Mirror Mirror: Mobility, diversity and inclusion 2018 has been a landmark year for the diversity and inclusion agenda. The UK’s 11,000 largest
employers published their first gender pay gap reports. Meanwhile, the campaign for ethnicity reporting gathers pace and participation rates of older workers grows. Ruth Holmes reports.
H
ow these significant shifts play out in the global mobility space was on the agenda of the Festival of Global Mobility Thinking. Held the day after the Relocate Awards and the
presentation of the first accolade to celebrate Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, the festival was an unparalleled opportunity to hear views on the state of play and the possibilities.
Female expatriates, productivity and performance Professor emerita of London Metropolitan University, Dr Sue
Shortland, opened the conversation with an overview of the research on diversity, inclusion and mobility to date. “It’s quite interesting if you look at gender and the research and figures on self-initiated expatriation,” continued Dr Shortland. “There is a much more equal balance between men and women compared to the corporate assignee world, where only 27 per cent of assignees are women. Why is there this gap? Clearly women are disadvantaged here in some way.” With the business and ethical case driving the D&I agenda, this
scarcity of take-up among women in international assignment is double-edged. First, it is important given international experience is often route one to senior leadership roles. Second, studies suggest companies are missing out from a performance perspective. “Research shows that women on assignment are very successful
as expatriates,” said Dr Shortland. “How do we define success? What the studies have shown is that women tend to outperform men. Research also shows expatriate women are preferred as co- workers. It also shows women adjust better. This is worldwide, not just in western societies. I guess from the diversity perspective, when you’re talking the business case argument, women are more successful on assignment, so what’s stopping them?”
Challenging assumptions and unconscious bias Networks, unconscious bias and relative power balances in families are among the familiar and all-too-real reasons there are fewer female
assignees. Fellow panellist Andrea Piacentini, partner of the RES Forum – as well as offering insights into the motivations of older workers in his presentation – discussed these in his presentation “Unconscious bias through the lens of international assignments – an update”. Citing the RES Forum’s 2017 quarterly report, Dynamics of
Differences: Diversity in Global Mobility, which updated its 2016 original research on this topic, Mr Piacentini noted that while research showed women aspire to work abroad, there is a need for more organisational support to make this happen. Reducing bias during selection, increasing women’s empowerment in the workplace through formalised mentoring, and addressing the assignment offer are among the routes to making this happen. In particular, the study found women are less likely to take the
first steps to initiate an international assignment than men. Research suggests gender stereotypes and linear “male” career models may block opportunities for women. It also challenges the perception that women don’t want to go
on assignment. In the sample of 155 employees from DAX-30-listed companies, about half of female respondents said that they would be interested in going abroad. Interestingly, only 38.5 per cent of male respondents responded as favourably. Together, the findings suggest a communication deficit between women, their managers and HR. Considered in the context of other research, particularly around
the value of mentoring, networks, pay and performance, these findings open up possibilities for how global mobility and HR design and reward assignments. Offering another perspective on the idea of a communications deficit through the focus of pay and reward, Dr Shortland noted “research shows the reward package itself is not necessarily as relevant for the female audience as they are for the male audience. Adding, “how our policies are structured and how attractive they are considered to be is a useful point to think about.” Critically, the RES Forum’s report finds that women could be put off asking for an international assignment because they don’t regard
26 | Relocate | Summer 2018
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