Global Mobility: How does a strategic approach succeed?

The role of Global Mobility is evolving from an operational to a strategic function. This was clearly demonstrated at the latest human resources round table. In the discussion with experts from various industries and disciplines, it became clear how companies can use the topic as an impulse for their international orientation, business development and talent acquisition – but also what challenges they face in doing so.

Global Mobility as a central business process interface

In many companies, the Global Mobility department has traditionally been anchored primarily as an operational function – responsible for foreign assignments and related administrative questions about compliance, relocation, visas, reporting obligations or insurance. However, this traditional understanding is increasingly falling short. Several participants emphasized that international employee mobility these days – especially in larger organizations – should sensibly be embedded in central business processes: from globally oriented recruiting to market development and location decisions.

Why global mobility is gaining strategic importance

When asked why global mobility should become strategically important, those present pointed to various aspects: First of all, companies that want to grow internationally simply rely more and more on using skills and talent across borders. After all, competition no longer stops at the national front door.

In addition, experienced global mobility teams often have a unique perspective within the company: they have knowledge of local labor markets, regulatory requirements and cultural peculiarities as well as know-how on operational implementation issues. This combination predestines the function to help shape strategic decisions.

However, according to the tenor of the discussion, this understanding of roles has not yet been fully established in many places. It is not uncommon for relevant teams to only be involved when problems arise when employees are deployed abroad – for example in the event of regulatory violations or in endangered or already failed assignments. Sensitivity is indeed growing. In some companies, however, a reactive understanding of tasks still exists. Against this background, it is more than recommended to integrate global mobility into planning at an early stage – figuratively speaking, to carry out fire protection proactively so that you don’t have to call the fire department later.

“In an ideal situation, the global mobility department within the company is seen as an enabler to get people and talent to the right places as quickly as possible.”

Cornelia Hai-Wen Renis-König, Senior Manager Global Employer Services/Global Workforce Consulting, Deloitte Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Proactive integration instead of reactive action

In order to actually bring to life a role for Global Mobility that is more closely aligned with the company’s goals, the group saw two promising approaches in particular: on the one hand, to anchor appropriate teams as an interface between HR, business development and other stakeholders and, on the other hand, to emphasize their concrete value contribution.

From the perspective of the discussants, it is helpful as a first step to proactively cultivate your image internally. The aim is to position global mobility teams in the organization in such a way that they are no longer seen as a necessary administrative evil that presumably slows down projects with regulatory requirements, but rather as an enabler and catalyst that makes international expansion possible in the first place.

Additionally, it would be helpful to move away from seeing global mobility as a separate entity, otherwise there would be a risk that access to strategic topics would remain limited. In order to achieve this, it is important to network better within the company and with management and to maintain this network regularly. Examples from practice show that this is bearing fruit, participants reported.

“Global mobility belongs at the table right from the start – not just when everything has been decided.”

Omer Dotou, Head of Global Mobility Services, BDAE Consult

Make value contribution measurable

In order to better document the value contribution of one’s own actions, experts say it is essential to actively communicate the impact of global mobility on overall success. However, pure compliance arguments usually fall short. What is needed is a clear presentation of the business benefits – for example using indicators such as faster market development, more efficient talent management, risk minimization or higher employee satisfaction.

However, a differentiated approach must be taken in this context. While project-related assignments can be calculated relatively clearly in terms of return on investment, effects such as employee retention or employer attractiveness can only be measured indirectly.

Flexibility instead of standardization: modular posting models

The experts at the roundtable observed a change not only in strategic questions, but also in terms of the design of secondments: Due, among other things, to the unstable situation in many regions of the world, it has recently been observed in a number of industries that classic long-term secondments are on the decline. This does not apply in all areas. Alternative models such as short-term assignments, project-related stays or hybrid forms of work are still on the rise – also due to increasing digitalization.

This development is also being encouraged by increased cost pressure and changing expectations of employees. Many people today are less willing to go abroad long-term or expect individually tailored solutions.

This means that traditional, highly standardized mobility policies sometimes reach their limits from the participants’ perspective. Several of them reported that companies are therefore increasingly relying on flexible frameworks. Instead of highly differentiated sets of rules, principles and modular approaches come to the fore.

The crux of the matter for global mobility teams: They are faced with the challenge of both meeting changing requirements and ensuring fairness and compliance. The balance between individualization and standardization thus becomes a central task.

“Companies should ensure that their policies contain flexible components and at the same time enable the law to be implemented correctly.”

Heike Bathke, Head of Global Mobility Services Germany, Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

New requirements for skills for global mobility

According to the round table discussion, this development is also changing the role profile of Global Mobility. In addition to technical expertise, consulting and communication skills are increasingly in demand.

Specifically, mobility managers would need to understand business requirements more deeply and involve stakeholders in order to develop solutions that are both economically and regulatory viable. The resulting pressure for transformation is by no means trivial, as many teams have traditionally been strongly focused on compliance and standardization.

“Global mobility managers need to take diversity aspects into account even more – such as cultural aspects and sexual orientation.”

Markus Kurth, Global Mobility Practice Lead Germany & Austria , Mercer Deutschland GmbH

Geopolitics: How does it influence global mobility?

In addition to general geopolitical and economic developments, global mobility teams are currently being put under additional strain by another aspect: the outbreak of wars in the Near and Middle East. The experts reported in unison that this had complex operational consequences. Ultimately, it is also crucially important to ensure the safety of employees who are posted or stranded on vacation. It is important to act quickly, flexibly and carefully.

In order to be best prepared if the worst comes to the worst, the group advocated setting up structured crisis management or improving it for the future.

The core topics are:

• Clearly defined contingency plans in advance and emergency support to look after employees in unsafe regions.
• The ability to react in crisis situations – such as political conflicts or sudden travel restrictions – becomes a crucial success factor.
• When a crisis scenario occurs, companies must make time-critical decisions that take both legal and welfare aspects into account.

AI supports, but personal support remains important

According to the participants, operational work is ultimately increasingly influenced by technological innovations. Artificial intelligence and digitalization are playing a growing role, but are viewed in a differentiated manner. While the fields of application of AI in the strategic area are often still limited, there are clear efficiency gains in operational processes.

Promising examples are therefore:

• Chatbots for standard queries
• automated evaluations
• Support with data analysis.

These applications relieve teams and create capacity for consulting-intensive tasks.

In other areas, however, caution should still be exercised when using it, particularly with regard to liability, data protection and susceptibility to errors. AI is therefore currently seen primarily as a supporting tool and in no way as a replacement for technical expertise and judgment. The primacy of personal, person-to-person care therefore applies without restriction, particularly in sensitive areas such as (social) insurance issues or health concerns of ex-pats and posted employees.

“Despite all the possibilities of AI, the focus must be on service and person-to-person conversations with empathy for the situation.”

Gisela Baum, Sales Director International Health Insurance, AXA Group AG

Global Mobility: From cost center to strategic growth partner

Global mobility is at a turning point. The function is gaining strategic importance, but at the same time has to reposition itself. Flexibility, networking and a clear value argument become crucial success factors.

A consensus is emerging: the importance of international employee mobility will continue to increase. The question is less whether global mobility will become strategic – but rather how quickly companies will shape this change.

Frank Strankmann is an editor and writes offline and online. His focus is on the topics of labor law, co-determination and regulation. He is also responsible for other projects for media brands from FAZ Business Media GmbH.