The Great Re-Engagement Will Be Fueled By Mobility
Everyone from local to global HR is deep in conversations about The Great Resignation that gained formidable momentum over the pandemic; the mass exodus of millions of workers who left their jobs after reporting feeling undervalued, underpaid, overworked, and misaligned with the beliefs of their company. But these disgruntled employees haven’t just fallen off the face of the earth; they’re in hot pursuit of a better fit.
So, when we center our conversations largely around The Great Resignation, we’re missing the other half of the story: The Great Re-Engagement! More than ever before, the current environment is ripe for re-assessing how effectively your organization is retaining and attracting the talent you want and need.
Mobility is vying for a starring role in The Great Re-Engagement story! Magnetic Mobility Policies are proving to be highly effective tools in helping to develop existing talent – offering the training and up-skilling opportunities that they want to level up in their careers – and winning over top talent in a highly competitive marketplace.
But let’s be clear: you can’t transform the Great Resignation into a Great Re-Engagement through policies alone. Employees are quick to see through the smoke and mirrors; a robust and flexible mobility policy will need to be backed by action that proves your commitment to a company that is intentional, purpose-driven, and people-first.
Here are a few ways that mobility will be helping to fuel the Great Re-Engagement over 2022, taken from our recent 2022 Trends Webinar:
Career-Mapping
Organizations are leveraging Developmental Assignments to engage and meet the needs of employees hungry for experience and up-skilling opportunities. International experience is even mandated by some companies for their Senior Leadership, so having mobility promoted internally as a benefit to career progression helps build loyalty and retain talent.
Re-Focus Upon Repatriates
So, remember those Developmental Assignments we just mentioned? They’ll quickly lose their value if you’re not monitoring the development of these assignees upon their return! Too often, once employees have completed their relocation or assignment – or have been on assignment for two or three years – and are no longer under mobility’s microscope, they’re…forgotten. If you keep leaving repatriated employees in the dark, you run the risk of losing those newly acquired skills, and your talent. Repatriation re-engagement is incredibly important to ensure that these talents are used, shared, and that the career path of the returning employee is clearly mapped out.
Leveraging Storytelling
Many organizations are tapping into the importance of storytelling in selling their products or services to prospects, but many neglect to leverage the value of storytelling internally. Business leaders need to understand more than the dollars and cents of the mobility story; they need to see the picture of how mobility can solve problems and what the employee went through to support the long-term business strategy. They need to know the outcomes, the benefits, and what didn’t work so that changes can be made to produce even better outcomes. And it’s up to mobility leaders to be those storytellers: to influence stakeholders, propel your mobility program forward, and increase engagement opportunities for new and existing talent!
In our recent webinar on projected trends for 2022, we polled a group of 180 corporate attendees: 84% of respondents agreed that the top skill needed to align mobility with talent management is influencing stakeholders. This confirms that the need for storytelling savvy will be vital this year.
Re-framing your organization as a fresh, forward-thinking, purpose-driven organization will take more than a pool table in the break room and a weekly hump-day happy hour. Re-engagement requires listening to the changing priorities of your employees and giving them access to opportunities that meet their needs for meaningful work, balance, and development.
