A deeper dive into the results
Mobility strategy
Over 54 percent of the companies recognized that the limited capacity of their mobility team could impede the successful implementation of crucial programmatic changes, while 50 percent indicated costs and 44 percent indicated leadership buy-in as barriers to achieving their priorities. To overcome these obstacles, mobility teams must reevaluate internal tasks and consider leveraging technology and external vendors to optimize their capacity.
The perception of mobility teams is undergoing a transformation, yet there is still room for improvement to be recognized as strong business partners. Only 15 percent of leadership perceive their mobility teams as strategic and value-adding, while 58 percent view them as being compliance focused and 44 percent as being operational in nature. There is a stronger focus on mobility teams supporting business and employees.
Top 3 barriers to achieving mobility priorities
Team capacity
Costs
Leadership buy-in and sponsorship
Top 3 leadership perceptions of mobility teams
Compliance focused
Operational
Business focused
Focus on flexibility and differentiation—key changes companies are making:
39 percent of companies are looking at policies as a main priority, almost half the companies (48%) are looking to simplify their policies and how they communicate them, and 40 percent are looking to create policies for non-traditional mobility.
More flexibility for the business
More personal support for employees
Differentiate investment based on driver
Enhance family support
Scope and policy
The trend toward agile working continues, highlighting the significance of short-term international remote work and virtual assignments. Companies, however, still place a strong emphasis on in-person interaction and collaboration, with more than 75 percent expressing that the majority of moves will remain consistent or even rise.
While it is clear that the world of mobility is embracing newer move types, many of the mobility types likely to grow in frequency over the next two years are typically unsupported by policies.
companies are looking to create policies for ‘newer move types’. These include: virtual assignments (55%), long-term international remote working (40%), global nomads (36%), short-term international remote working (31%), and business travellers (29%).
Top 5 move types companies have today:
As cost awareness remains, in particular international transfers continue to gain popularity and numbers are up 17 percent from 2018.
Top 5 move types expected to increase in two years
With a renewed focus on alignment with talent mobility, more companies than ever are now expecting increases in talent swaps (53% compared to 18% in 2018) and early in career moves (50% compared to 12% in 2018).
Managing mobility
As mobility evolves, teams must handle a broader range of move types. Our findings indicate that, in addition to the traditional move types, nearly half of companies now also own virtual assignments (47%), short-term (47%), and long-term international remote working (51%)—all of which are expected to see significant growth in the next two years.
Companies must explore technology, vendors, and process improvements to increase efficiency and reduce pressure on mobility teams.
Delivery of mobility activities
of companies expect a decrease in the level of activities to be performed by an in-house team.
Today, more than half of the companies state the in-house team delivers over 50 percent of all mobility related activities.
Companies in the future are looking either to leverage technology (46%, see below) or increase the work delivered by outsourced providers (23%)—or offshore (12%).
Structure of the global mobility support model:
46% of companies are looking to increase the use of technology in their end-to-end mobility lifecycle. Currently, more than half of companies leverage technology to deliver less than 25 percent of activities.
Limited use of technology to support the employee
Today, more than 41 percent of companies state they do not use technology to enhance the employee experience—companies that do use this state it is not particularly innovative.
But…changes in technology applications are coming fast
In 2018, only 4 percent of companies stated they use innovative technology to support employee experience, compared to 46 percent today—in two years time this will increase to 63 percent.
Sharing and providing information digitally
Less than 50 percent of companies have implemented or are looking to implement a more digital approach to sharing information, in particular: HR Briefings (57%), Interactive mobility documents (72%), and tracking progress of their move (51%).
Managing mobility
As mobility evolves, teams must handle a broader range of move types. Our findings indicate that, in addition to the traditional move types, nearly half of companies now also own virtual assignments (47%), short-term (47%), and long-term international remote working (51%)—all of which are expected to see significant growth in the next two years.
Companies must explore technology, vendors, and process improvements to increase efficiency and reduce pressure on mobility teams.
Delivery of mobility activities
of companies expect a decrease in the level of activities to be performed by an in-house team.
Today, more than half of the companies state the in-house team delivers over 50% of all mobility related activities.
Companies in the future are looking either to leverage technology (46%, see below) or increase the work delivered by outsourced providers (23%)—or offshore (12%).
Structure of the global mobility support model:
46% of companies are looking to increase the use of technology in their end-to-end mobility lifecycle. Currently, more than half of companies leverage technology to deliver more than 25 percent of activities.
Limited use of technology to support the employee
Today, more than 41 percent of companies state they do not use technology to enhance the employee experience—companies that do use this state it is not particularly innovative.
But…changes in technology applications are coming fast
In 2018, only 4 percent of companies stated they use innovative technology to support employee experience, compared to 46 percent today—in two years time this will increase to 63 percent.
Sharing and providing information digitally
Less than 50 percent of companies have implemented (or are looking to implement) a more digital approach to sharing information, in particular: HR Briefings (57%), Interactive mobility documents (72%), and tracking progress of their move (51%).
