Event recap: insideMOBILITY® Brussels | June 18-19, 2024
Setting up talent mobility for success by anticipating and preparing for key challenges
Here’s a snapshot of the innovative solutions mobility leaders ideated to address today’s mobility challenges and set up programs for future success for the mobile employees who participate in the journey.
1. Beyond borders: Navigating the evolving immigration landscape
Immigration requirements are ever-changing and can sometimes feel like constantly moving goalposts that can be difficult to meet. Mobility managers face a complex array of challenges, from increasing digitalization and the effects of elections to demographic shifts and labor shortages — there’s a lot to process. And while mobility leaders don’t need to be experts on immigration – there are supplier partners for that – they do need to be educated enough to understand and guide common immigration situations.
The time it takes to get through the immigration portion of the relocation process is one of the top challenges. Mobility managers should make sure that mobile employees are aware that any delays in returning information or documentation in a timely manner could result in the entire relocation being delayed.
Here are two complex immigration situations attendees noted – along with actionable solutions discussed to consider next time you find yourself in a challenging situation.
“Always remember that you’re not alone in navigating complex immigration issues. Rely on your expert partners, especially when you find yourself in a new or unfamiliar scenario, to ensure the best outcomes for mobile employees and your company.”
2. Elevating the relocation process through flexible allowances
Flexibility was a hot topic at the event, as mobility leaders seek to streamline the relocation process and give employees opportunities to shape the relocation process to fit their unique needs.
While most of the session participants said their allowances are meeting mobile employee needs, mobility leaders shared a variety of approaches to calculating allowances, especially Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs).
There isn’t a right or wrong way to approach allowance calculations, but attendees noted mobility leaders should:
- Consistently make tweaks to allowance policies to reflect company footprint expansions or changing market trends, employee demographics and feedback, such as inflation or critical hires
- Factor in Cost-of-Living Adjustments/Allowances (COLAs); considering these common market practices when evaluating COLA policies
Explore Market Practice findings* for COLA Calculations
*Findings provided by AIRINC from a survey of 150 companies – across all industries and geographies – on Long Term Assignment Approaches, 2023.
Modernizing allowances was the topic most attendees were interested in discussing during the peer-led conversations, focusing on providing flexibility to reduce allowances and offering a more streamlined experience for mobile employees.
Here are the three trending takeaways:
- Like at our insideMOBILITY Scottsdale event, our Brussels attendees also debated what’s considered ‘core’ versus ‘flex’ in a Core-Flex approach. Some participants advocated for using a compliance-driven lens to determine ‘core’ benefits, meaning verticals like immigration or tax should be ‘core’ to ensure mobile employees and mobility teams are in compliance with regulations.
- Adjusting allowances based on host and home country combinations and taxation requirements ensures more equitable compensation and better support for mobile employees.
- Mobility leaders making changes to allowance policies are focused on aligning those policies with their company cultures.
3. Making policy changes more manageable
While making policy changes may sound like a daunting task, attendees broke it down into four practical phases that will help them – and key stakeholders – feel confident in the process:
Goal: Identify why you want the change, where you are and where you want to be to develop a strategy for effective change.
Attendee insights:
- It’s important to identify the right stakeholders to get their buy-in or approval. As one attendee shared, if a stakeholder isn’t brought in, they may deny the policy change because they didn’t have the opportunity to weigh in.
- Some stakeholders may want to be more involved and some less. Make sure you understand each stakeholder’s level of engagement and keep them updated accordingly.
Goal: Execute your strategy, focusing on the who, how, when and what.
Attendee insights:
- Your relocation management company (RMC) can be a great source for writing your strategy.
Goal: Communicate your strategy and intended policy changes by crafting your messages and determining the right channels to reach each stakeholder.
Attendee insights:
- Some stakeholders maybe more challenging to get buy-in and approval from – as one attendee pointed out, sometimes it can be strategic to not engage certain stakeholders, thereby saving time and effort.
- The language you use matters – simply saying ‘policy adjustments’ may overwhelm some stakeholders. Consider different terminology or approaches to get the results you want, like positioning it as a product rather than a policy.
Goal: Measure the effectiveness of the policy changes to continue refining your policies - and policy change practices - in the future.
Attendee insights:
- Use data, like mobile employee feedback, to reinforce the positive results of the policy change to stakeholders. Don’t skip this step, as you may need that stakeholder’s buy-in for other changes!
- Performance reviews are a good opportunity to showcase the positive results of a policy change (like money saved).
- Track exceptions to use as a proof point for any future policy changes you may need.
“Not all stakeholders will be immediately apparent. Don’t forget to consider payroll, compensation and benefits, finance, DEI, IT, tax, talent management and more.”
4. Unlocking the full value of the supply chain
Supplier partners play a crucial role in creating an exceptional relocation experience. Given their deep expertise in their field, supplier partners can help mobility professionals successfully balance cost containment, flexibility/choice and employee experience.
In a lively discussion with Markus Luthe of hasenkamp, one of Graebel’s trusted supplier partners, attendees shared some of their creative solutions for effectively managing costs while still creating exceptional relocation experiences:
5. Creative home hunting solutions for tight EMEA markets
As mobile employees consider a relocation, location and housing is top of mind. Mobility teams must do their best to find suitable temporary and permanent housing that meets the employee’s needs. But between limited inventory (less than 1% availability for temporary, permanent or a mix in some EMEA markets), increasing costs (up to 5.5% year over year increase in some cities) and local housing laws, housing is becoming a tricky situation for mobility leaders relocating employees to EMEA.
Mobility professionals and mobile employees are facing other related housing challenges, like fraudulent housing listings scamming employees out of money, or landlords committing discriminatory application practices.
Despite the uphill battle, participants shared creative solutions that have led to successful home placements, including:
Ask the experts
Seeking the advice of Destination Service Providers, who are experts in the local markets.
Block booking
Using block booking for temporary living situations, enabling companies to rotate mobile employees in and out as needed.
Use the company name
Renting properties directly under the company name to bypass biases.
Pre-assignment webinars
Setting expectations with mobile employees via pre-assignment webinars or digital location fact sheets – and making sure partners and families are informed as well!
Virtual property tours
Thinking outside the box when it comes to home trips, including virtual property tours (if that’s an option in the market and for particular homes) or offering an additional home search trip in particularly challenging locations.
Additional allowances
Providing additional financial support, like transportation allowances to encourage mobile employees to look for housing outside of city centers.
Where do we go from here?
Collaboration shouldn’t stop when insideMOBILITY ends. Continue sharing ideas, seeking input among industry peers and partnering with your RMC and your supplier partners. These actions are key to leveling up your mobility program and meeting the needs of mobile employees, while following best practices for your company and staying compliant.
As part of our people-first approach to talent mobility, we’re always available to our clients and eager to proactively work with them to find solutions to their challenges. Stay connected with Graebel events to continue learning and evolving on your path to success.