17 Sep 3 Major Considerations for Assignees Before They Sign Up  

After years of recruiting the cream of the crop from various countries, global mobility specialists will have acquired a thorough and working knowledge of what finally influences these gifted foreign talents to sign the dotted line.

They know the kind of compensation packages that will attract them the most, as well as the deal-breakers that will turn them off. Still, surprising as it sounds, nothing is carved in stone, and current research can show that priorities that the assignees do value in order to come onboard the corporation can fluctuate as well. What may be hip and a hot perk today may be a third-tier treat tomorrow.

Expat Financial Global Financial Security lists down three trends to take note of, before approaching any potential recruit:

A workplace that is supportive of female career professionals:  This may sound like a no-brainer, especially to corporate leaders in the west who believe that the so-called fairer sex had cracked the glass ceiling decades ago. However, global mobility specialists must remember that many of their female assignees come from countries and societies with more traditional cultures.

In many international office structures, women are only allowed to reach a certain level of leadership. Even if they do, they would have to prove themselves to be more than equal when it comes to abilities and accomplishments to their male colleagues.

American female employees may say they suffer the same thing, and the degree of tolerance (or lack of it) they encounter may be relative. However, regardless of their marital status, women in America have the fortune of returning to homes where equal opportunity for their gender is considered a solid principle in a democratic culture.

Some female foreign assignees unfortunately do come home to parents and husbands who would insist that a woman’s primary place is in a domestic environment—and anything else, even career advancement, is second best. These female assignees are fighting the gender war on two fronts; that’s why it’s important for them to be assured that the new workplace and country of employment they are flying to will be free of  sexul discrimination or prejudice.

Communication and supportive immersion are the second thing that foreign nationals say they value, and this is where global mobility specialists play a huge role. In today’s digital sphere, one would think that assignees would do their own homework before flying to their new country of employment. Chances are, many of them them do—they take up English remedial courses, and look for information on the neighborhood and U.S. state they will be living in. But what they are really looking for is a virtual, unnoticeable, and yet all-too present helping hand, and global mobility specialists will have to do the hand-holding. They need to be assured that the professional they trusted to bring them to this country will be there to see to it that they integrate seamlessly with their new corporate culture and work harmoniously with their teammates. They want the information they had searched for online verified by the global mobility manager herself.

Global mobility specialists can go the extra mile and earn greater trust from their assignees by introducing them first-hand to some of their own network who can give the latter the assurance they need. Directors of school associations can give them a deeper understanding of their kids’ future classroom environments. California Corporate Housing works hand-in-hand with the global mobility manager to see that their new furnished apartment reflects their most cherished traditions and values.

The third element that assignees look for is accessibility to medical services. Again, this may not seem to be a problem in the U.S. which has an abundance of first-class hospitals and medical centers. But assignees may have their own medical conditions to take care of; global mobility specialists should be aware of them prior to onboarding. Health insurance and locations of health care providers must be given to the assignees from the get-go. Assignees realize they have to perform at their optimum best as soon as they hit the ground running in their new workplace — and medical services will keep them at the peak of health and meeting the expectations of their global mobility managers.