08 Jul What is a Global Mobility Portfolio — and How it Can Help You

Do you really need to fully relocate a person or can they achieve the business aims using technology and attending on site in the country as needed?

According to Davidson Morris, determining the key objectives of the assignment upfront to provide the necessary focus and criteria when considering which type of assignment and candidate is most appropriate. It could be about leading on a designated project, passing on specific skills to local teams through talent development training or developing the next regional CEO as part of your succession planning strategy.

At a time of constant change, it’s best to be prepared and have a global mobility portfolio. Think of it as similar to an investment portfolio containing your financial blueprint, which lists every stock and asset you own. Every time you need to check on each one’s condition, you just have to take a look at one of its folders. Browsing through all of them at one point can also give you an overview of where you stand, financially speaking. The same is true for a global mobility portfolio.

While programs and guidelines are important to keep the talent pipeline full and active, having a structure that correlates and coordinates all of them can actually lend solidity and sustainability to all of your assignee-related activities.

A global mobility portfolio is designed to assist the organization, or the mobility department, comply with industry rules while fulfilling its deliverables according to the highest standards. It contains the road map of the global mobility department’s future. It has forecasts on the kind of talent that the company needs, the location where it can source and sign them, and the kind of long-term value they can bring to the company.

Certain programs are simply indispensable to the success of a global mobility program. As the blue chips of this business, they are simply a must in any global mobility manager’s mandate: recruitment, candidate selection, relocation, training and development, and succession planning.

Having all the documented files in one place makes it easier for the manager to just pull them out at any given time. They can easily check the status of his recruitment drive for the new hubs in Northern California, or assess how quickly (or slowly) their candidates are being processed in their New Delhi office. 

Individual assessment, though, can easily lead to a more thorough, holistic perspective. As the global mobility manager studies each folder one by one, they can better understand how one program affects the other, and vice-versa.

Having a global mobility portfolio can also give birth to effective strategies that can boost the manager’s objectives. It can provide a clear-cut view of the present as well as what the future might hold.

The global mobility manager can then come up with recommendations on how the company can capitalize on the opportunities that the portfolio reveals. They can also come up with ways on how to reduce riskier “investments” and stay out of troubled areas or sectors altogether. 

For example, the portfolio can show certain California hubs that are nurturing IT talent. At the same time, it can also indicate that the company’s near absence of language training is partly responsible for a high level of assignee resignation.

The global mobility portfolio can also point out various institutions, associations, and other entities which the company can partner with. It’s like pouring out a majority of your investment into one gamechanger or trendsetter that can help your stock value soar into the stratosphere. 

Instead of just investing in dozens of shares, you plunk good money for a certain percentage of a highly valued company like Amazon or Apple. Business groups, schools and universities, global research agencies — these are just a few potential partners that the global mobility manager can develop a mutually beneficial relationship with.

It is no longer enough to think in siloes or compartmentalize programs and campaigns. Instead, think of your plans and activities as interconnected branches that grow from one tree and support its growth and health. That’s what designing a mobility portfolio can do for you.