Global Mobility Leader, Technology Sector

I find one of the important attributes of the RES Forum is its involvement in academic studies and commentary on Global Mobility. Central to this is the access they provide to thought leaders and researchers such as Michael Dickmann, Benjamin Bader and Rodrigo Mello.

This article and its associated research give us important insights into how global mobility is evolving and how this has speeded up as a result of the pandemic.

Global Mobility leadership and specialists have been piecing together a broader view of the interdependencies we now face in terms of meeting post-pandemic employee expectations on location-agnostic work arrangements. We have also been gathering insight into the added complexities (human and regulatory) of running a cross-border mobility programs, while managing costs in a more challenging economic environment.

Just as there has been increased social acceptance and familiarity with remote work, there has also been increased acceptance that contact between clients and vendors need not be in person. This reduced expectation for face-to-face meetings will widen the pool of talent available to attend those meetings. This means that, whilst we will see less business travel some key personnel may relocate or take long-term assignments to a time zone that will facilitate their attendance at virtual meetings during regular (or at least daytime) business hours.

The difficulties faced by assignees and their families during the pandemic has highlighted the remaining role for human interaction and reassurance amongst all the self-service portals and chatbots. So, notwithstanding the investment in technology to assist in program management and service delivery, a need for personalised assignee reassurance will continue.

Following the drop in assignments during the pandemic it will make those who have been on assignment more valuable. The experience and soft skills that come from an international assignment is a valuable commodity and there may be a diminishing pool of talent with this characteristic, at least until assignment volumes return. So, those companies who are better able to plan for employee retention and proactively cherish those employees will enjoy a distinct competitive advantage.

RES Forum commentary

This is from the RES Forum’s commentary on a piece of research exploring a potential paradigm shift in Global Mobility. Written by GLOMO – Global Mobility of Employees, part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 project, the research shares the insight of senior GM professionals on the impact covid-19 has had on our industry.

Get your copy of the RES Forum’s companion paper, here: theresforum.com/annual-report