Incorporating global mobility assessment and selection tools into an organization’s talent management strategy is a productivity, retention, and cost savings measure that should not be overlooked. A recent session at Worldwide ERC’s Global Symposium, highlighted how talent management can be impacted dramatically by management and cultural differences.

Participants in the session learned from industry experts why assessment and selection tools are important for the ROI of international assignments and more. However, a survey of session participants revealed the use of candidate assessment and selection tools was spotty among corporate attendees.  As may be expected, cultural differences will play heavily when considering the approach taken in various global regions. The session presenters provided a framework for managing employee populations, particularly when cultural differences come into play.

RELO Direct® sees many organizations struggling striking a balance between the equally important components of candidate, location, and timing. Furthermore, an understanding of the need to have qualified candidates rather than simply “filling a spot” is critical to assignment success. The cost of sending the wrong candidate on assignment can be substantial for any organization, in terms of both losses of revenue and employee productivity. Additionally, when an assignment fails, the resulting failed business initiatives and the costs of sending the assignee home are also substantial. The careful assessment and selection of the proper candidate up-front are critical steps in any global assignment program to avoiding these costs.

RELO Direct® supports a holistic approach to candidate selection, and carefully evaluating each applicant to assess if it is the right time in their career development for the assignment. Other factors also need to be considered such as their family, situation communication skills, and ability to adapt to a new culture. Keep in mind, the attribute of being a strong leader in one culture may not be an asset in the host culture. By carefully assessing all of these variables, corporations increase the opportunity for an assignment’s success.

Is the evaluation and selection of candidates for global assignments part of your responsibilities? If it is, and you are using instruments to measure adaptability and suitability for international assignments, please visit our comments section to share what tools and programs you are having success with.

Posted by:  Mary Dougherty

The cover story of Mobility magazine’s March issue examines how employee mobility fits into an organization’s talent management puzzle. This, in our opinion, is very good news. An informed transferee is an empowered transferee, and giving an employee the tools to make educated decisions about both career and financial issues results in greater move acceptance and employee satisfaction. RELO Direct® has long advocated that employee mobility is an important component of an organization’s workforce strategy. In fact, RELO Direct® recommended this strategy in 2008, as part of our innovative RELOAssess program. We first proposed this strategy in response to what RELO Direct® saw as an overall softening of the real estate market and the growing reluctance to relocate by employees, fearing for their financial security.

However, the second component of our program has not gained as much media attention. This is ironic, as we believe that it actually has greater potential to align talent management and relocation, while saving time and cost in recruiting and relocation.

Conventional wisdom holds that a Guaranteed Buyout program is a “last resort”, to be offered only after the transferee has completed a mandatory marketing period. But these are not conventional times, and a reexamination of commonly held assumptions is in order. RELOAssess turns this model on its head, by offering a Guaranteed Buyout upfront, at the outset of the transferee’s relocation. For some, this is viewed as breakthrough thinking and a real paradigm shift. Properly positioned in policy and executed as a talent management tool, not just a last resort real estate disposition tool, an immediate implementation of a Guaranteed Buyout actually offers the potential for cost savings, realized through fewer exceptions to policy for temporary living, return trips, duplicate housing, etc. Hiring the right candidates who have been assessed as capable of being relocated upfront, will also save countless hours in recruiting and lower recruiting cost.

To be sure, this component of our program has begun to be adopted by corporations looking to balance employee mobility, talent management and cost concerns, and we predict that many more will do so in the near future. You can download our entire RELOAssess white paper to learn more here.

Posted by:  Bob Portale

RELO Direct^® hosts and co-sponsors the Global Mobility Roundtable of Southeastern Michigan. Since 2001, this Roundtable has served as a leading educational and networking opportunity for HR professionals who are responsible for managing domestic and international relocation programs. With about 60 corporate participants, the organization meets quarterly to discuss relocation trends, challenges and issues in the management of relocation programs.

Recently, at the request of one automotive company where current business conditions are prompting an immediate review of the domestic policy, a request was sent to automotive companies in the Roundtable to learn what current practices are in place and what changes are being considered to current policies. The economy was the driver for the survey and managing home sale disposition programs was the primary focus.

Are discussions underway, or being considered, for your company's relocation policies and programs?  If so, you may find the white paper, titled the State of the Relocation Industry and Introducing a Paradigm Shift for The Effective Alignment of Relocation and Talent Management Programs, of interest.

Here, you will find:

1. The history of relocation programs and the relevance of history to making informed policy decisions today
2. Why Talent Management and Relocation programs are closely related, but far apart in practice, and why many relocation polices today are not supportive of business strategies with talent management
3. What companies are doing and have been doing in down markets for decades with the challenging question of "Are we helping or hurting the situation?"
4. With the current industry situation defined, a creative solution is presented as a "paradigm shift" to current thinking, offering a new model in relocation policy and practice. This proactive and expedited relocation model addresses ongoing issues with program costs, transferee reluctance to relocate, productivity and talent management strategies.

We hope you find the paper of interest. We are available to answer any questions you may have about utilizing this concept for your company.  Contact us for more details.