Rethinking global mobility as part of a company’s sustainability strategy

This is an executive summary of a report developed by Vialto Partners. Access the full paper here.

By Eileen Mullaney, Iris Tuinstra, and Christine Kraft

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards are a critical aspect of sustainable business practices and are becoming increasingly important to investors, customers, and other stakeholders. The recent years have witnessed a proliferated momentum especially around the environmental pillar of ESG, with companies globally striving to cut back on their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Growing international businesses and increasingly globalized workforce have sharpened the focus on global mobility—and consequently, its impact on organizations’ sustainability goals and efforts.

How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within global mobility—starting now

Traditionally emission-heavy functions like global mobility are anticipated to come under scrutiny as firms set ESG targets and reduce or eliminate their carbon footprint. Global mobility leaders have a key role to play in strengthening their organizations’ ESG efforts, including educating employees about their role in promoting ESG principles. Decisions taken by global mobility professionals especially, as they manage the mobility lifecycle of assignments, have an impact on the company’s GHG emissions.

Besides long-term international assignments and travel, ESG goals are also impacted by short-term assignments and local business travel. However, the rising popularity of remote and hybrid work models are shaping global mobility and helping to achieve net zero.

Three ways that businesses can manage their employees’ carbon footprints in their efforts to reach net zero:

Emission-reducing techniques can assist firms in achieving their overall ESG objectives within the global mobility function. Developing appropriate measurement and documentation mechanisms for monitoring and reducing emissions will ease the company’s burden of overall ESG reporting.

In this paper, we take a close look at the factors influencing the rising sustainability concerns and offer examples for how global mobility leaders can positively impact ESG efforts and encourage action at all levels of the organization.

Globalization of businesses and their workforce requires global mobility and it’s imperative that businesses develop a strategy to plan and implement sustainable practices as part of the function. At Vialto Partners, we understand the importance of ESG and are committed to help you incorporate it into your global mobility operations.