MOBILITY To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following:
Meeting VUCA challenges What are companies worried about, or what do they see as particularly challenging? Amongst
the most prominent ‘known unknowns’ in the RES Forum were:
• Further countries leaving the EU, and the breakdown that may occur
• Impact of Brexit on financial markets • Lack of understanding of what is really going to happen • Impact on EU nationals as regards visa/social security issues • Rapid moves of currency exchange rates • Retention of non-UK staff • Short timelines for reactions • Inability to respond accurately, and in detail, to staff questions
It is clear that we are living in dynamic and uncertain times. Moving beyond Brexit and on to the global scene more generally, the external environment is changing rapidly, and VUCA leads to many challenges. Many firms seem to believe that the world is facing tough
times. On average, the respondents tend to agree that the world is becoming more divided into ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ and becoming more violent, nationalist and protectionist. To counter these threats, MNCs need visionary, thoughtful and active leadership. Picking up some of the VUCA ideas, companies may be well advised to:
• Integrate VUCA factors into their decision-making • Develop all managers (including assignees) to assess the
external developments and find strategies to cope with them, both personally and through work
• Design flexible yet specific GM strategies, policies and practices for sub-groups, specific country demands, and location-specific challenges
The global context What is the current level of preparation to respond successfully to threats and opportunities? Beyond Brexit, we asked how MNCs saw their response-readiness in relation to these broad challenges in a global context. The data shows that MNCs are unsuccessful in detecting trends
and responding appropriately; 42 per cent disagree that their company is good at this, while only 27 per cent agree. About a third of respondents also disagree with various
statements about the preparedness of their organisation to deal effectively with environmental challenges. Their responses indicate that about one in three organisations is having trouble in responding to security challenges, broader societal challenges, dealing with skilled labour shortages, or mastering their volatile environment. However, threats in relation to uncertainty and more protectionist
views at national level are seen as being far more successfully mastered. MNCs are well advised to devote leadership attention and their
creative capabilities to understanding not just the threats but also the opportunities that Brexit and other geo-political environments entail. Many companies have the capabilities to master these challenges
successfully and react flexibly to VUCA developments in order to build on their strengths and exploit new opportunities in the wake of these momentous developments.
HR and HR global mobility: to join the RES Forum for free, and to view the full annual report from which this article is taken, go to https://
theresforum.com and click on ‘Join’.
For more insights from The RES Forum Annual Report 2017, covering a range of hot topics in global mobility, including data analytics, managing currency fluctuations, VUCA, and managing age diversity, see
relocatemagazine.com/international-assignments
12 | Re:locate | Summer 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
