Seven Virtues for Purpose, Performance, and Productivity

The Back-to-School Mood

Rose petals sprinkled over my neglected Zen Garden, sunflower fields turned brown, and you have started to turn on the lights in the morning again. When you get home from work, you don’t want to sit outside anymore as it is dark, but you might vaguely remember this feeling you had as a kid when you were playing hide and seek at this time of the year, and it was just a notch better because it got dark at dinner time. This August is a bit like the “Summer of ‘69”. Did you also feel like a Rockstar? Finally out again in the world, listening to “Rock’n’Roll Music” or “Jailhouse Rock.”  Still, my dear, fall is here. We can still have a glass of “Summer Wine,” but the days are as short as the “Itzy Bitzy Teeny Weeny Honolulu Strand Bikini.” 

Apples are ripe for harvest, and the smell of onion pie and early wine hangs in the air. How do you remember the early fall, back when we were in high school? I remember a particular moment going down the stairs from our horrible grey concrete school building of the 70s, thinking, “This is great! I love being back at school!” I swung my newly acquired pepita jacket across my shoulders and closed my leather school bag with a sense of accomplishment. 

Do you miss those times when you felt like the world was in order and that you had all the opportunities ahead of you? You know when you feel like a “Rockstar” sipping champagne in a limo, with your Bono hat on, driving through “New York” with a bass drum pounding similar to the headache you will have the following day? 

Is this the life you want to have, without limits, without regrets, and certainly without the need to have a “boss” tell you what to do, as you know best how to do your job, how to build your contribution to the world and how to achieve your goals in work and life?

If you want to get to this focused and productive life level, you can start by building weekly practices and adding them to our RockMeApp. Last week I already spoke about seven easy-to-implement steps to help your body adjust to a new culture or new environment. This week, I would like to dive even deeper into these seven deadly rituals for focus and productivity

1 – Start Your Week with Monday Wishes

Starting your Week with Monday Wishes is a powerful way to start your week. Use your Have-Done-Diary to write down your wishes for the week without limiting yourself. Even if you end up re-writing your to-do list, just brain-dump everything you wish for the week. The list should include fun stuff like “a bunch of flowers,” too. According to this post, journalling can also help with depression.

2- Craft Your New Morning Ritual

I believe we should all have a morning ritual, and you can design yours around your needs, lifestyle, family, and pets. For example, you can think about, which order you ideally go through your morning to have a happy and productive day ahead. Pro tip: Don’t check your mobile phone during this time of the day.

3 – Finish with Friday Reflection

If your workweek closes on Thursday or Friday, use the last hour of your day to clean up your desk, sort paper or emails, write a task list for the week ahead, and then go through our four reflection questions on the RockMeApp. Here’s a helpful virtue of separating the workweek from the weekend. I’ve talked about taking 90 minutes on Saturday to finalize open tasks instead of working late with a few of you. Test this; for me, it works well.

4 – Plan a Digital Detox Day 

Taking a real break from Social Media, especially those funny videos on Insta isn’t easy unless you have a plan on where you can hide your phone for 24 hours. You might be a parent and need to be reachable for your children. Using my uncle’s strategy to have an elementary mobile phone to remain reachable over the weekend for essential clients and family can pay off. Alternatively, you can try to apply willpower (just kidding). Turn on the “Radio GaGa” and listen to unexpected songs, hear the news without images, and enjoy that wonderful feeling.

5 – Weekly Practices You Can Do Anywhere

Weekly practices are a vital element of our programs. They help with sanity maintenance and make you a happier person to be around (as opposed to your inner Mr. Hyde, who is also a corporate zombie.) If you are struggling to define what practices are helpful to you or haven’t even started, I encourage you to define weekly goals that you can achieve no matter where you are. Examples could be daily walking targets and relaxation exercises or keeping your space clean of clutter. 

6 – Consider my Productivity Hacks 

If you feel you have maxed out your productivity already, please test this: If you can implement one of these seven productivity hacks (1- Have-Done Diary, 2 – Pomodoro Method, 3 – Eisenhower Matrix, 4 – Pareto-Principle, 5 – Peace Island, 6 – Repetition Checklists, 7 – Outsourcing Housework) and you notice any changes you might still have potential to improve, and there’s always space to learn and get better at tools. Also, to let you in on a secret, I used to waste a lot of time with mundane tasks such as looking for the correct passwords or making sure I had the right document version. A year ago, I often needed to follow up on team tasks and could not always rely on them. We now use password managers, a few master spreadsheets, and SLACK for team communication. I cannot say that this has increased our productivity. Still, my stress level is lower as now everything is well organized and accessible from anywhere and all team members.

