POLICY
their future careers linked to international experiences. How policies are designed and
implemented should ref lect the organisation’s particular cultural backdrop and structure. It is also important that the mobility policy dovetails with HR strategy and other HR policies that are aligned with it. In relation to cultural fit, the policy
design should reflect factors such as: organisational decentralisation; planned expansion or reduction; predicted mobility volumes and roles; employee and family profiles; and potential and actual locations of operation, taking into account challenging destinations. Benchmarking is helpful to find out how
other comparable organisations manage their mobility issues, and useful lessons can be drawn from this. However, it is likely that every organisation will require its own bespoke solution in terms of policy design – though this may draw upon ideas and actions used by peers in the field.
The role of stakeholders In developing a new policy or revising an existing one, mobility professionals must consult with relevant organisational stakeholders, as it is critical to obtain their buy-in if the policy implementation is to be successful. It is important to consult senior management first of all, in order to understand the strategic direction of the organisation and to gain awareness of any potential change that might affect mobility. It is also crucial to speak with existing and/or potential transferees or assignees, to understand their perspectives and what motivates them to move. Other stakeholders in the business who should be consulted
include specialist services like payroll, tax, legal, and HR personnel. External parties, such as relocation consultancies and data providers, can also prove to be useful sources of information.
Policy segmentation It is becoming increasingly common practice for policy design to be segmented. For example, it is likely that the assignment policy that applies to a skills-transfer full-length expatriate assignment will differ from that offered to an international assignee undertaking a short-term or commuter assignment. Self-initiated movers and graduate trainees can also receive different policy elements. Assignees being transferred permanently to a new location abroad and/or being moved to a new location in their home country also require attention in policy. The traditional model used for relocating staff internationally
on a long-term assignment is the balance sheet, but host-based pay is increasingly being applied as an alternative. The latter is a more cost-effective approach, but policy designers need to take care, because this type of policy can hinder mobility if no account is taken of the gains that assignees and their families can experience when moving to higher-net-pay locations. The balance sheet is usually considered to be a costly method of remunerating assignees, but its design is such that assignees
are theoretically no better or worse off, and the quid pro quo is the facilitation of international mobility. This provides just one example of why mobility professionals
involved in policy design need to consider all the implications of the design choice. Cost savings may be an important driver of policy review, but it is important to ensure that, by achieving this objective, mobility does not become compromised. Another driver of policy review can be the need to simplify
administration and improve the clarity of the benefits available to those relocating. Again, care needs to be taken.
Lump sums For instance, lump-sum approaches are popular. They are simple in design and relatively easy to implement. Employees and their families are able to spend the money given to them in the manner that suits them best. However, the organisation does have a duty of care, and employees may not fully protect themselves in their spending decisions. If assignees are left to decide how best to spend their lump
sum and they decide to spend it on furnishings, rather than healthcare provision in a remote or difficult location abroad, they may leave themselves and their organisations vulnerable in a medical emergency (see health feature, p46). This means that policy design should set out a number of core benefits that apply to all transfers, with specialised benefits and services applicable to different segments of the mobile population. Certain benefit elements, such as cultural, language and
security training, are particularly helpful in terms of integrating assignees and their families into their new environment abroad (see language learning feature, p18). Again, this is an area which, if not prescribed by the company, may not be taken up by the assignees and families, resulting in assignment dissatisfaction, loss of productivity and, potentially, early return (with consequent cost implications). ➲
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