TALENT


Toronto and Vancouver, where the average cost of a detached home is well over CAD1 million (£491,800, €800,000).


Challenges for employers and assignees Despite these economic headwinds, Canadian employers overall expect volumes of relocations to remain unchanged in the coming year. And, consistent with overall industry trends and observations about growth in international markets, 33 per cent of companies expect to see increased numbers of short-term assignments, and 25 per cent expect the number of long-term international assignments to increase. Given that Canada has negotiated 46 free-trade agreements with


other trading nations, international activity will certainly grow in the years ahead. The typical transferring employee is male, 26 to 40 years of age,


married, with children, and working in a professional or technical position. Average salary ranges from approximately CAD100,000, (£49,180, €70,000) per year for a domestic transferee and CAD164,000 (£80,655, €115,000) for a typical employee transferred overseas. In more than 50 per cent of cases, the employee is accompanied by a spouse who is also employed. Relocation continues to be challenging in dual-career families.


As noted in the report, “Spousal and family issues are the most likely reason why an employee will reject a transfer. It’s increasingly the case that the spouse is also a professional with a similar income, and so decisions to move are made as a family unit. The spouse is very likely to ask what the move means for his or her career, and what are his or her options.” The top challenges for managers in international mobility are


complex rules around tax and immigration compliance, followed closely by family issues. When it comes to programme management, just over half of the


respondent companies will contract out some of the relocation services to a third-party provider. Most will, however, maintain control over policy development and review processes. In just 31 per cent of companies, a process is in place to determine


the success or failure of an assignment. And, consistent with previous surveys, only 10 per cent of companies have the necessary tools in place to measure the return on investment of the assignment costs. The majority of firms rely on a formal written policy to manage


their mobility programmes. In companies without a formal policy, a letter of agreement between the company and the employee is in place. A new question was added to the 2015 survey, to learn where


mobility managers spend time performing activities today, and where they expect to spend time two years from now. From the results, it is clear that managers are expecting to


spend considerably more time on value-added strategic support to business units, managing risk and compliance, controlling costs, and measuring the return on mobility, while spending less time on day- to-day operations-related activities and managing services providers (see table opposite). When it comes to repatriation, just 57 per cent of firms have a


formal programme in place. Only one in four companies provides career planning, and less than a quarter will provide reintegration counselling for the employee and the family. In organisations where these supports are provided and retention


of repatriated employees is tracked, retention rates are strong, with the majority of employees remaining in the organisation for more than two years after the return date. Given that career development is a fundamental HR management goal that can be enhanced through mobility, repatriation is an opportunity not to be overlooked. Education assistance for the employee’s children in private or


international schools is provided by 75 per cent of organisations in 2015 (similar results reported in the 2013 survey) for long-term assignments, with most companies providing reimbursement of tuition costs. Tax provision can be complex and costly. The majority of companies


(75 per cent) report having a formal tax policy in place. Tax equalisation, where the employee pays the same amount of tax as in the home country, is the policy of choice for most companies (95 per cent) that have a tax policy in place. A wide range of other benefits are provided for international


assignments. The most common are rental search services, destination services, language training, cross-cultural training, and spousal employment assistance.


Looking ahead While the survey results point to a certain level of belt-tightening in a number of the benefits provided to transferring employees, companies indicate their intention to continue to provide strong supports into the future. In the next two years, 41 per cent of organisations expect to make


changes to their international policy. Expected areas for adding or increasing coverage include property management, spousal employment assistance, tax counselling, and language training. Areas in which organisations are looking to decrease coverage


or eliminate it entirely include various forms of assistance related to home disposal, including equity loss provisions and house hunting. The survey results also confirm the growing importance of talent


mobility to business success. There is a definite shift underway, as talent mobility managers expect to be spending a greater amount of their time providing strategic support to business units and less time on day-to-day operations-related activities.


How mobility managers spend their time Activity


Day-to-day operations-related activity


Providing assignee support


Providing strategic support to business units


Controlling costs


Measuring ROI on mobility investments


Managing mobility services providers


73 per cent 36 per cent


Managing risk and compliance 43 per cent 48 per cent


18 per cent 0 per cent


40 per cent


Top three areas of activity in 2015


Top three areas of activity in two years’ time


46 per cent


35 per cent 48 per cent 66 per cent


25 per cent 20 per cent


31 per cent


The Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to removing barriers that restrict mobility and the deployment of human capital, which are vital to Canada’s future prosperity. Established in 1982, the council represents the interests of its members on workforce mobility matters. Many members are listed in Canada’s Financial Post Top 500. Visit www.cerc.ca for further information.


For the latest Canada and international assignments news and articles, visit relocateglobal.com


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