Employee experience
Some of the key career barriers that hold employees back from taking up an international opportunity are:
- What their role would be upon return
- No appropriate opportunities made available
- Potential negative impact / no impact on their career upon return
Some of the key personal barriers that hold employees back from taking up an international opportunity are:
- Potential impact on family life
- Potential negative impact on partner's career
- Impact on children's education
Repatriation support is key
Only 38 percent of companies have a plan in place for role upon repatriation at least 6‒12 months in advance.
Family plays a deciding factor. 81 percent of companies request feedback from employees, however less than 7 percent of companies focus on the experience of the wider family.
Importance of feedback
Many companies find themselves uncertain about where to begin or which aspects to prioritize when looking to enhance the employee experience.
Conducting a pulse check can allow companies to gain insight into the overall experience, challenges, and concerns that their mobile employees (and their families) may be facing.
While the majority of companies currently obtain feedback from their employees, only 23 percent of companies state they currently use the feedback from mobile employees to make changes.
Spotlight on initiatives that matter most
Previous research indicated that over 50 percent of companies who allocated a buddy in host country and provided cultural training saw significant improvements to their employee experience. More companies are implementing these initiatives since 2018—buddy in host country grew from 16 percent to 25 percent, and cultural training from 27 percent to 55 percent.
Frequency and type of feedback obtained across key stakeholder groups:
of companies obtain feedback from their employees—either at specific stages (48%), monthly (45%), quarterly (12%), or yearly (17%)
of companies state they are using 1:1 interviews to obtain feedback. Vendor and internal surveys are equally used
Only
of companies obtain feedback from the employee 6 months after the assignment has finished
of companies state they don't obtain feedback from key stakeholders
Talent
Our research shows that mobility can significantly contribute to building a robust pool of future leaders. This is achieved by providing support and creating opportunities for employees to acquire global expertise, demonstrate their ability to thrive in diverse cultures, and lead diverse teams.
47 percent of companies strongly agree that they offer international experience as a way to attract and develop talent; showcasing the positive impact and championing the benefits therefore will become increasingly more important.
Moving people into the right roles at the right time is crucial to support the wider talent and business strategies. Yet, only 17 percent of all companies do this today.
While there is consensus that mobility needs to align closer with talent, few companies feel that they succeed at it.
A quarter of companies shared that one of their key priorities for 2023 and beyond is to become more purposeful in who they move and why.
To accomplish this, mobility teams need to partner with the business to gain a deeper understanding of the required skills, reasons, and durations for employee moves. Companies can ensure purposeful and successful relocations by implementing suitable initiatives at the pre-planning stage of the international mobility lifecycle.
of companies indicated that over 50 percent of their executive leadership and C-suite have international experience. This is significantly higher for some companies—e.g., within the Energy, Utilities and Mining sector, 24 percent of companies stated almost all of their board have international experience.
of companies agree or strongly agree that the executive leaders champion the benefits of international experience. Reinforcement from the top is essential for fostering a global workforce and driving international mobility efforts.
of companies stated that having an international experience is a prerequisite for promotion to senior roles in the organization—an increase of 34 percent from 2018 suggesting the importance of being able to demonstrate the ability to operate successfully will only increase.
Delivering successful outcomes
What gets measured, gets done
It’s becoming increasingly important for mobility leaders and teams to engage with leadership and share data and information, to empower leaders to make more informed decisions. Obtaining accurate and complete data—is the first step in enabling mobility teams to do so. While we have seen significant improvements of the use of data since 2018—mobility teams and leaders have a long way to go to be able to use data effectively to help make informed decisions.
Reporting abilities
of companies (strongly) agreed they are able to report on key metrics of their mobility program.
And...
of companies (strongly) agreed that they have access to the right data to manage their mobile employees, globally—an increase from 44 percent in 2018.
Understanding costs
of companies (strongly) agreed they are able to quantify the total cost of their mobility program (an increase from 13 percent in 2018).
However...
of companies state they do not report on the actual costs of the move against budget.
Tracking career outcomes
of companies (strongly) agreed they track, review, and measure the success of the assignment at the end.
And only...
of companies state they currently measure the percentage of mobile employees who leave the company within two years.
Diversity and inclusion
It’s becoming increasingly important for employees—especially future leaders—to have international experience, so it stands to reason that it’s essential for mobility programs to be accessible and available to a diverse range of people. 26 percent of mobile population are female across all industries. And, only 14 percent of companies currently put forward initiatives to increase the diversity of their mobile population. This is in an increase from 7 percent in 2018.
Average percentage of mobile population that are female by industry:
Purpose-led global mobility
Sustainability is an increasingly important topic for all companies. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues such as net-zero emissions goals and strategies are top-of-mind for executives and stakeholders around the world and also place a different demand on mobility programs. Where today, 34 percent of companies do not look at sustainability of their mobility program yet, in two years time this will reduce to only 10 percent. Mobility teams are increasingly planning to look at a variety of sustainability initiatives including those focused on policy (36%), impact (37%), and flexibility (36%).
