Issue 3 2009 > Responding to Business Needs for Short-Term Assignments
Responding to Business Needs for Short-Term Assignments
In a recent survey of 154 multinational corporations, 68% said that they expect to ramp up short-term assignments. This trend has continued to increase in line with the slowed economy.
While there is still global optimism from the growing markets such as China, India, Eastern Europe, Brazil, etc., finding suitable candidates for assignments is still a challenge for many companies. Global mobility professionals need to ensure that their employees complete their assignments and maintain employee retention rates.
How, when money is tight?
In addition to short-term assignments, mobility professionals are applying a host of cost-saving strategies e.g., reducing policy offerings and financial incentives for some of their employees. Another strategy is to identify younger talent within the organization, which is a growing trend in the industry. Assignees are younger than in previous years. In fact, half of them are 20-39 years of age and being younger, many of them are single (and are likely to require fewer or lower-cost destination services). Young professionals view international assignments as a necessary step in their career development and many are enthusiastic about an opportunity for an overseas assignment.
Is it truly a short-term assignment?
While most companies define "short-term" as being between one month and one year, they can sometimes, unintentionally, become long-term, which adds to the cost of the assignment, as well as the administrative burden. To avoid this unplanned long-term assignment, it is very important that the assignment’s expected outcomes are defined very clearly, with a documented timeline that details the expected tasks and states the completion dates of the assignment.
Short-term assignments are cost-effective alternatives because they are typically designed for the employee only and the family stays behind. There’s also less of a need for intercultural training, both of which help realize cost savings for the organization. It is approached more as an extended business trip than a typical relocation and is highly focused on a particular project and driven by a specific business need, with a definitive objective and completion date.
What other cost saving strategies are being implemented?
- Extending temporary housing allotments
- Creating roommate situations
- Providing "occupied" property management
- Exploring long distance commuting
- Offering flexible hours/days
- Streamlining expense management, e.g. integrating with payroll, allowing scanned receipt submission
Donna J. Bear, manager for the Human Resource Institute Canadian Management Centre summed it up well when she said "Change is inevitable and organizations will always find sound business reasons to send work or workers away. But how an organization survives and even thrives in a time of turmoil will be a factor of the culture they have built along the way."
The key to the success of any policy is quite simply, "Communication!" Verbal, written, through technology and most importantly through line management’s commitment to consistency, all help employees to understand their benefits package and help improve their morale during a time of transition.
Written by:
Donna G. Bergles, GMS, CRP
National Director, Global Mobility Services
Crown Canada
Based in: Toronto, Canada
Email: dbergles@crownrelo.com