With over 12 years of experience in global mobility, Madalina Andrei has established herself as a dynamic leader in designing and implementing strategies that align organizational goals with employee well-being. Her expertise spans global mobility strategy, compliance, policy development, operational efficiency, and intercultural training, making her a trusted advisor in the industry. Currently serving as Global Mobility Lead at Finastra, Madalina enhances mobility programs by improving policies, optimizing processes, and ensuring seamless transitions for international assignees. Her collaborative approach, combined with a deep understanding of immigration, tax, and cultural considerations, ensures both compliance and an exceptional employee experience. Madalina has held pivotal roles at organizations such as xpath.global and Nestlers Group, where she managed partnerships, developed vendor databases, and provided […]

When I was working as a Global Mobility Leader at one of the big four consulting firms, I sometimes had a hard time explaining to my team members why they were not compensated at the same level as an HR Manager (or HR Business Partner as they used to be called back in the day). I told them about my vision of Global Mobility Managers reporting directly to the Head of Human Resources or even the Head of Business Development. I encouraged them to learn more and gain more profound knowledge and expertise to talk to line managers about international assignments through the business view (not just the talent development glasses). I was frustrated about the lack of recognition and […]

A factor that is often underestimated in Global Mobility is the critical importance of developing global competency. As you probably understand already, the arena of Global Mobility is vast, and nobody will have all the answers for you. If you enjoy constant challenges and a day that never looks the same Global Mobility could be right for you. However, you also need to be very structured, focused, and analytical. For Global Mobility Lecturers like Angie Weinberger, it is a constant challenge to provide a curriculum that is based on the right career level and also deep enough. Most courses you will find about Global Mobility in your home country will assume the home approach and all the particular legal areas […]

Once, I gave a talk discussing the Expat Experience in Zurich and how to enhance it. Zurich is a typical inbound hub, so many of the ideas in this article will also apply to places like Dubai, London, Hong Kong, or Singapore. As the most populated canton in Switzerland, Zurich is becoming home to an ever-growing population of expats. Today’s typical expats look like this expat couple: Heidi and Govind. Heidi is a Director who works in banking and is a credit guru. She met Govind, her husband, at the London School of Economics. From there, they moved to New York and later to Abu Dhabi. Govind now works for a pharmaceutical company that has stationed them in Abu Dhabi for the […]

I have been a strong proponent of Global Mobility for years now and most readers and clients will know my general optimism towards it. I will be taking a critical look at the trend towards more Lifestyle Expats and various shortcomings that need to be addressed by Global Mobility Managers, Recruiters, and HR Directors if we want to hire qualified professionals from other countries into the German-speaking regions without annoying them in the process. Another trend we have to take into consideration here is that our populations are a lot more diverse than they used to be ten years ago (Weinberger, 2019). We especially see a rise in female expats such as Ayeesha on assignment (Yeah!). As I already wrote […]