7 – Revisit Your Weekly Planner

When you started working with the weekly planner (we usually hand this out at the end of all programs), you might have noticed an increase in productivity right away. Now, with a bit more practice, you might see that you could make optimizations or you could change your meal or exercise plan for the fall. I recommend that you keep the general structure and only optimize what doesn’t work well yet.

If you work with Coach or Aunty “Angie” I promise that we will rock you!” so that no stone will be left unturned. We have published “The Global Rockstar Album” which is a self-help book for managers and nomads who want to bring purpose, performance, and productivity to their work, while also becoming more inclusive servant leaders. Sign up here to be invited to the book launch party in Zurich, Switzerland.

Further Reading

Overcoming Depression One Page at a Time: The Impact of Journaling on Mood

Moving from Ad-hoc Hiring to a Global Sourcing Approach

Expat Selection is a myth and if you would like to select expats in a structured manner you better start with a few basic adjustments in your global sourcing process.

Succession Planning as a Basis for Expat Selection

Succession Planning should guide the individual development plan, the international assignment business case, and the transition plan. I advise thinking about the international assignment from the end. Start to think about the next role before you discuss the international assignment business case with the assignment targets and cost projection. In other words, find a position the assignee could fill after the assignment in your succession plan. Most companies only have a succession plan for the top 10% of their positions but what about the other 90%?

Use your Nine-Box Grid wisely

In order to have a good succession plan in place companies often use an extensive talent selection process that is usually based on the nine-box grid. The nine-box grid helps to decide where your candidates are within your talents. Usually, the key talents would be found in the 3,3 box or A-category. In multinationals, A-candidates often fill market assignments, B-candidates sourcing assignments, and C-candidates talent assignments. Depending on your main Global Mobility drivers, you could consider D-candidates for lifestyle assignments and sometimes even for sourcing assignments.

Data-driven decisions

Generally, there is no best practice for expat selection. The reality I often see is that the current assignee has already left. The HR Business Partners or Talent Managers run around screaming “Hello? Anybody out there?” and the first good candidate who raises the hand is accepted. Then because it is already late in the process and the position has been vacant for too long, this candidate negotiates a fantastic package. As there is usually no structured global sourcing process in place you might want to follow the next step to develop a data-driven decision about your assignees rather than a purely network-driven decision.

Interview at least three candidates per role

Make it a point to shortlist more than three candidates per role and where possible look for a diverse selection of candidates. Open all jobs up to C-level on a global job board so candidates can also nominate themselves.

Check the local market before hiring an expat

Before you reach out to the global candidates or headquarters try to hire from the local market. An expat should be the last solution to consider, not the first especially if there is a high likelihood that you are looking for a specific skill set.

Base selection on hard skills

I’m often surprised on what basis expats are chosen for a role. You need to match their hard skills to the profile you are looking for. Treat them as if they were an external applicant and be critical of their self-assessment. Have a standardized assessment or test in place for critical skills.

Only chose high performers

If a person is a medium or low performer they will certainly not perform better in a country where they do not understand the culture and where they do not have a network. A high performer in the home country will in my experience perform one point less in the host country in the first year. Often expats go down from 3 to 2 in the nine-box grid, or from 4 to 3 on a 5-point scale.

Assess their intercultural competence

Candidates might be great on their home turf but could fail in a cultural context that does not suit them. You could have the intercultural competence of your expats tested. There are various assessment tools in the market and they could help with your choice.

Take the Expat Spouse into account

If the assignee is married or in a partnership, you could obtain a pre-hire assessment for the spouse. Often, the spouse is neglected in the process and the issue of the spouse not finding employment is only raised when the expat family is desperate and unhappy in the host country. As a modern employer, you should assume that the expat spouse is key to the success of the assignment and therefore needs to be on board from the start.

Learn about the particular needs of the Expat Family early on

You could have the best selection process, and a fantastic candidate, and waste a lot of time because the needs of the family have not been met. For example, if the candidate has a child with support needs you should know if the host country has a school that adheres to those needs. Also, if there is an olderly relative to consider, you should have an idea of how to tackle this situation. You could discuss a special roster with extended home leave or an additional bedroom. You would need to check if you can obtain a residence permit for the extended family members too.

If you have any questions on succession planning and expat selection in Global Mobility you can email or message me.

Angie Weinberger

PS: This post is a chapter from the third edition of “The Global Mobility Workbook”.

