Where do you start when know-how and time are scarce resources in your company?
1. Start out with the business case
– why, what, where, who and when. If you are a manager, do not underestimate the importance of this step! This step in the process will be the main driver for the assignment and most likely the start of repatriation discussions sometime in the future. Let your Global Mobility Consult ask questions and possibly challenge your preliminary decisions. By allowing this, you will be given a golden opportunity to adjust any challenges in the set-up upfront.
2. Before you promise your employee things you possibly can’t keep, make an overview of benefits, to-do’s, responsibilities and an attempted timeline for all stakeholders together with your Global Mobility Consultant.
Ask your Global Mobility Consultant to provide the information in an easy-to-understand format and make sure you as a manager have a solid understanding of what is coming your way.
3. Invite the future assignee and partner for a briefing with a Global Mobility Consultant.
Involve them from the beginning and make it clear that everything you do in the process concerns them! Focus on the employee experience and be pragmatic about compliance topics. Compliance topics such as tax, immigration and social security are hygiene factors in Global Mobility and do not as such provide motivation and happiness for the employee and his or her family. Compliance topics need to be handled professionally. Employee experience is about acknowledging and embracing the people aspect of an international assignment and all the feelings, dilemmas and compromises it entails.
4. Time to get started! Leave it to the Global Mobility Consultant to coordinate and manage the overall process together with the assignee and external providers.
Too many chefs in the kitchen will spoil the broth – the same goes for Global Mobility processes.
From an expertise and knowledge perspective, Global Mobility requires a unique skill set. For many companies, it does not make sense to retain that skill set in-house. If you do not have an in-house Global Mobility Consultant with sufficient experience and knowledge, we recommend bringing in an external provider, who has the professional experience to ensure that you do not overlook important topics.
5. Once your assignee has left for the Host Country, make it a habit to stay in touch and start the repatriation discussions in due time.
Although an employee has spent several years on international assignments, the repatriation often turns out to be the most difficult challenge of all. Ironically, many people are fully capable of adapting to their new Host Countries, but they have severe difficulties re-adapting when returning home. Here, professional coaching can be a help for the employee as well as for you as a manager.
Good luck with your international assignments. They are normally worth the effort and with smart management you will have a unique opportunity to grow business as well as global employees!
Where do you start when know-how and time are scarce resources in your company?
1. Start out with the business case
– why, what, where, who and when. If you are a manager, do not underestimate the importance of this step! This step in the process will be the main driver for the assignment and most likely the start of repatriation discussions sometime in the future. Let your Global Mobility Consult ask questions and possibly challenge your preliminary decisions. By allowing this, you will be given a golden opportunity to adjust any challenges in the set-up upfront.
2. Before you promise your employee things you possibly can’t keep, make an overview of benefits, to-do’s, responsibilities and an attempted timeline for all stakeholders together with your Global Mobility Consultant.
Ask your Global Mobility Consultant to provide the information in an easy-to-understand format and make sure you as a manager have a solid understanding of what is coming your way.
3. Invite the future assignee and partner for a briefing with a Global Mobility Consultant.
Involve them from the beginning and make it clear that everything you do in the process concerns them! Focus on the employee experience and be pragmatic about compliance topics. Compliance topics such as tax, immigration and social security are hygiene factors in Global Mobility and do not as such provide motivation and happiness for the employee and his or her family. Compliance topics need to be handled professionally. Employee experience is about acknowledging and embracing the people aspect of an international assignment and all the feelings, dilemmas and compromises it entails.
4. Time to get started! Leave it to the Global Mobility Consultant to coordinate and manage the overall process together with the assignee and external providers.
Too many chefs in the kitchen will spoil the broth – the same goes for Global Mobility processes.
From an expertise and knowledge perspective, Global Mobility requires a unique skill set. For many companies, it does not make sense to retain that skill set in-house. If you do not have an in-house Global Mobility Consultant with sufficient experience and knowledge, we recommend bringing in an external provider, who has the professional experience to ensure that you do not overlook important topics.
5. Once your assignee has left for the Host Country, make it a habit to stay in touch and start the repatriation discussions in due time.
Although an employee has spent several years on international assignments, the repatriation often turns out to be the most difficult challenge of all. Ironically, many people are fully capable of adapting to their new Host Countries, but they have severe difficulties re-adapting when returning home. Here, professional coaching can be a help for the employee as well as for you as a manager.
Good luck with your international assignments. They are normally worth the effort and with smart management you will have a unique opportunity to grow business as well as global employees!