EUROPE CONFERENCE
So ten minutes in the park between appointments is a good idea. As a long- term strategy, time spent with nature can counteract the damage caused by too much digital use. Allow time for breaks, with the offer
of food and refreshment, even if the client wants to keep pressing on. Give space and time to get up, stretch your legs, enjoy some fresh air, and get some oxygen to the brain. Creating time to listen and really
understand what is behind the relocatee’s decision-making process could make all the difference. It could be that they really want you, with all your expertise, just to take over and eliminate some of the choice. When people are tired, ‘decision fatigue’ sets in, so a list of properties to see and schools to visit from the DSP expert could be just what is needed, if it is communicated well.
Declining social interaction and ‘working memory’ The other powerful takeaway from Jon Harman’s talk was around social interaction. Some people just aren’t comfortable with it, and this could become even more of a worry in the future if young people continue to spend most of their time engaging via social media and not face to face. Could it be that Millennials are rejecting time out with an
experienced DSP – who knows where to find the right property for them, in the coolest location, with all the amenities, and within easy access of the office and public transport – because they just can’t face spending half a day alone in a car with a stranger? Maybe they don’t know how to engage. Jon Harman also highlighted the fact that human beings’
working memory had limited storage. However, long-term memory was pretty well unlimited – his point being that we could multitask, but we couldn’t solve two problems at once. Multitasking was really rapid task switching, he explained. So we shouldn’t fool ourselves: we are not computers. Science
shows that intense work, such as strategic thinking, goal-setting and data analysis, can only be done for two or three hours at a time – maybe five or six hours if you really need to, but you can’t sustain good work and focus without a break. The downside of doing everything on autopilot, or through
technology, is that we are losing our working memory. The use of satnav, for example, is reducing our ability to read a map. The brain changes over time according to how we use it, which is why mental arithmetic and playing Sudoku are so important in keeping elderly people alert and happy. In our daily lives, the urgent is taking precedence over the
important. Being responsive to the internet, social media and email 24/7 is equivalent to being wired for treats – the treat in this case being a ‘like’ on Facebook or the heart symbol on a tweet. This is all driven by the sense of missing out. The cost is productivity. Have you ever wondered why you have your best ideas in the
shower, or perhaps when you are out for a walk or driving? It is because you have uninterrupted time. White noise in the office, the distraction of time-absorbing
email and staff demands, all diminish productivity. Have the confidence to put them on hold and really concentrate on what you are doing.
Instead of living in a state of hypervigilance, check those
emails and social media at set times of the day, not 110 times a day These are new issues for DSPs to resolve. So next time you
are texting over breakfast while the children watch TV, urging them to hurry up, eat and get their school bags ready, or you are complaining about the hours they spend on computer games, think about the example you may be setting as you check Facebook, download a report, or respond to an email.
State of the industry As ever, one of the conference’s most enlightening sessions was the state-of-the-industry leaders’ summit. Steve Cryne, of CERC, Peggy Smith, of WERC, and Jesse van Sas, of FIDI, the global alliance of professional international moving and relocation companies, looked at trends from the perspective of their organisations’ members. The basis of their conversation, moderated by EuRA’s Tad
Zurlinden, was the results of a new CERC global mobility survey carried out by Ipsos, which sought the views of 10,000 employees in 20 countries. The survey was sponsored by BDO Global, the Council for Global Immigration, Crown World Mobility, Dwellworks, EuRA, Randstad Holding, TheMIGroup, and Weichert Workforce Mobility. The research recorded a fall in the number of employees willing
to relocate abroad. Only around 18 per cent of respondents said they would be ‘very likely’ to relocate for up to two years and take a full-time job in another country if offered a 10 per cent pay increase to do so. In 2012, the figure was 25 per cent. “At a time when many regions of the world are transitioning
to knowledge-based economies, and living standards improve, it is not surprising to see a measurable decline in the number of employees willing to relocate for employment since 2012,” commented Steve Cryne. Over a quarter of respondents said they were ‘somewhat likely’
to relocate. Just under a quarter were ‘not very likely’, and 31 per cent were ‘not at all likely’. Around 17 per cent indicated they would be willing to relocate
permanently in 2017. If there was a guarantee of a full-time job, the proportion indicating they were very likely to relocate increased to almost 28 per cent. The figure dropped to only 7 per cent if there was no guarantee of full-time employment. ➲
Leigh Goodsell, EuRA 2017
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