Jonena Relth, TBD Consulting
Recently I had the privilege of attending a Global Mobility workshop in Los Angeles hosted by Ed Cohen of GlobalHRNews. The presenters represented "cream of the crop" professionals who manage all aspects of global mobility planning, hiring and training expats to work for their companies all over the globe. The topics covered everything from risk management, legal considerations of home and host country, immigration law, intercultural support, training, ROI, and Return on Recognition (ROR) - and yes, the new issues around the use of social media, too!
One thing that struck me from an organizational development perspective was the obvious: No matter whether filling positions locally or globally, organizations need to put detailed, strategic plans in place that align with measurable business goals and that each employee need to be vetted to be sure that they are the right person for the position.
Adding the component of overseas assignments adds a whole new dimension to who is best suited for oversees assignments. The best person technically might not be the best person to send due to personal or family issues that need to be taken into consideration. To the best of our ability, we want every expat to succeed in every assignment. This requires that we do everything possible to ensure a positive experience from the get-go. We need to take into consideration our hiring processes, training, cultural awareness and the individual's family needs. Whether bringing employees to the US or sending them abroad, great care is required to prepare our employees to succeed. Our businesses depend on it!
The costs of attracting, training and retaining the right employee for international assignments can be staggering with the average "cost" estimated to be $1,000,000 per employee. Each assignment that fails - the employee comes home early or leaves the company upon returning from their assignment - makes a huge dent to the bottom line. Additionally, a failed assignment contributes to poor morale for the expat as well as his/her colleagues, which adds a whole new HR/OD component to our already, overworked HR and OD professionals.
While the workshop wasn't aimed at change management, tried and true disciplines used today to manage change in our organizations should be a critical component of any initiative as important as attracting, developing and retaining employees. Those same employees may be the ones we intend to lead our organizations in the coming years.
It was refreshing to attend a workshop that took at inclusive approach of addressing the varied topics and then linking them together with the importance of staying on top of all aspects of global mobility including making sure we train and prepare employees to succeed.
Jonena
TBD Consulting has a 20-year, proven track record for ensuring employee performance improvement which translates to employee performance success. Whether you need help developing an in-house training organization or simply need "extra hands" to meet your deadlines or ROI goals, please contact Jonena. She and her qualified staff are here to assist you with your organizational development, coaching and training initiatives.
Corporate Office 602-263-1961. Email Jonena today!
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