HR mobility solutions refer to specialized service providers that can support an organization in managing and supporting a global workforce. As remote work and global connectivity trends increase, so will employee relocation and hiring talent from abroad.
While your HR team might have home-country expertise, they could need more resources or time to manage your international workforce. Even some large multinationals lack the experience to manage these processes.
HR mobility solutions allow business leaders alternative paths to access international talent and manage ex-pats to help businesses expand into different territories. These solutions can also improve the employee experience by ensuring your distributed workforce’s timely payment and boosting recruitment, employee engagement, and retention.
What is global mobility?
Global mobility refers to an organization’s ability to move various parts of its business worldwide. This process includes functions like finance, tax, payroll, and, of course, HR.
What are global mobility services?
While an HR mobility solution is more worker-focused, global mobility services often deal with the entire global mobility process or specialize in specific areas such as business travel logistics, immigration, or regulatory compliance.
Global mobility services support companies, stakeholders, and HR teams to achieve their business objectives. Hiring or operating abroad requires teams to navigate complex scenarios and challenges. Mobility services solve many of these issues by drawing upon knowledge and expertise of local tax and employment laws.
Why you need a global mobility program
Globalization began in the late 15th century. However, communications, logistics, and travel improvements have allowed the development of sophisticated supply chains and related services.
Accessing international markets, customers, and global talent offers major opportunities. However, global expansion is complex.
Here are some elements of global mobility management that teams need to consider:
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Local immigration law and visa requirements
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International tax, employment law, and other local regulatory and compliance issues
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Language and cultural barriers
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The logistics involved in the relocation process
Your HR professionals play a significant role in this complex ecosystem. Successfully relocating employees and engaging in a global talent pool can offer your business many advantages. However, you need a well-defined global mobility strategy to navigate expansion into new regions.
Building a global mobility program also allows you to create the processes and workflows that help your business succeed in a new country. Strong mobility policies provide a road map your team members can implement to improve the day-to-day employee experience while meeting long-term business objectives.
Different HR global mobility solutions
Global hiring is full of complexities. You need knowledge of local rules and regulations across local employment laws and tax compliance. Depending on the location, there could also be language and cultural differences to overcome.
Navigating these issues requires specialized knowledge and expertise. However, not all teams have in-house experience or the time and resources to implement it.
Let’s explore the different ways you can employ global mobility solutions.
Dedicated in-house staff
Hiring an in-house global mobility consultant or manager is the right choice in specific scenarios. For example, if your business has a large globally distributed workforce or you engage in many overseas recruiting.
In-house HR mobility solutions can work well in limited locations. However, as you expand your global reach, the intricacies of local tax and employment laws require specialization. As such, this option is less suitable for small and medium-sized businesses and startups.
External service providers
External service providers or global mobility services are an excellent option for many organizations. They typically offer deep knowledge and expertise in that global market. You can outsource this experience to boost your talent mobility.
However, outsourcing this work can come with disadvantages. Human resources teams can suffer from a lack of visibility of processes. This loss of control can trickle down to expatriate assignees and local talent. Any problems or delays can affect the employee experience and even cause unwelcome attrition.
Use global mobility platforms
The software revolution of the last few decades has resulted in purpose-built tools that can help HR teams recruit, manage, and pay remote teams. Enhanced connectivity and sophisticated dashboards help HR teams stay on top of visa applications, employee satisfaction, recruitment, onboarding, and compliance issues.
HR global mobility platforms like Deel support businesses with employees across different countries. We help with global payroll and local benefits and streamline the offer and onboarding process. Our human resources information system (HRIS) enables you to process, manage, and maintain employee and contractor data. We can help with performance, paid leave, and expense management.
Finally, we can help your team navigate the choppy waters of local laws and regulations. Staying compliant is essential if you want to avoid fines and reputational damage. Deel’s expertise in local laws reduces the risks of hiring international talent, allowing you to boost your productivity and, in many cases, reduce costs.
