Real-world scenarios demonstrating what success in action looks like
Advice from the field - what some other mobility professionals would like you to know
Progressing through the three phases of this journey makes it clear to see that mobility professionals have long brought a unique blend of knowledge, skills and resources to help businesses achieve their goals.
It’s also shown that the global talent mobility landscape is a continuously evolving one, requiring flexibility, agility and innovation.
With experience being one of the very best teachers, we asked professionals in the field to share with us some of their key successes in building flexible solutions, gaining greater alignment with other areas of the business or building on their own mobility knowledge to move into broader talent roles.
A different way for talent mobility professionals to think about internal alignment
Can intercultural training help us achieve better cross-departmental collaboration?
Our own and other industry research indicates that HR and global mobility teams are actively seeking greater integration, alignment and collaboration with other business functions within their organizations. There’s no question that intentional, frequent collaboration between mobility and talent acquisition, development and retention can bolster an organization’s workforce strategy.
But fostering strong connections, understanding and cooperation across diverse groups and teams with different goals is often easier said than done. It requires a blend of strategic, technical, and communication skills, and a commitment to making it work.
Knowing all of this got us thinking…intercultural training helps prepare global assignees for working across diverse cultures, navigating other languages and appreciating business and societal norms that can be very different from the ones they’re used to. Are there lessons we can apply from those methods that can help us realize greater cross-functional awareness, understanding and empathy, too?
We had a conversation with Steffen Henkel, CEO of crossculture academy, to dig a little bit deeper into this idea. Here’s what he had to say:
"We all have intercultural experiences, even without leaving a country."
Steffen raises some great food for thought here. There are many things that shape our views of the world and how we behave that go well beyond our geographic or regional cultural experiences. Certainly, the types of organizations we work for, the specific work that we do and the outcomes we are responsible for in our professional lives play a big part in how we see things.
Even within the same organization, we can all relate to the fact that different departments tend to speak different languages, at least figuratively. You only need to look at some of the acronyms used in marketing, IT, or legal, for example – and you can see fundamental nuances.
HR professionals are in a unique position, touching every business unit in some way. So they need to have an appreciation for how these different areas of the business operate to be successful in achieving meaningful collaboration. Understanding how different areas of the business work and communicate, what their goals are, how decisions are made, and what rules may dictate the hierarchy around those decisions can go a long way to achieving much more effective strategic alignment and cooperation.
That may feel daunting at times. But the good news is that everyone is capable of switching between cultures – we do it on a regular basis, whether we realize it or not. Again, here are some interesting observations from Steffen Henkel:
By knowing about cultural differences on the national level, it's very easy to transfer this knowledge to cross-functional or departmental differences.
The lesson here is that HR and mobility teams have plenty of great tools and resources at their disposal that are equally applicable to other parts of the business. Tapping into them is just good, smart strategy.
Looking to build greater cross-functional collaboration in your own business? Consider how some of the same intercultural tools and resources you use to prepare your globally mobile workforce for greater understanding and empathy can help you build better bridges with your colleagues right in your own company at home, too.
