Successful companies emphasise the wellbeing of the individual employee. They understand that by improving the comfort level at the work place, the employee is happier, works more efficiently, and the company gets an excellent return on its investment. Given the opportunity to transfer abroad, employees accept or decline international moves based on comfort and ease of a transition. Assignees wish to be reassured whether the company will make travel provisions, help secure housing, support obtaining a visa, and assist the family in placing children in appropriate International schools, and support language and cultural education.

Until recently, more 63% of corporate global mobility teams only considered the physical logistics of moving an employee from point A to point B. Companies considered Global Mobility but neglected Human Mobility. These companies ignored the human interaction aspect of foreign assignments and forgot that families were an integral part of the transition equation.

Companies are recognising that the employee’s well-being extends further than the physical move- it’s emotional and psychological transfer. Assignees’ familial and cultural concerns need to be addressed an in doing so will improve the comfort level in their surroundings.

A company’s success is inextricably linked to the wellbeing of its employees. By emphasising family support, international schools research and admission and multinational cultural understanding, employees on foreign assignments will be able to concentrate on the business at hand and build personal relationships, broaden business acumen, strengthen leadership skills, and achieve strategic and business goals. In short, by treating global mobility as human mobility, employees are prepared, are happy, and productive- that’s the human side of relocation.