Mobilising workers to work abroad requires a wide range of skills, talents and knowledge, which means that global mobility specialists are needed by companies around the world. Companies are not only expanding globally, but also relocating people to foreign territories and establishing and overseeing operations, and a global mobility specialist can work to facilitate these steps, no matter who they are.
Global mobility specialists manage international employee populations, handle various migration-related aspects of their movement and help them navigate the unfamiliar legislative environment in which they work. Global mobility technology helps companies meet their compliance obligations by giving them access to real-time tax regulations, worker maps, strong workflows and management to maintain control over the entire life cycle of an employee relocation. Mobility teams put the right people at the right time at the right place at the right time by managing employee relocations and travel and by ensuring compliance with regulations, corporate policy, tax and cross-border legal requirements.
The right technology can help mobility teams remain flexible and adapt to changing conditions and workers expectations so that they can support the wishes of mobile workers to work the way they want. Global mobility experts are prepared to address these challenges by playing a proactive role, staying informed, planning ahead, communicating with business leaders, supervisors and employees and offering flexibility on a variety of strategies to meet various business needs. A global mobility programme is geared to both the company and the employee’s interests and can include payroll processes, tax and labour compliance strategies and support for relocating employees.
Sometimes, a company would seek to do business with another company that may not be from the same geographical area. In order to facilitate this collaboration and exchange, global mobility experts step in helping businesses forge valuable partnerships, alliances, or referral networks across different markets. But before these experts can pitch in, the concerned company has to first ensure that adequate research has been done on the other company. That is where a Birmingham business directory comes into the picture or a substitute directory of another place works as well, depending on where either of these companies are based at. Regardless of that, the directories provide detailed information and usually, a point of reference as well so that contact can be made at a convenient stage. Once all the initial but necessary legwork has been done, then the global mobility experts can pitch in, advising these companies on the best way to move forward in terms of local regulations and legal requirements.
An effective mobility programme should examine the advantages and disadvantages of the frequent business traveller model, in which workers work for short, frequent periods in a country of their choice. A mobility programme can help workers and business decision-makers determine the ROI of a short deployment period (6 months as opposed to several years) in combination with tax compensation. Equus Software users spoke with Jared Johnson, a global mobility expert at EIDE, about how companies can set up global mobility programs before employees move abroad, and how it is important to reduce risks when employees move abroad. It was indeed this expert opinion that guided them in the right direction, hence their use of this particular software solution for their global mobility needs.
In view of longer quarantine periods in many places and the time it will take to navigate personal, immigration and tax matters, we are seeing an increase in approaches to the mobility of business travellers who are unaccompanied for the duration of the mission or unaccompanied for an initial period to catch up with family members. As business travel returns to normal, extended business mobility programs are expected to follow suit, for both short and long-term missions, though much will depend on the pace of progress in global efforts to contain and control viruses. This increased flexibility will facilitate mobility for the company’s employees, and corporate planning in this area is crucial to ensure that talent is focused on successful global operations.
