7 trends that are likely to impact your global mobility program in 2022

Many of us are trying hard to understand where things are at and considering where we need to focus in order to move our teams, business units and companies forward in 2022. There are so many things that are impacting the "here and now" from the ongoing pandemic, to inflation, to geopolitical fears, to the ongoing challenging talent environment. 

We shared some of our recent research on how and where mobility programs are looking to focus this year: "Charting the course ahead — where will your global mobility program focus in 2022?" But Gartner has shared some additional things that they see shaping our work focus in 2022. From new approaches to DE&I to the latest impacts of hybrid and remote work, Gartner experts explore what this year could hold for HR. Let's run through the seven underlying trends they anticipate will be shaping not just the workplace but maybe even your global mobility programs this year.

1.  Fairness and equity will be the defining issues for organizations. 
2. To compete in the war for knowledge worker talent, some companies will shorten the workweek rather than increase pay.
3. Employee turnover will continue to increase as hybrid and remote work become the norm for knowledge workers.
4. The tools that we use to work remotely will become the tools that help measure and improve performance.
5. Wellness will become the newest metric that companies use to understand their employees.
6. Sitting is the new smoking.
7. DE&I outcomes will worsen in a hybrid world without intervention.

Employee expectations have changed as has how companies are looking at getting business done. All of the above trends will have direct, or indirect, impacts on corporate mobility programs. Let's consider a couple that we are seeing companies grapple with now.

DE&I and addressing fairness and equity: Some mobility programs are going back to consider how existing policies and eligibility may actually be working to maintain societal inequities. We have been exploring how mobility can grapple with many of these inequities. Here are a few of our previous posts to consider revisiting:

• Can global mobility do anything about the homeownership gap?
• How can mobility address implicit bias? 
• Is mobility equitable at your company? 
• How is mobility supporting women — and how can we be better?  

The new talent environment and the employee experience: As companies re-evaluate how they work best and address how employees want to work in the future, there is a lot to consider and some wide-ranging ideas across the spectrum of work models. If you're needing to brainstorm on how your mobility program can help support talent attraction and retention, try some of these:

• Here’s why you can’t find talent — and how mobility can help
• Employees are quitting at record rates — can mobility teams stem the tide?  
• Here’s why you can’t find talent — and how mobility can help
• Flex appeal: Which work model will be most attractive to top talent and where will relocation fit?

Other growing trends mobility programs will need to grapple with this year are sustainability, inflation, continued challenging real estate markets, labor shortages, and supply chain kinks and disruptions. Looking ahead, what there will not be a shortage of are issues and topics to continue exploring and solving!