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St. Louis Business & Technology News
"When you think Saint Louis, think Saint Louis Front Page," a weekly publication covering the news and events in the greater St. Louis area. 
How To Reach Us:St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com |
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Companies Struggling to Cope With Global Mobility ST. LOUIS, MO (BUSINESS WIRE), February 17, 2008 - When it comes to responding to the forces of globalization, many companies are struggling to cope, a new study from Deloitte Tax LLP and HR consulting firm ORC Worldwide LLC reveals. While companies appreciate the importance of penetrating new markets and globalizing operations in sustaining growth, addressing all the issues involved in managing global mobility effectively can be a daunting challenge. The 2007 Global Mobility Program Management Survey showed that most multi-national companies are predicting significant increases in different types of assignments in the next year. Half (50 percent) of the companies surveyed predict increases in the number of long, short, intra-regional assignments, and extended business trips, with China and India as the two highest areas of anticipated growth. "The changing business and talent environment has made the sourcing and deployment of talent a critical issue for all organizations," said Judy Sloan, a Director in the Global Employment Services Group of Deloitte Tax LLP. "Those that will be successful can leverage additional benefits from globalization. Those that don't will have a hard time competing in the global marketplace." Costly Challenges The issue of global mobility is creating significant concerns among survey participants. The findings cite "high costs" as the greatest challenge faced by companies, followed by lack of qualified resources to manage these assignment programs, and increasing tax and immigration compliance issues. Since September 11, 2001, there has been far greater scrutiny by governments of short-term assignees and extended business travelers, with increasing enforcement of visa and tax regulations, however, only one quarter (24 percent) of the companies surveyed have so far established specific internal controls to address the resulting compliance risks. Additionally, although there is a common agreement that global assignments are increasing and concerns about costs and resources are mounting, relatively few companies have also put the metrics in place to fully analyze their global mobility programs for effectiveness. In fact, more than 85 percent of the companies surveyed do not employ any form of tracking metrics. For example, statistics on the number of employees that leave the company after the assignment are frequently not maintained, nor are the number of employees promoted during or at the end of an assignment. It is these unknowns that make it extremely difficult to effectively and accurately measure the success of costly global mobility programs. "Many companies are struggling with limited resources and systems to manage the costly investment in their global mobility programs," said Roger Herod, senior vice president, ORC WorldWide. "This is a critical business issue at a time when most companies are using a diverse and increasingly mobile global workforce to be able to compete on a global basis." "In order to be truly competitive, companies must begin to recognize the value of mobility in terms of talent development, using assignments as a means to strengthen leadership development and facilitate a diffusion of talent throughout the organization," added Herod. "Linked to this goal is the repositioning of the global mobility function within organizations as a strategic business partner. In today's business environment, addressing these global mobility imperatives is vital to achieving a true competitive advantage."  
The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group. |
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