AWARDS
it is a challenge to make this happen for everyone, but we do our best and plan appropriately.” For managers, talent retention was raised as a concern in
this highly competitive sector. Firms and individuals invest heavily to achieve the professional qualifications required to practise, and it is disruptive and costly for the business to lose those skills.
“The team’s passionate and business-focused approach to its mobility programme caught the judges’ eye for its responsiveness to key organisation and individual needs.”
“Retention is always an issue at a certain level,” notes Susan
Gregory. ”There have always been demographic issues, and various organisation types and sectors have gone through peaks and troughs. At Grant Thornton, we plan what is right for us from a skills perspective, and develop accordingly.”
Adding value The survey gave the Talent Mobility Team renewed insight into how mobility could continue to support the business. The judges highlighted the team’s eagerness to understand people’s expectations and its responsiveness to these, as well as to the business’s needs on a practical level. From a business perspective, the team has a vital role in
sharing skills and knowledge across its international network. With three strands to its business – assurance, tax and advisory – the company has 26 offices around the world and employs 4,500 people globally. The balance of each business across the
three strands, and the blend of skills and expertise, is unique to each location. For the Talent Mobility Team in the UK, which reports to the head of reward and policy, the focus is on matching individuals with the relevant skills and experience to meet specific business needs. “Our tailored talent mobility
programmes allow us to plan a really good assignment where we identify a strong opportunity to develop an individual and others in the host country,” says Susan Gregory. “This is about giving the assignment
the best chance of success by planning it properly. It means picking the right people, setting the right objectives for the assignment, and then planning the return.” “The development of an exchange programme with engaged and motivated
assignees and partnership building provides a good example of managing resources effectively,” commented the award judges, who also lauded the team’s innovative and agile “bespoke programme design that works for your own organisation, not going for a one-size-fits-all approach”.
An international partnership For Susan Gregory’s team, which handles 160–170 inbound and outbound moves a year and works with talent mobility and HR teams and directors in overseas offices, good mobility is about knowledge transfer and making sure the benef its work both ways and for everyone. “Some of the larger partners in the network have talent
mobility specialists – in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – and sometimes we work directly with managing partners,” explains Susan Gregory. “We try to make it so that it is a great experience for all people involved.” Combining this local and international outlook with the
professional services company’s culture, which emphasises collaboration, Grant Thornton’s Talent Mobility Team is helping to secure employee engagement, deepen its business focus, and deliver cost savings. By canvassing employees’ and managers’ views, and
designing and delivering tightly focused assignments that support knowledge transfer, the team, under Susan Gregory’s leadership, has also been able to bring back in house certain aspects of its role, saving Grant Thornton £70,000 last year. This has been achieved through a responsive approach that
links mobility with the business’s talent agenda to deliver a highly tailored and cost-effective programme that meets both assignee and business needs. This has earned Susan Gregory and the team not only a
Re:locate award but also high praise from Grant Thornton’s senior leadership and support from across the business.
grantthornton.co.uk
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