Measure Expat Performance

An expatriate (“expat”) is an individual living and working in a country other than their country of citizenship, often temporarily and for work reasons. They are usually sent abroad by a multinational employer (profit or non-profit). Managers often criticize expats who take up expensive international assignments for “underperforming” in their host locations. But nobody knows why that is. We don’t have data to prove this.

A study by Learnlight shows that four in ten international assignments are judged to be a failure. And yet the number of overseas assignments continues to rise. Global companies are under considerable pressure to determine what makes a successful overseas assignment and to understand why they so often fail. However, what has been so often overlooked is why it is difficult to measure expatriate performance. Since both assignment failure and success depends on how expats perform on the job, it becomes pertinent to consider how expats perform and why it is difficult to measure their performance. In the following points, I will highlight and elaborate on five reasons why it is difficult to measure expatriate performance.

• Goals for Expats are often not clearly defined. They are often conflicting as they have to take into account the interests of the home and host company, or headquarters and subsidiaries. It becomes difficult to work effectively when expats are trying to achieve the home company goals while simultaneously trying to fit in the expectations of the host company. More expats would perform well if the goals of the host company align with the objectives of the home company.
• Performance ratings have been calibrated for years. However, we know that there is an unconscious bias in the data. The first rater is usually a direct manager.  This person potentially judges their own weaknesses less and thinks that the expat is responsible for failure alone. However, often the manager in the host country does not help the expat to solve dilemmas. The home country manager should consider it a responsibility to make it seamless for the expatriate to integrate well into the system. One of the biggest factors that determine whether or not an assignee would be successful is who his or her line manager is. 
• Cultural concepts of performance are biased. Definitions of “high performance” have been largely influenced by Western values and did not take team performance into account. The gig economy will need stronger team collaboration and fewer individual players. Eastern values and approaches might have an advantage now.
• Management by Objectives is outdated. We need a new conceptual framework of performance. Even in the past setting annual targets was not always the best method of judging performance (irrespective of expat or local).
• Expat managers usually lack the informal network and access to the host culture so it is not surprising if their performance drops in Y1. It is quite impossible to know how to navigate in a terrain that you are not familiar with. Also, they are busy adjusting and have a family to integrate into the new life abroad. One might think that we can accelerate the cultural adjustment and then just go “back to the normal way of judging performance” but I would advise against such thinking. It takes time to fit into the system and culture of a new location. Hence, the whole process of cultural adjustment takes its tolls on expat performance.

Scullion, and Collings (2011) describe the performance assessment system at Novartis which will be used as a generic example for global companies. The system “…grades employees on (a) business results (the “what”) and (b) values and behaviors (the “how”). While the business results are unique to each business area, the values and behaviors (ten in all) are common across the entire firm.” Together with the potential assessment talents are assessed in a nine-box matrix. (Scullion, Collings, 2011, p. 29). Basing expats’ performance solely on business results may not give the overall picture of all that transpires to make an assignment either a success or a failure. There should be a holistic overview of all the processes that go into cultural adjustment and family acculturation. 

The Term “Expat Failure” and what it commonly refers to

When discussing the success of an international assignment or project a common way to measure “success” is expat adjustment which in contradiction to “expat failure” is often equalized with completing an assignment for the planned assignment period.

“The authors leave open how long it may take an expatriate to attain the same level of applicability and clarity abroad as at home, stressing that one or two years may not suffice. To reach higher levels, the person may very well have experienced an identity transformation far more profound than passing through a cycle of adjustment.” Hippler, Haslberger, Brewster (2017, p.85)

“A “comprehensive model of success is missing” and Caligiuri’s (1997) suggestion that future studies should clarify what is meant by adjustment, as opposed to performance, indicated the need for definitional and discriminant clarity when examining performance.” Care and Donuhue (2017, p.107)

Talent management approaches in Germany and Switzerland and most of Europe is driven by the U.S.-based ideas about talent identification and definitions and use the “nine-box grid” to select key talents with a halo effect towards white males. 

Influence of psychological contract on expatriate retention

An issue in expatriation is often the lack of clarity around the role after repatriation. A psychological contract exists between the expat and the company but there is no written agreement or clear understanding of the next role or roles in the process. Expectations are not properly managed and often expats are disappointed with their title, pay or role content in the next role when returning from an assignment.

Two years after repatriation there are several factors influencing retention significantly. 

1. a) re-entry cultural adjustment, another 
2. b) role expectation mismatch and 
3. c) the lack of applicability of the learning from the previous assignment.

