is critical for companies to clearly define and articulate what they intend the Employee Experience to be. For example, is it a high-touch, high-tech process with no employee noise? Does the employee feel supported and cared for throughout the process, which “feels” proactive, responsive and empathetic? Or is it an extension of the market differentiated employee (non-mobile) experience? Once defined, the intended experience can be brought to life and operationalised.
“Once defined, the intended experience can be brought to life and operationalised.”
Integrating Mobility with Talent Strategy
Aligning mobility with talent strategy is another key priority identified in the survey. How can global mobility functions evolve beyond simply facilitating moves to become integral partners in an organisation’s talent development, succession planning, and overall workforce agility goals? Could you provide examples of organisations doing this well?
The alignment of the mobility and talent strategy empowers the company to use mobility as a lever to enable the overall talent objectives of the organisation. This begins with the strategy statement and executive framework, from selecting a candidate in the mobility planning phase to identifying and documenting the development objectives for the employee, with the mobility opportunity integrated in the overall mobility approval process.
Progression against these objectives is measured (differing from the performance goals and the annual review process), and ongoing talent reviews for the mobile population become integral parts of the process. Many companies have an effective talent mobility strategy and process, typically driven by the organisation’s talent management evolution.
The Role of Technology and Innovation
Many leaders are looking to introduce new tools and innovation to their mobility programmes. How can emerging technologies, including AI and automation, be strategically leveraged to not only streamline global mobility operations and improve efficiency, but also to provide more insightful data and enhance decision-making for HR and business leaders?
This is a high priority for organisations today, from insights on policies, programme success and better decision making, use cases include:
- Predictive analytics to identify attributes and who is best positioned for employee mobility success.
- Programme data to identify challenges in specific locations, policies and even geopolitical patterns.
- Optimising workforce strategy for resourcing planning.
- Real time monitoring of changes in regulatory requirements for tax, payroll and immigration updates.
- Supporting the employee experience with cultural awareness, language training and even destination content.
- And mobility “assistant” chatbots to answer routine queries and even perform administrative tasks.
“Movement will increase, impacting a larger segment of a company’s workforce, with less traditional mobility and more cross border ‘arrangements.'”
Looking Ahead: The Future of Global Mobility
Looking ahead to the next five years, what do you predict will be the most significant transformations or opportunities for global mobility functions? What advice would you offer to HR and business leaders seeking to ensure their organisations are well-prepared to leverage global mobility as a true competitive advantage?
I expect the pace of change will continue even more rapidly than we have seen before. More specifically:
- Movement will increase, impacting a larger segment of a company’s workforce, with less traditional mobility and more cross border “arrangements.”
- Policies and packages will become global, adopting a “global where we can, local where we must” mindset, focused on simpler, less prescriptive approaches to policy, heavy use of cash or bundled allowances, coupled with an increasing focus on package differentiation concerning mobility investment (based on the driver of the move).
- Programme baselines will increasingly ensure global risks and compliance are managed and employee duty of care is fulfilled.
- Expanded “lean but loaned” operating models focused on hyper-efficiency.
Companies can leverage global mobility as a true competitive advantage by embracing changing employee and business expectations, communicating the value of mobility to the organisation and ultimately demonstrating how these experiences are leveraged by the company.
By embracing these strategic shifts, HR and business leaders can transform global mobility from a logistical necessity into a powerful driver of talent development and competitive advantage, ensuring their organisations are well-prepared for the future of work.