What does global mobility have to do with talent management?

Possibly not a lot – if you read the data from EY’s Global Mobility Effectiveness Survey 2013[i]; Your talent in motion.  In the survey, 56% of companies revealed that their global mobility team had no role in talent management.

And yet – the importance of an overseas assignment on career enhancement is one that is often quoted as part of career development lore and as part of the beliefs around international assignments. 

Cartus, in their Trends in Global Relocation Report 2013 Talent Management and the Changing Assignee Profile, [ii]reported 85% of respondents saying employees accepted an international assignment because it would aid their personal career development, and 70% said the assignment was necessary for career advancement. 

They also noted a significant increase over the past four years in survey respondents who agreed that there is a positive impact of an overseas assignment on an assignees career. (82% in 2013 vs 52% in 2009)  A belief echoed by EY’s report, which quoted an overwhelming majority (83%) of respondents who thought that mobility had a positive effect on an individual’s career progression.  It makes sense that future leaders of global companies need the skills and experience of working in a different part of the world and that an assignment will aid the development of those skills.

Global talent management has become an increasing focus for global organisations with 58% of EYs respondents stating they had a global talent management agenda.  This was an increase on the 51% who responded to the question last year.

EY quoted Adele Yeargan, Director of Global Mobility for AIG, “ As mobility leaders, we are on a journey so that we can be more strategic about how we align talent strategy with business strategy….That requires a holistic approach, because even though the employee might have high potential and be a rising star, if you put him on an assignment without proper assessment and preparation, it can hurt his career.” 

Careers have been hurt by global assignments.  A 2011 study conducted by Burak Koyuncu and Monika Hamori[iii] of IE Business School analyzed the careers of 1,001 chief executive officers from the largest 500 European and largest 500 American companies. They found that CEOs with international experience took approximately two years longer to reach the top position than those without it.

The length of assignment and the number of assignments were found to be significant factors slowing down the career progress.

The authors raised a number of critical factors –all relating to talent management –the location itself and its strategic importance, the assignment purpose and evaluation, the need for assignees to maintain visibility and connection with headquarters and finally the repatriation process. 

Too long out of sight and out of mind can slow down the highest potential assignees.  Too long in a role where location or cultural challenges make outcomes difficult can end a hi-potential career.

This is where the global mobility team can bring their expertise, their understanding of assignment challenges and their bridging between home and host locations to develop innovative approaches to dealing with these challenges. 

As Yeargan said above, proper assessment and proper preparation can greatly assist the hi-potential assignees in managing the career challenges they will face. 

Assessment was reviewed by the Cartus survey, which found leadership potential (80%) and technical skills (75%) rated highest as the selection criteria used.  I don’t know if Yeargan would consider these as fitting the “proper selection” description.   I know I don’t. 

Technical skills and leadership potential can both be very firmly tied to our own cultural background and give little indication of how successful someone will be in another cultural environment. Proper assignment selection should be assessing not just “Can they do the job well?” but also “can they do the job well in another culture?”

One thing that the research has shown can predict success in another cultural environment is cultural intelligence (CQ).   CQ[iv] predicts expat effectiveness in different cultural environments more than EQ, more than IQ and more than personality factors.

The ideal hi-potential assignee has high CQ as well as high levels of technical skills and leadership potential. 

Proper assessment, proper assignment preparation and I would add, the critical factor to truly manage global talent; well-planned repatriation. 

Sadly EY’s survey reported 41% of assignees are still in their pre-assignment role two years after their return from assignment.  Think about that for a moment.  Your assignee takes on a challenging offshore role.  Hopefully, he or she gains knowledge and skills, often in an experience resembling something of a hero’s journey, and then returns back to the role that they held prior to the assignment –for the next two years? 

Its not surprising EY tell us a further 16% had left their organizations! 

It is encouraging that EY and Cartus have both raised the issues of talent management so explicitly in their global mobility trends surveys.  These results will encourage all of us involved in the industry to ask questions and to consider how we can improve the linkages in policy and practice, ultimately improving outcomes for assignees and organisations. 

If you would like to discuss policy issues (including selection, assignment preparation or repatriation) or to learn more about CQ assessment, contact me.

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[i] http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-Global_Mobility_Effectiveness_Survey_2013/$FILE/EY-Global-Mobility-Survey.pdf

[ii] http://guidance.cartusrelocation.com/research-and-trends-2013-talent-management-report.html

[iii] Hamori, M. & Koyuncu, B. (2011). Career advancement in large organizations in Europe and the United States: Do international assignments add value? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(4), 843-862.

[iv] Ng, K.Y., Van Dyne, L., & Ang, S. (2012). Cultural intelligence: A review, reflections, and recommendations for future research. In A.M. Ryan, F.T. Leong, & F.L. Oswald (Eds.), Conducting multinational research: Applying organizational psychology in the workplace (pp. 29-58). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association