The Integration of Global Mobility and Global Talent Management

One of the reasons for this lack of synchronization is the missing integration of global mobility and global talent management activities and functions in today’s organizations. The only guidance focuses on academic concepts of expatriate return on investment.

A Holistic Competency Model is Needed

I claim that we not only need better integration of Talent Management and Global Mobility (hence the term Talent Mobility) but we also need to look at our performance management systems, global competency models, recruiting and talent identification process in a new light. We finally need to advance HR to an interculturally competent function and reduce the inherent bias in all of our processes, tools and leaders. This will be a major task in a post-colonial BANI World.

My Global Competency Model has been an attempt to integrate Eastern and Western mindsets into a model. Our coaching approach builds on Eastern and Western coaching practices. We included the ethics by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). The holistic approach of my coach, educator Drs. Boudewijn Vermeulen, further developed by Dr. Eva Kinast into a holistic, body-oriented and intercultural coaching method. This method focuses on building and maintaining effective trust-based relationships, the body-mind-heart connection and is linked to the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. 

The model also assumes weekly reflection, and regular practices, which originate from Eastern mindsets and concepts such as ZEN. We integrated body learning which was taught to me by Dr. Jay Muneo Jay Yoshikawa in a course of Eastern Mindscapes (back in 2005 at the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication in Portland, Oregon). Reflected experiences are based on the single-loop and double-loop learning theory of Argyris and Schoen. Also, experiential learning that I first learned from Thiaggi about 20 years ago and have further developed into all of my programs.

Trust and Relationships are Collaboration Glue

In almost every coaching session right now leaders talk to me about the need to get better at building trust (also in a virtual setting) and relationships. Relationships in my view are the glue to working well together within a monocultural but also multicultural environment. Collaboration (as opposed to Cooperation) requires a higher level of trust among project team members. Agile needs it. And Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion demand it. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR GLOBAL MOBILITY?

“Better alignment between global mobility and companies’ global talent agenda is a precondition for making mobility truly strategic and helping companies achieve a significant return on investment with their international assignments.”

• Widening the scope of Global Mobility to include international hires, cross-border commuters, international transfers, lifestyle assignments, global digital nomads and other groups of internationally mobile professionals.
• Reviewing all HR models and processes to reduce bias and White Supremacy should be on the priority list of every HR leader but you can also make it your personal mission. Help us create a world where everyone has a chance and invite those to the table that are often overlooked.
• Defining assignment objectives up front and tracking progress throughout the assignment. You must ensure that not only the home company or headquarters have clear cut objectives for the expat  but also that the host company’s objectives are in sync and align with that of the headquarters. Coach the expat or send them to me for coaching. Help them be a success rather than a failure.

• Improving productivity by addressing development areas such as communication, process and culture barriers. Key problem areas should be identified. Oftentimes, expats complain about loss of connection to the home company. Nobody from the headquarters or home company is interested in how they fare in the new environment. If expats feel deserted, it could adversely affect their performance output. Proffering viable solutions to pain points of expats, such as cultural roadblocks would help improve expats performance. Give them the vocabulary to speak about their blockers, send them to intercultural awareness training. 

• Helping coordinate annual talent review of all expatriates. Reviews like this give expats the opportunity to express their perception of the international assignment. 

• Increase the expat’s self-awareness. Let expats learn more about themselves. We use the IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory) and ICBI™ (Individual Cultural Blueprint Indicator) for example for self-awareness assessment and the outcomes can be a great conversation starter in a coaching session.

RESOURCES

https://feibv.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Master-Thesis_Weinberger-Angela_Jan-2019_Final.pdf

The Swiss Summer Slump

Seven Margheritas and Margaritas to Make More of the Downtime

The Swiss Summer Slump is around the corner. From Mid-July to Mid August, Switzerland seems to fall asleep. Despite the recession and terminations of contracts in the banking and IT sector, I expect the “Swiss Summer Slump” very soon. Decision-makers aren’t around to take interviews, and your chances of finding a job over the summer holidays are usually lower than in busy times. So if you haven’t signed a contract by now, I bet you won’t sign one within the next four weeks. Yes, I will invite you to Margherita and Margarita, if you prove me wrong.

With the start of international and Swiss school holidays, you notice fewer people on the trains, and motivation to work is generally lower than usual. This is when to take overtime compensation, go home at decent hours, and leave the country for a while. It’s also time to jump into a lake near you every evening after work.

Let’s pull out the deck chair, parasol, and sunscreen and just relax with a Margherita and Margarita (M&M)

Nooo, my friend. You won’t get out that easily.

