Modern careers are no longer drawn by national boundaries. Success in today’s interconnected world depends on building large global capabilities and networks, most often acquired by working across borders.
This helps companies match supply and demand, and develops a generation of future leaders with global competencies and networks.
Companies and HR managers now face new challenges fostering and managing talent mobility at their companies.
From globalisation and increasing compliance complexity to developments in cloud computing for HR and new demographics of employees, it is more important than ever for businesses to align their global mobility strategy with their business and talent management objectives.
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According to research by Deloitte, 75% of companies expect to increase their population of mobile employees in the next three to five years, but just 2% of companies currently consider their global mobility function world class.
In an era of global talent, people and skills continue to move fluidly between cities, countries and continents. This is driving an increase in the number of people that companies move globally and the next workforce generation is not only eager to move abroad, but expect to.
By 2025, Millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce, and according to PwC there will be 50% growth in global mobility by 2020.
Born amid rapid globalisation and technological advancement, these 70 million people bring with them a global perspective, attachment to technology and desire for autonomy that will fundamentally change global mobility at global organisations.
Another PwC study found that when Millennials were asked, 71% said they wanted and expected an overseas assignment during their career.
As this new workforce grows, a greater percentage of people will work abroad, creating more diversity in talent pools and overall higher levels of talent mobility.
Companies must understand that unlike other generations, they crave personal and professional growth, and view working abroad as a path to making this a reality.
This generation also has a strong desire for autonomy during their relocation. Organisations must increasingly view this new talent pool as consumers who seek transparency, independence and choice in their careers.
They relate to organisations that treat them as consumers and appreciate those that offer them the experiences and technologies that they are accustomed to using in their personal life.
As more companies expand their workforce abroad, global mobility will see an increasing need to innovate and adopt new technologies to support international assignments and relocation.
Ranking technology as the number one feature that sets this generation apart (Nelson), Millennials also expect to use the same technologies they use at home at work.
New technologies will help global mobility departments both better craft policy, improve organisation and better align themselves with the preferences of Millennial employees.
Organisations that offer technology support for international relocations will position themselves as innovative and progressive.
This will help companies engage with the next generation of organisational leadership and in the process reduce overall costs and increase employee satisfaction.
Innovative HR tech for global mobility will also allow HR departments to redirect their resources to retaining and attracting the best and brightest talent for their companies.
Companies need a modern management system that streamlines all processes and brings all mobility stakeholders together for seamless talent mobility management.
This has created the ideal opportunity for cloud technology to improve the effectiveness of the HR department, and empower employees with self-service platforms to manage their global relocation benefits and needs.
The evolution of cloud-based technology has coincided with a convergence of a number of complex mobility factors: compliance requirements, globalisation, empowered employees and a social revolution.
According to Mercer research, nearly 60% of organisations are planning to implement new HR or talent management systems.
Just like Salesforce and Workday have revolutionised their respective industries with cloud technology, the future of global mobility management is also in the cloud with intuitive systems that employees and managers use just like they would an app on their phone.
Cloud technology has transformed HR and the employee experience more rapidly than any other business area. The tighter integration and better communication that it allows has seen HR become a much more strategic and controlled discipline than ever before.
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It has also empowered employees with intuitive tools for their careers – tools available 24/7 on web, mobile and tablet. This is the future for HR and for global mobility in companies, big and small.
Talent mobility today is about many types of mobile employees managed together in a central and seamless way.
Whether new hires moving to a new city for their first job or experienced managers completing expatriate assignments across the world, the cloud is the ultimate solution for businesses that want to expand globally and deal with ever-increasing complexity of global talent mobility navigation.
The cloud is helping to evolve global talent management and is changing the way global companies connect with employees across multiple cities and countries to offer an excellent relocation experience.
Sourced from Brynne Herbert, CEO and founder, MOVE Guides
