Talent mobility professionals face a daily challenge: how to strike a delicate balance between meeting company objectives, ensuring associate satisfaction, controlling costs, and complying with legal, tax, and immigration regulations. There are a variety of mobility program models to address relocation, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some are too rigid, extending options to assignees that they may never use. Others are far too flexible, increasing expenses and the likelihood of exceptions. To find a middle ground, McCune and Bajwa suggest a series of action steps to relocation managers, including:
- Establishing concrete policies before determining specific areas where flexibility will be allowed
- Designing plans that are:
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- consistent with the level of other company benefits
- reflective of company goals
- Being consistent with the overall company culture
- Defining a philosophy on exceptions
- Knowing the company’s associate population
- Collaborating with suppliers that echo the company’s relocation philosophy
All companies have different objectives, cultures and associates, each of which impacts their mobility needs. Therefore, as they look to the future, it’s important to see the talent mobility function as a strategic partnership, recognize that a one-size-fits-all model is no longer sufficient, and remember that relocation policies need to be as diverse as the employee population they serve.
For more information – and details on the bullet points above – please visit: http://mobility.worldwideerc.org/publication/?m=46257&l=1#{“issue_id”:523095,”page”:48}
You can also view the article in the September edition of Mobility (pages 44-47) or in the publications section of SIRVA.com.