Global Mobility Professionals,

Since 1999 I have worked in the Global Mobility and international HR space and there is not one day where I do not learn anything new! In the year 2000, I sat in the last row of a very expensive Global Mobility seminar in Berlin. I was about three months into a role that was at least one shoe size too big for my experience but I must have made a big impression in the interview (and my future boss was probably desperate) so I landed my dream job which was to be the “HR International Advisor for the Asia Pacific responsible for around 80 assignees and representatives of a large global bank.

The seminar was a waste of money on me. It was far too specific and detailed. The cases were more the exceptions than the general rule and I am happy that at least I remembered when to apply the “183-day-rule* in a case of double taxation and when not even to bother.

We are NOT relocation professionals even though we often engage them. Later in my Human Resources career, I noticed that there is really not a lot of good advice out there for international HR professionals PLUS if you say you work in Global Mobility a lot of people think you are doing the relocation only.

When talking to other HR Professionals and senior managers they often underestimate the complexity of Global Mobility and one of the remarks that still makes me angry is when Global Mobility Professionals are called “ADMIN” because what we do requires an enormous knowledge and skill set.

If you are one of my colleagues you probably share my view that Global Mobility Professional have to be

• Highly analytical (you are a comp and cost expert).
• Highly technical (you are an expert on tax, social security, immigration, employment law).
• Highly experiential (you have to have moved 200 expats to know your job).
• Highly sensitive (you work with talents and their families in a phase of high stress).
• Highly intercultural (you speak at least four languages and deal with numerous cultures).

One of our challenges globally is that there is no formal Global Mobility education. As mentioned in my recent article in the International HR Adviser, Spring 2018, we need to build up our own professional standards while we need to learn to work more in line with the businesses and clients we serve.

We need to step up and become real consultants. We have come a long way already and I wish to guide you further.

Sign up for the free upgrade of The Global Mobility Workbook, 3rd Edition (2018). You’ll also be the first to know when the book will be published.

Kind regards

Angela Weinberger