MOBILITY TRENDS


Survey of surveys reveals the future of talent mobility


Talent mobility will play a key part in enabling business leaders to meet the challenges of a global business world that is more technologically advanced, demographically complex and geographically diverse than ever before, according to the findings of a mobility ‘survey of surveys’ undertaken by the Canadian ERC and the European Relocation Association (EuRA) and presented at April’s EuRA Conference in Malta. Fiona Murchie reports.


A


new study initiated by the Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) and the European


Relocation Association (EuRA) reviews 57 global mobility reports, reflecting the experiences of more than 25,000 mobility stakeholders across 140 countries. The study highlights the top five factors


that are driving change across the globe and impacting what estimates suggest is the $60-billion-dollar mobility industry. These are: globalisation – the shift in economic power from west to east; demographic change; individualism – creating more choice for employees; a movement toward knowledge-based economies; and technology. We are indeed in a changing business


environment, as summed up by McKinsey & Company. “The collision of technical


34% 22 | Re:locate | Summer 2016


disruption, rapid emerging-markets growth, and widespread ageing is upending long-held assumptions that underpin strategy setting, decision- making, and management.” As CERC chief executive Steve Cryne


stated at April’s EuRA Conference, “These factors are increasing demand for skilled and specialised talent across the globe. In response, more employers are expanding their mobility programmes to manage complex talent gaps, increase their global reach, attract and retain employees, and develop tomorrow’s leaders.” Having spoken to leading consultants


over recent months, I have established that managing global mobility will soon become the norm for many organisations. Some companies already have 75 per cent of their workforce working globally across borders. Typically, companies are at 5 to 10 per cent, and some only move around 1 per cent, but that is changing fast. The not-too-distant future may spell


of employers report trouble filling key positions


the end of global mobility as a niche sector, but that certainly won’t be the end of the relevance of what the wide raft of mobility professionals do in a much wider global business market. The potential to share professional knowledge with the C suite is there, and with it lots of opportunity. Everyone in the sector knows that


mobility trends are shifting rapidly and increasing in complexity. The quest of the CERC and EuRA survey was to establish


89%


of organisations plan to increase their


mobile workers in the next two years


if there was consensus in the literature, which consisted of a myriad of surveys, reports and professional opinion from 2011 to 2016. Its overall objective was to gain a deeper understanding of the global mobility industry and the factors shaping its development, and to present some considerations for the future. The two bodies did indeed find there


was consensus, with as many as 89 per cent of organisations planning to increase their mobile workforce in the next two years. But they confirmed that the nature of global mobility was changing, reflecting an increasingly complex global economic environment. The top three challenges for employers


are cost pressures, compliance and programme complexity, while family remains the top concern for employees.


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