GROUP MOVES


and societal cultures following a group move can easily misunderstand social cues. If they attempt to manage their subordinates – or work with colleagues in their new teams – in ways that are deemed to be inappropriate, working relationships will be damaged. This will have detrimental effects on motivation, commitment, productivity and engagement across the business. The relevance of understanding factors


that can support and develop engagement is thus of immense importance to mobility professionals, who would not wish to see their successful efforts to relocate groups of staff undone as a result of post- relocation cultural misunderstandings.


Raising engagement As Relocate’s factsheet series on group moves shows, a number of factors are considered to affect employee engagement. Senior management must demonstrate


integrity – walk the talk. Group moves frequently involve the relocation of senior management. After a merger, acquisition or joint venture, where two or more organisations come together, senior management from each party involved must be seen to act in a coordinated, supportive and culturally sensitive manner in developing the organisation’s new shared values. It is important for global mobility


will have to contend with a different societal culture, too. These factors can jeopardise the


success of group-move employee engagement if they are not addressed. Cultures comprise unseen and rarely


articulated assumptions which make them unique. These assumptions drive values, which may be expressed in an organisational context but are usually not verbalised in societal terms. Yet it is these assumptions and values that shape behaviours. Without an understanding of them, how people react to situations, and the decisions that they take with regard to what is deemed acceptable or not, can appear bewildering. Relocated employees working in teams with people from different organisational


professionals and group-move specialists to remember that these individuals will have their own cultural baggage, bringing with them the organisational and societal cultures from their previous experiences. Cultural briefings and training can make a big difference to the success of senior management on relocation by encouraging them to use appropriate behaviours to bring about organisational change. Engaging line managers also plays


a major part in fostering employee engagement. These managers are required to encourage dialogue and communication, and to provide supportive work environments. Once again, line management may have


been relocated as part of the group move to join forces with locally based line managers as part of the new entity. As with the relocation of senior


management, preparation and training in the effects of cultural differences, with a special focus on management, negotiations and team building, will prove crucial to successful line management integration. Further drivers of employee engagement


include a good match between the individual and the job they do, with appropriate resources in place. Global mobility professionals have a key role to play here within talent management strategy. It is crucial that the relocation of individuals as part of a group move links to appropriate job roles in the new business venture. Robust talent selection processes are necessary to ensure that employees are matched to the new positions correctly. Despite the turbulence that often


accompanies a relocation exercise, attention must be paid to ensuring that resources are in place. Employee engagement is also linked to meaningful work, and thus job content needs to provide this form of intrinsic motivation. While these points may seem rather


obvious, they are frequently overlooked. For example, global mobility professionals are well aware of repatriation shortfalls, such as employees returning home after a sojourn abroad to find that no one has thought to provide a role that makes good use of the competencies they have developed abroad (that is, there is no meaningful work) or even provide office space, a desk or a phone (that is, there are no resources). Turnover can then lead to a loss of


valuable skills. These oversights cannot be allowed to damage employee engagement. Disaffected employees spread discontent to others, damaging the engagement climate. ➲


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