Mary Ellen Myhr, of US human resources consulting firm AIRINC, presents her company’s latest white paper.

Your company has just acquired a large competitor with a very different global-mobility program. You are responsible for integrating the two programs.

or

Your company has decided to adopt a new methodology for certain compensation elements. You are responsible for implementing the new methodology, which will have a direct impact on assignee pay.

Now what?

Change is a way of life in the world of global mobility. Exchange rates fluctuate, companies merge, assignees are sourced from new locations, and one service provider acquires another. Managing a global-mobility programme is managing change. At the same time, global-mobility practitioners are continually expected to do more with less.

Some changes, such as COLA fluctuations and tax code revisions, can be anticipated, and many programs have mechanisms in place to manage them day to day. Other changes take expertise, resources and time to implement. In some cases, they are unpredictable, such as the integration of two programmes due to a business acquisition. In others they are intentional, such as a change in compensation elements.

In either case, it is critical to align your policy and service-delivery model with the business goals driving mobility. However, even the most carefully-designed programme can fail if it is not implemented effectively. Poor communication of changes can result in a lack of support or outright resistance from business and HR leaders. If the financial impact of changes is not accurately computed, business managers may be unpleasantly surprised when actual costs vary considerably from estimates. If new data elements are not sufficiently tested in data management or payroll systems, paychecks may be incorrect, or tax reporting may be out of compliance.

In this paper, we present an approach to implementing changes, and illustrate it with a case study of how a company successfully transformed its mobility programme. We assume that you have done the difficult work of defining why you are changing and determining what you need to change. Our focus is on how to change – the skills, incentives and resources you need, and the kind of action plan you should have in place, to ensure success. To keep things simple, we will spotlight one scenario: changing compensation elements in an existing program

Request the full white paper at www.air-inc.com/whitepapers/changing-your-mobility-programme.html