For various reasons, you could be aware that a group move is on the horizon; however, due to your company’s confidentiality strategies, you may have no opportunity to prepare your global mobility team’s resources before the company strategy is shared with you. At that point, you are presented with a request to roll up your sleeves for a challenging group move project. This is an opportunity for everyone to collaborate and pull together for a shared successful outcome.
The Global Mobility team isn’t often the first party involved in the initial planning discussion, despite this being a crucial aspect of the group move process. Key questions to ask your mobility team include:
- How do we currently move people?
- Do we have a specific team or a designated person that handles the process?
These discovery questions will ensure you receive the necessary input from the global mobility team.
As the global mobility department, embrace the opportunity to:
- Demonstrate knowledge, value, and experience of the global mobility function within the organization
- Re-build and strengthen internal and external relationships
- Be a strategic partner
Things to anticipate as the process goes on:
- Data Gathering: The extent of it, what information you or your systems hold and what information your partners hold, how long it may take to extract
- New Location Knowledge Gap: Extensive research of benefits packages, real estate challenges, tax considerations, immigration/labor laws, etc.
- Your Role/Views/Policy Being Challenged: Need for realignment of Global Mobility to the wider business strategy, which may require policy and/or program changes
- Presentational Skills: Public speaking may be required to deliver mobility program strategy to key business stakeholders; you may also present to the group of relocating employees
- Resistance/Low Workplace Morale: Not everyone will be looking forward to the move; a few may question and challenge relocation package and services being provided
- Rumors: It only takes one person to speak-up for a “snowball effect” within a group
- Questions: Expect questions such as:
- What the company’s responsibility will be if I lose job at new location?
- What support will my partner receive?
- Why wasn’t I asked to move?
- Your Own Move: You may be impacted too, and you may have never relocated yourself; shift of perspective of how you view and manage the program; finding time to think of your own needs
As you can see, there are many issues that can arise when planning for a group move. In the second half of this blog series, we will provide practical tips for preparing employees to ensure group move success.
Next week we will post part 2 of this blog. Thank you.