The Cost of Margherita and Margarita in Zurich

If you lived in Zurich for a while you probably know by now that the price for a Pizza Margherita (note the different spelling) is around 18 CHF. A Margarita drink costs approximately 18 CHF. (And if you are like me, we never stop at one Margarita, when we have a good time). So, on a “normal” fun night with the girls you could easily spend 90 CHF. (I need to explain that because many people cannot relate to our price levels.). As long as you had a job you probably did not mind spending this money on a good night out. 

If you are currently unemployed, trying to launch your own brand or you have just been given notice and you are not profiting from the RAV (Swiss Unemployment Office) financial support, I would like to help you save money and bring in an income to your family again fast. (You might remember our advent calendar for ideas to make money in December.) 

Let’s look at the Job Market

Contract-to-hire positions are abundant during the summer season, and many job-seekers decide to take the summer off, which is a considerable advantage if you keep job hunting. There is another factor that is encouraging this year: Swiss businesses, despite all their efforts, can’t manage to hire all the needed workers. 

This is partly due to this “Great Resignation” (this term describes a significant protest movement among employees related to their jobs, leading to a widespread wave of resignations and major strikes) and Switzerland’s healthy economic growth over the last few months. In the two decades prior to the Covid-19 shock, Switzerland demonstrated a commendable history of growth, with an average annual GDP growth rate of +2%. This figure notably surpassed the +1.4% growth rate observed for the Eurozone as a whole. (Allianz Trade Collection Complexity Score, 2022). 

You can still find a Job

These exceptional circumstances might help you find a new job in the next few months. Due to the significant shifts in the labor market landscape since the Pandemic, many workers want to change careers. That, in turn, creates thousands of job openings. The Swiss job market presently has over 100’000 job vacancies (1st quarter 2022, that is +60,4% in a year, according to the Federal Statistical Office), mainly in the industry and service sectors. As a result, staff shortages have reached record levels (Jaberg, Swissinfo, 7 June 2022). 

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), during the first quarter of 2023, there was a 2.2% increase in total employment (number of jobs) compared to the same quarter in the previous year. When adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, this increase was 0.6% compared to the previous quarter.

In terms of full-time equivalents, there was a 2.4% growth in jobs. Companies reported a total of 7,100 more vacancies (+5.9%) compared to the previous year, and the employment outlook indicator remained positive. These findings are based on the latest data from the FSO.

You may feel late to the game if you seek a job. The most common reaction I see from clients is to stop all efforts over the summer. But, of course, doing this would be counter-productive; you can use this time for your job search and business development by following our M&M Plan for finding a job and launching your personal brand in Zurich.

1 – Follow the HireMeExpress Online Course

Commit to a schedule by working with us via the HireMeExpress online course. It contains 12 PLUS three weeks of intense preparation to prepare you for the job market. We give you the videos, templates, weekly summary, and homework for the HireMeExpress program. You can start anytime. We offer this online course at a M&M Plan of 37 CHF during the summer slump and hope it will help you stay motivated and on track. 

We also encourage you to plan your time to spend more time outside (you know you will need that extra vitamin D in a few months!). Starting this week, we recommend you work on a unique “M&M Summer Schedule” from 7 AM to 2 PM as I do, and then you can spend the rest of the day in the “Badi” of your choice, reading, listening to podcasts, and enjoying life! 

In order for you to not cringe at the thought of paying 37 CHF for an online course I have tried and tested this recipe for a perfect summerly pizza without yeast.: 

https://www.smarticular.net/pizzateig-ohne-hefe-rezept-selber-machen-vegan/amp/

And here is the recipe for the “Classic Margarita”:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tequila-classic-margarita

2 – Buy a new Power Suit

So, now that you are saving money as you learn to make your own pizzas and cocktails you can consider a short-term investment. Women need to get better at financial management and I am here to guide you, because I have in the past made mistakes that have cost me a lot of money. However, there is one strategy that always works for me: The Power Suit. You will need a new power suit for that next interview or business meeting. So get yourself a good new suit or signature piece or a few basics from Adam Brody in Zurich. Adam Brody is happy to consult you on your style as well. Let him know that I’ve sent you and ask for the “Angie” treatment. 

3 – Enjoy a Beauty Ritual

I recommend another short-term investment in the M&M Plan is that you plan time to pamper yourself. Georgina Georgiu runs an English-speaking day spa in Zurich. The Pure Beauty Spa team is highly professional, and the products are excellent. You will get 20% off your first treatment when you mention “Angie” in your booking.

