This week I had the privilege of joining my Forum for Expatriate Management colleagues at their Totally Expat Show in New York, USA.

Chatting to several US-based HR and mobility managers at the event, I picked up some interesting insights:

  1. In the US, mobility managers are as likely (or more likely) to be talking about moving people in-country as overseas.
  2. Very few have got to grips with what you do with employees who have gone on assignment and are now back ‘home’. This leads to huge loss of talent after substantial investment.
  3. Mobility managers are increasingly managing short-term assignments or business travel trips as long-term assignments decline.
  4. Some do not bother to offer enhanced packages to lure talent to certain locations. Staff are simply offered the opportunity of a new location, but at local reward rates.

Each of these points, bar perhaps point two, mean that the relocation and reward package offered to modern-day expatriates is changing and employers are needing to review and benchmark what is on offer.

Because the other point that came up more than once: just as in the old days assignees met in the local expatriate bar in their exotic location to exchange note and compare packages, these days they do it over social media.

So not so different to reward and benefits more widely I guess.

Debi O’Donovan
Editor
Employee Benefits

Twitter: @DebiODonovan