GLOBAL MOBILITY
L
ooking through the programme for Worldwide ERC’s 2015 Global Workforce Symposium (Boston, 7–9 October), the session Perspectives on Mobility 2020
caught my eye. The complex, dynamic landscape of the global mobility
industry has changed considerably in recent years. We have moved from a focus on classic international secondments to a more flexible mobility world that includes the use of short-term and commuter assignments and extended business trips – not to mention moving jobs to people and the increase in ‘virtual’ mobility. This rapid transformation looks set to continue. Led by moderator Cecilia M Franchi, director of Global
Consulting at MSI Hampton, and presenters David Schofield, director of Murray Court Consulting, and Laurette Bennhold- Samaan, COO of Aperian Global, the WERC session will look ahead over the next five years, from the perspectives of both corporate multinationals and service providers and what they can expect to see and experience. It will examine the economic, political, personal, social
and technological factors likely to impact global mobility, and suggest how corporate mobility leaders and service providers can best respond to these challenges.
Crystal-gazing With this session in mind, I thought it would be interesting
to ask some leading global mobility practitioners for their views on where the next five years would take us. In the 21st century, technology is one of the fastest-
changing aspects of any field. I asked Alex Rubin, director of Mobility Technology Services at PwC in the US, how he saw technology shaping the future of global mobility. Noting a shift in thinking over the past two years from
“technology as an add-on to core mobility services” to “technology as an enabler of successful mobility programmes”, Alex Rubin told me, “Linking all aspects of an international or local move cycle, from business need to successful return home, is where technology shines. The future will see workforce data analytics, including cost estimates, actual costs and demographics, used to make business decisions on relocating employees.” Worldwide ERC presenter Laurette Bennhold-Samaan
believes that large and small companies will both contribute to technology, but in different ways. “The large organisations will provide more cloud services and will move away from technology services installed on site within an organisation to services being hosted and maintained by third parties. “There will be more mobile apps and web-based services
that have traditionally delivered assignee information. Expats will be able to access much more on mobile devices. The use of quick response codes or square barcodes to deliver virtual multimedia messages through mobile apps will increase.” Shaun Hinds, managing director, EMEA and APAC, at
serviced apartment company BridgeStreet Global Hospitality, told me, “There is hardly any way of working that won’t be affected by technology. Organisations will seek to use tech to
“The bigger organisations may have the resources,” she
said, “but the first to market will dominate, and for that one needs agility – not a characteristic that one attributes to larger organisations with multiple approval levels,” Asked when technology would be more joined-up across
mobility, HR and businesses, she replied, “Certainly not in the next five years, as the prevailing technology systems are not designed for integration or using the open-source concept. “Mobility and HR use a certain licensed technology in house
to manage their mobile populations that require privacy and data protection, as there is salary information, identification numbers and more, whereas suppliers would use a stand-alone product that is not designed to bridge into the HR technology.”
Compliance focus to continue I canvassed opinion on the thorny subject of compliance.
Everyone knows it is important, but isn’t there a danger that over-regulation will strangle innovation? Shaun Hinds believes that innovation will be achieved
by navigating the compliance landscape as effectively as possible, rather than trying to change it – a view endorsed by Andrea Elliott, who said, “Compliance is the guiding principle for doing things the right way. Innovation is
unlock efficiencies and savings whilst empowering employees to do more self-serving. “We are surely not too far away from the Uber for mobility.
Some may already lay claim to that accolade. Companies will have to adapt their systems to connect with the emerging trends, while those trends will most likely evolve and change at a much faster pace.” Andrea Elliott, senior counsel at immigration consultancy
Pro-Link GLOBAL, pointed out that technological products and innovations were already making it possible for people to work from anywhere. Companies that could manage and promote this new way of working would attract and retain the best talent.
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