4 – Have Your Headshot Taken

Consider revisiting why a personal brand is essential. If you are looking for a photographer, we recommend Carmen Sirboiu, owner of Carmen. Photo. All our members and clients are eligible for a unique discount for a Premium LinkedIn and Personal Branding photo session with Carmen. Using the code ‘’Global People’’ you get the session at the Special Price of 180 CHF (value 250 CHF). 

5 – Build More Professional Relationships

Summer is an excellent time to build new relationships and catch up with current contacts. Most busy people might feel less pressure than usual. Encourage them to enjoy the nice weather and spend time outside. So why don’t you take them for ice cream in the sunshine after work? Why don’t you request an early morning walk by the lake while enjoying a cold coffee? A personalized request is vital here. Remember the strategies we teach in our free workshops or read the book “Networking for Nerds” or “Give and Take”.

6 – Practice German and Prepare for an Exam

You have now been in Switzerland long enough to have at least started with German lessons. Ensure you have one exam in your pocket and the certificate in your application file. While the summer is a great time to enjoy your time off, it also has rainy days. Join Heike Reinhart or Yvonne Herrmann-Teubel for a trial class and work on your German. 

7 – Enjoy a Holiday or Home Leave with Your Family

Summer is also the best time to be away from Switzerland. You will probably not miss much, and in emergencies, companies or prospects could also talk to you by video call. Charge your batteries and leave the city for at least two weeks. Your children and partner/spouse will probably love that you have time for them. This is also the best time to go on extended home leave and see your extended family members, high school friends and everyone else you have neglected over the last six months in your protestant Swiss lifestyle (Work, Work, Weekend, Work). If you have the capacity go to our RockMeRetreat Reading and Hearing List for inspiration

Buy the HireMeExpress online program by requesting an account here.  We will release the course as soon as we receive your payment.

References:

Coffey, Patty. In Forbes, 28 May 2021, „7 Reasons To Keep Up Your Job Search This Summer.” Retrieved 25 May 2021, from 7 Reasons To Keep Up Your Job Search This Summer

Federal Office of Statistics, 27 May 2021, „Employment barometer in the 1st quarter 2021, Employment in Switzerland fell in 1st quarter 2021 for the fourth consecutive time – but outlook is positive.” Retrieved 25 June 2021, from 

but outlook is positive – Employment barometer in the 1st quarter 2021 | Press release | Federal Statistical Office

Federal Statistical Office, Employment barometer in 1st quarter 2022: Sharp rise in employment and vacancies in Switzerland in 1st quarter 2022 (press release), 30 May 2022,

Sharp rise in employment and vacancies in Switzerland in 1st quarter 2022 – Employment barometer in 1st quarter 2022 | Press release | Federal Statistical Office, retrieved 17 June 2022.

Jaberg, Samuel. Swiss Firms Struggle With Staff Shortages, 16 June 2022, Swiss firms struggle with acute staff shortages – SWI swissinfo.ch, retrieved 17 June 2022.

Kelly, Jack, in Forbes, 26 May 2021, „How to Attract the Attention of Recruiters as We Head Into the ‘Great Resignation’ and People Look to Switch Jobs.” Retrieved 25 June 2021, from

How To Attract The Attention Of Recruiters As We Head Into The ‘Great Resignation’ And People Look To Switch Jobs

Switzerland: Solid economic fundamentals help cushion growth headwinds. (2022). Corporate.

Switzerland: Solid economic fundamentals help cushion growth headwinds

I recently started this series of posts on the push for “Rainbow Talent” in Global Mobility. The Push for Rainbow Talent in Global Mobility is a series we created for Pride Month to raise awareness of the issues diverse and queer talent might experience in the realm of Global Mobility. In Part 1 we focused on the WHY and in Part 2 on the HOW. Here we focus on the benefits of a more inclusive Global Mobility program. In part 4 we will focus on WHAT you can do to change with ten concrete action steps. We discussed the background here (Part1) and here (Part 2). I’ve also given you lots of reasons why it makes sense to support Rainbow Talent further here (Part 3).

I haven’t concentrated on what it would look like to make that happen. 

The reason why I follow up with the reality check so late is that we will often hear “reality” as an excuse to not take action at all, which in my book is not good enough.

Let’s also remember that we have a lot of “Rainbow Talent” in our industry. Most of us are female and/or gay come from bicultural backgrounds, are married or partnering with a person with a different cultural background, speak three to four languages and we all drink too much coffee.

The Global Mobility industry attracts us like bees to the honey pot and let’s be honest we even sometimes shy away from the additional complexities of working with “Rainbow Talent” ourselves.

