天美传媒

Faced with the need for going global, companies are becoming more selective about who they send abroad and where they send them. At the same time, more international companies are opting for shorter assignments.

These are some of the findings presented in the聽Global Thinking聽study by 天美传媒鈥檚聽International Research Center on Organizations (IRCO)聽in collaboration with ERES Relocation Services in Spain. The report was written by 天美传媒 professor聽Jos茅 Ram贸n Pin聽and researcher Pilar Garc铆a Lombard铆a.

With all these changes afoot in the global context, the authors note that HR departments should become strategic partners of senior management to best identify 鈥渆xpatriate-able鈥� talent in their organization.

Detecting the talent

Dividing international key players鈥� profiles into four categories that correspond to the business factors is recommendable for the design of efficient mobility policies adapted to each company鈥檚 needs. In this way, selection, training and promotion processes, such as the implementation of agreed remuneration flexible policies, are eased.

1. Ready and Willing: Self-Designed Careers. To a large extent, this category corresponds to 鈥済lobal nomads鈥�: people with an international lifestyle who see mobility as a way to satisfy both personal and professional goals in their lives. Global nomads tend to be young, flexible and willing to accept posts that older colleagues might reject or accept only under highly beneficial, strongly compensated terms. People with this profile might hail from any country, although in recent years the percentage coming from China and India has grown substantially.

Global nomads view their career as a never-ending string of international opportunities, so聽motivating and retaining them is not easy. Traditional economic incentives are not the best way to increase loyalty to their current employer. They respond better to new challenges in order to develop their skills and聽a career path with the promise of multiple international assignments with varying responsibilities.

2. High-Potential, Emerging Talent. This group is made up of potential future leaders who are interested in acquiring international experience. In many cases, they come from the 鈥済lobal nomads鈥� group and may end up becoming strategic leaders in a few years, thanks to their commitment to their company鈥檚 culture and mission.

3. Technical Experts With Experience. These are people with expertise and technical skills suited to meet the particular needs of a company. They are specialists able to solve problems or carry out specific projects anywhere in the world. When they emerge from the 鈥済lobal nomads鈥� group, a competitive advantage is clear: unlike most technical experts, they are already accustomed to working abroad.

4. Strategic Business Leaders. This group consists of experienced, high-performing executives with a strong sense of corporate mission. They are extremely valuable to the company, especially if they have developed their career in-house, as one of their most important jobs is to spread the company鈥檚 culture and mission around the world. One of the main goals of a global talent-management strategy is to establish policies that ensure the company has enough of these strategic leaders.