Talent Mobility Beyond Borders In The Age Of Globalisation

In today's globalised world, the dynamics of talent mobility within organisations are undergoing a profound transformation. As borders blur and digital technologies connect us across vast distances, businesses are exploring new avenues for acquiring a diverse and dynamic talent pool. Daniele Merlerati, Chief Regional Officer APAC, Switzerland, Baltics at Gi Group Holding, explains the impact of globalisation on talent mobility, both in terms of opportunities and challenges. From recruiting international talent to facilitating cross-border collaboration, he believes that the implications for human resources and organisations as a whole are substantial.

How has globalisation impacted talent mobility in organisations across sectors?

Globalisation has significantly influenced talent mobility in various sectors. As borders have blurred, organisations seek a more diverse talent pool. This leads to increased international recruitment and transfer of employees. Cross-border collaboration and digital advancements enable remote work, allowing companies to tap into global talent while employees can work from anywhere. However, talent mobility isn't without challenges. Cultural differences, legal complexities and the need for effective remote management pose hurdles. Nonetheless, globalisation has widened the talent pool, fostering innovation and diversity within organisations, but also necessitating adaptability to harness the full potential of this global workforce.

What strategies can be employed to facilitate talent mobility across international borders?

There are many actions that can facilitate international talent mobility. The first one is the clarity about the job, the work environment and the economic elements of salary and taxation in the arrival country. It is important to be correct with the employees to avoid bad experiences and this of course requires the commitment of the client company in our case. Another important element is an inclusive environment at work, people speaking the language of the workers who are moving, a team leader coming from the same country and in general a culturally open and friendly environment. Then supporting the employees with documents and permits and indicating them good places for accommodation and purchases, these may seem details, but these practical issues can become source of frustration and helping the workers improves a lot their experience.

What challenges do employees typically face when relocating internationally, and how does HR address these challenges?

As said before, language, labor law local rules, daily life details are the practical challenges of a relocated worker. A good HR provides all the needed information and provide a continuous support being available for the questions that may arise. Asking and providing continuous feedback is also an important task, together with cultural differences awareness. Safety on the workplace, speaking different languages can be a challenge, and HR must provide multilingual instructions for this important element on the workplace. 

How can HR leaders ensure that talent mobility aligns with an organisation's business objectives and global growth strategy?

Clarity on the jobs, task, goals and roles since the beginning and even before the start of the job with the workers but HR must align internally with the line managers or the responsible people inside the organisation to ensure that they also understand the cultural differences and they overcome the different language obstacle. 

In the context of talent mobility, how can HR leaders manage cultural differences and diversity within the workforce?

In my opinion the first thing is to accept the fact that there is diversity. We have different cultures, all deserving respect and understanding, and some of them are very different from ours. I worked in 17 different countries for my organisation and every time you have to learn the differences.

I always read at least a meaningful book about the country where I will operate, and I try to learn as much as I can about the local language and school system before going there. I find these two last elements very useful to understand the culture. So, in general I suggest preparing and not to improvise.

Looking ahead, what trends do you anticipate in talent mobility as globalisation continues to evolve? 

Demographic trends and distance between labor demand and school system offer are creating a big skill shortage. One of the ways to fill this shortage is international talent mobility. Companies are appealing to governments for answers and the most progressist countries are creating special laws for qualified immigration. I think this will be a long-term trend and needs attention by all the governments, I also suggest that staffing agencies should be involved in this dialogue because they have the better point of view on these dynamics.