I committed in 2020 to help more marginalized groups with one-to-one coaching and my internship program and now I need you to help me in this mission of bringing the Human Touch back into Global Mobility. 

Let’s all fight for what we believe in and start in our own backyard.

This post includes eight action steps for Senior and Global Mobility Managers to consider. 

What are these legal and immigration issues?

Most countries still don’t allow same-sex marriage. Homosexual conduct is still illegal in 69 countries according to the human rights campaign for Foundation 2021. There are still seven countries where homosexual conduct is punishable by death. In most countries in the world, it’s still hard to obtain immigration sponsorship for unmarried partners or de facto spouses.

With dual career couples among the Rainbow Talent the lack of career opportunities for the partner could be a serious problem and even a reason to decline an international assignment who you consider to be a Rainbow Talent will depend strongly on your home base in your home country, usually the country where your headquarters are. We recommend you adopt our summary of all marginalized groups into RAINBOW TALENT from here.

Let’s remember that despite the common challenges we can support more and do more with small steps.

The Macro Level of Rainbow Talent

So here’s a reminder why this is important don’t forget that in the last three years and even before in global mobility we have been dealing with the so-called BANI world (which stands for brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible) and we have been focusing on the global eco disasters the pandemic the war in Ukraine and usually we get involved in all of these let’s say global crisis and we have to deal with them all the time so we became crisis managers and in the case we don’t face any global crisis you can bet we have some crisis going on in our personal lives so we’re really good at managing crises.

With the work-from-anywhere movement, administrations are now starting to reduce hurdles and barriers social security laws are revised to match the expectations of cross-border commuters and we see our population and Scope increasing evermore. I did already predict that this will happen when I first started out to write “The Global Mobility Workbook. The last edition already had this definition of the scope of global mobility but what we cannot stress enough it’s the complexity that we are facing right now.

Another topic that is on the agenda everywhere and the bust of the day is the ethical use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in global mobility. And on the job market you probably also notice the trend towards great resignation and we are also facing recession and inflation currently. and global mobility managers have been dealing with these topics all the time but what we tend to underestimate is that marginalized groups usually suffer more from these issues than let’s say the white male mainstream character who always had better chances in the world not to condemn the white old man, I still think we need the superheroes and as I recently learned it’s also important that we’re grateful for what they have built. I also want to remember that in Europe in the generation of my grandparents for example we faced war, trauma, and destruction and our grandparents and parents basically rebuilt Germany and many parts of Europe.

What we have observed though is that psychological safety has not improved during the pandemic it has rather declined especially in global virtual teams it is harder now to build trust that turnover is higher retention is more difficult, especially among the younger generation people who joined companies during the pandemic it’s a lot harder for them to feel that they belong to an organization. so we need to do more about this and we also need to remember societal changes and demographic changes.

Michael and Rob

Londoners Michael and his husband Rob received an offer to move to Hungary with Michael’s work but they declined it due to a new law that discriminates against gay couples. They decide to move to Zurich, Switzerland instead. In Zurich, Michael feels safe at work and his career hits off well. Rob, on the other hand, has a hard time finding a job. His last name is Vracovic and his slightly olive skin tone always seems to turn people off. Even though he is at a B2 German level and has a Masters’s degree in Digital Marketing he does not land any interviews and after 12 months of job search feels depressed and lonely.

The Micro Level of Rainbow Talent

Global mobility policies and communication still is often written for the white male Expatriate with a wife and two children and a nice golden retriever called Timmy and we have to remember you know that if we would like to address other talents we also have to change our basic assumptions and how we communicate with our population.

We think that the sustainable Expatriate experience includes technology that helps us improve the human touch and is focusing on providing a long-term career experience that is integrated into succession planning and Talent development. In this sustainable expat experience, we see improved diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the selection process.

We ensure that there is good mental health and well-being on any kind of international assignment project or business trip. while we do not always know everything about our employee’s personal life because not every employee is out of the closet we need to remember when we are dealing with a new democratic such as Michael that we would like to see how we can help them and how we can talk to them about their personal issues in relation to Global Mobility.

If you belong to RAINBOW Talent in Global Mobility or if you are a Global Mobility Manager you can always contact me for a first conversation here. 

