Why You Should Consider Implementing a Global Mobility Strategy for Your Employees

June 24, 2013

Many mid-stage companies set their sights early on global markets to expand their brand presence and sustain growth levels by acquiring new customers and competitors in emerging economies. To achieve their global aspirations, these companies often establish small satellite offices and recruit foreign talent to help establish and grow operations in the region.
In most cases, the majority of talent in the satellite office is sourced locally and for good reason (i.e., economic benefits, political support, operational feasibility, etc.). However, an emerging trend that continues to gain momentum amongst a new generation of employees involves the desire to obtain “global experience” from employers. The trend is by no means one-way — employees hired in developing nations or emerging economies actively seek opportunities to relocate, albeit temporarily, to industrialized nations. At the same time, a growing number of professionals from North America and Europe are expanding their horizons with the hope of transferring or seeking stable employment in emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, or South and Far East Asia.
Ironically, both employee segments appear to share common objectives for the move:

  • Professional experience in non-traditional and highly complex work environments
  • Opportunities to live and travel to new regions while learning and experiencing new cultures
  • Position themselves to advance professionally upon the completion of the international assignment

Although there are clear benefits for employees to participate in international assignments, establishing a company-wide global mobility program may not appear at first to be an obvious or fruitful decision, but it warrants pursuing. By closely examining some of the advantages gained by companies who have already implemented an employee mobility strategy, mid-stage companies may stand to benefit greatly as these programs tend to hold more promise than anticipated.

3 Key Advantages to Implementing a Global Mobility Strategy for Your Employees

1) Attracting Top Talent

The competition for attracting talent is fierce and even more so if your company is still building its brand. Today’s top performers are often no longer satisfied with making an impact simply in their own neighborhoods — many would rather set their sights on making global change and obtaining a better understanding of the complexities of our rapidly evolving world.
Providing employees with opportunities to travel and live in new environments and introduce your product and/or service in new markets will serve as an added benefit, incentivizing young talent to consider your company over others.

2) Fostering Internal Leadership

Offering your employees opportunities to work in emerging markets will enable them to develop highly desirable management and leadership skills that will be essential to the success of your organization.
Operating in a non-traditional environment will inevitably present your employees with new sets of challenges that require critical thinking and creative responses. As such, your employees will develop good judgment and learn from minor setbacks, each helping your company establish a stronger foothold in new markets.
In addition, your employees will learn how to work effectively in diverse environments with people of different backgrounds, languages and cultures, and learn new ways of thinking and solving intractable problems.

3) Deriving Inspiration from Diverse Global Practices

The company, wholly, can benefit immensely from the diverse strategies and lessons that can be obtained from operating in a range of different markets. Participating employees will gain new knowledge and share global best practices that will help your company advance over its competitors.
Through a global mobility program your employees will be able to bring over successful strategies from one market to another, and understand how to address different challenges and harness new lessons from exposure to a breadth of consumer and market dynamics. This may entail an exchange, fusion, or even birth of an innovative marketing, operations, or human resource strategy.
Is your company ready to implement an employee mobility strategy?

Head of People Operations

Salima Ladha is the Head of People Operations at <a href="http://www.signpost.com">Signpost</a>, a cloud-based marketing software that gives local businesses the power to effortlessly build and manage customer relationships. She previously recruited top talent to to OpenView and our Portfolio Companies.