Diversity, VUCA issues are key global mobility challenges

The RES Forum has produced its annual report for 2016, and one of the key statements was that global mobility professionals need to do more to work together with talent management departments to create a coherent strategy for bringing in top talent. The research, as explained by Professor Michael Dickman, revealed that for more than 80% of respondents, the alignment of goals and objectives, as well as a strong relationship between the two departments, was rated as moderately to extremely important. This was very much in-line with our own findings at the beginning of the year, (see our report "Defining Global Mobility Challenges in 2016") where we discuss the challenges of aligning global mobility with talent management and provide three tips for making that alignment happen.

But the RES Forum's report identifies a couple of additional challenges for global mobility today: gender issues and VUCA.

Looking specifically at gender-related issues, current thinking in the domestic context suggests that there are four main areas which contribute to the gap:

•Historical job segregation and "woman’s work"

•Impact of family/caring

•Lack of part-time flexible work in better paid positions

•Lack of women in senior roles

Gender pay and participation in global assignments in the past has not been equal. Per the report, "If you are selling the appeal of international assignments and international career development as something to attract (all) candidates then it is not to be dismissed lightly."

VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) is an interesting subject that often gets connected to the topic of "duty of care." Looking at locations from a VUCA perspective allows you to consider the risk to employees and sets a background for providing proper support to employees on assignment. HR News suggests:

"In the world we live in, where companies are continuing to chase growth and margin (all in a low inflationary environment), the stakes could not be higher. But how does this tie into the earlier point about gender related behaviours and risk taking driving greater career rewards? And are men the biggest beneficiaries of this new VUCA world? It might be too early to answer these questions, but we can conclude that VUCA factors are becoming more relevant and important in the way we look at international assignments."

Click here for an executive summary of the annual report.