How to Talk to Rainbow Talent

We define “Rainbow Talent” as an umbrella term for these marginalized groups of talent:

• Women of all skin colors,
• BIPOC: The acronym BIPOC refers to black, indigenous, and other people of color and aims to emphasize the historical oppression of black and indigenous people,
• LGBTQIA+: LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer or questioning, and other sexual identities and genders,
• Religious and cultural underrepresented groups in your home and host countries,
• People with disabilities,
• People with a broad range on the mental health spectrum, 
• Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

We need to remember that you might yet have to understand the different needs of your Rainbow Talent. Hence, for a pilot period of at least one year, I would recommend you regularly ask them and listen to what they tell you. For example, if they feel challenged by the immigration process you should ask them what they found helpful and if they see room for improvement. While you won’t be able to change the legal system in the host country, you will be able to improve their expat experience.

Ten Action Steps

1 – Start small with inclusion, and think big by setting goals for Rainbow Talent in Global Mobility, potentially focusing on one marginalized group only in the beginning. For example, you could start with women and set a goal of 30% female assignees by 2030.

2 – Redefine “Family” in your Global Mobility Policy, and include all marginalized groups, their partners, and also members of the family that a traditional policy would usually exclude such as parents, in-laws, and older relatives. Consider adding adopted and foster children, as well as de facto spouses. Decide what you accept as proof of a (de facto) marriage such as a shared rental contract, an affidavit, or a same-sex marriage certificate, even if it does not qualify in the host country’s legal system. 

3 – Review all communications for inclusive language by applying the United Nations guidelines for inclusive communication.

4 – Update the Benefit Matrix, offer tax support and spouse career coaching to dual-career couples, and change parental leave regulations. 

5 – Support Expat Partners through Immigration by upgrading your support for immigration by increasing the budget and finding a provider who is specialized in helping with complex immigration situations.

6 – Expand Your Health Insurance to include the relevant family members in the coverage.

7 – Expand your International Pension Plan to include the relevant family members in the coverage. If your provider does not allow to include all relevant family members consider moving to a new provider who offers specific solutions.

8 – Review Compensation for Equity. Make sure that your Rainbow Talent is compensated on an equitable level with other talent and conduct non-biased research to ensure equity. Offer a box of chocolate (core-flex) approach to make sure that you meet the needs of your Rainbow Talent.

9 – Ask Vendors to Increase Representation of Rainbow Talent. Work with vendors who share the proportion of Rainbow Talent you wish to see in our world.

10 – Remember the Pets. Many Rainbow Talents might not have children but it could be that they have a dog or a cat that means the world to them. Make sure that you include the furry friend in the package by offering special support through the move, quarantine, or temporary lodging.

If you are ever unsure what to do next you can refer back to the “Ten Commandments for the Global Mobility Manager“.

Sign up here for more: https://globalpeopletransitions.com/become-a-reader-of-the-global-people-club-sandwich/

Do you need more support for a breakthrough in your career? You can contact me for a first conversation by filling out the contact form. Sign up here for more.

Terminology

Explanation of “The Box of Chocolates”

• Budget the cost of the move with a simple spreadsheet
• Allow flexibility within the budget by monitoring actual expenses
• Take services out of compensation and pay schools, landlords, and other providers directly
• Let Heidi and Govind select what they need from the box

The Definition of Rainbow Talent:

RAINBOW TALENT according to us:

• Women of all skin colors,
• BIPOC: The acronym BIPOC refers to black, indigenous, and other people of color and aims to emphasize the historical oppression of black and indigenous people.
• LGBTQIA+: LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer or questioning, and other sexual identities and genders.
• Religious and cultural underrepresented groups in your home and host countries,
• People with disabilities 
• People with a broad range on the mental health spectrum.
• Refugees

About the Author

“I’m on a Mission to Bring the Human Touch back into Global Mobility.”

Angie Weinberger is the Global Mobility Coach and author of The Global Mobility Workbook (currently on sale). Her upcoming publication “The Global Rockstar Album” is a self-help book for becoming a more inclusive leader. Sign up to get invited to the book launch event on 26 September 23 of “The Global Rockstar Album”: VIP Readers.

Read her blog: Read the “Club Sandwich” – Global People Transitions

Further Resources

The Push for Rainbow Talent in Global Mobility – Part 1

The Push for Female and Minority Talent in Global Mobility – Part 2

The Push for Female and Minority Talent in Global Mobility – Part 3

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/exercises-psychological-safety/

The Importance of Looking at the Whole Family in the Expatriation Process will raise Global Mobility to the Next Level – The Bridge School: Powered by American Virtual Academy 

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/our-ten-commandments-for-the-global-mobility-manager/

Unpacking the Shortcomings of Lifestyle Expatriation – Global People Transitions

The Female Expat and Cinderella

Enhancing the Expat Experience – A deep psychology approach