Written by Mercedes N. D’Angelo
The global corporate relocation industry was valued at $17.6 billion in 2023 and estimated to grow to $28.3 billion by 2030. This is a huge investment in moving talent from one place to another and includes a myriad of services from immigration and tax to shipping, housing, destination services, and other benefits and support.
Corporations have done a lot to streamline the high costs associated with these services. Unfortunately, the one ‘benefit’ cost that is most directly corelated to assignment success and profitable business outcomes is inexplicably downplayed and often cut for cost efficiencies: global competence development,more specifically intercultural and language training.
In the United States alone, corporations spend approximately $1,600 per employee in training and development for an annual expenditure of over $100 billion. Yet when it comes to global business travelers and international assignees who are on the ground driving their companies’ global growth, not enough is done to ensure American management and leadership styles do not inadvertently sabotage their own best intentions.
Why? Have we become complacent about doing business internationally because the global language of business is English? Or are we misunderstanding the nuanced importance of global competence and attributing a false positive to employees who have traveled frequently or been on assignment before?
After close to 30 years in the global relocation industry working with clients across all industries and sizes, I have formulated a few thoughts of my own I would like to share with you. I’ve highlighted key points I would recommend you consider as you address your company’s efforts to build global competence.
Another obstacle is our own US-culture of “less is more” – “give me the info in a nutshell” – “I don’t have time for all the fluff”. Understanding cultural differences and especially building the skills to respond appropriatelyto them requires time, dedication, and effort. Even when companies offer intercultural training, many executives do not want to dive deep into understanding the cultural nuances, instead preferring to focus on “dos and don’ts”. Crossing your chopsticks over your bowl will probably not impact you getting the business you’re seeking!
Even when offered a 1- or 2-day training, the harder work is applying those skills on a daily basis to your meetings, emails, and discussions. These skills become more concrete and easier to access as they are used at work; otherwise, they will be unable to sustain them over time. Having a mentor or coach to debrief and assistwith the development of these and additional skills is key to continuing to develop and maintain global skills over time.
The US American cultural preference to be action oriented and more focused on the short-term may also contribute to the challenge. Often Global Mobility and HR are not brought into the conversation about expansion or mergers and acquisitions until late in the process, when the optimum timing for development has gone by.
You cannot learn a new language in a day, just as you can’t acquire an assortment of culturally appropriate communication skills in a few hours. Most CHRO leaders recognizes the importance of being involved in strategic discussions and planning for expansions and M&A activity. The wiser of these leaders recognize that effective due diligence during a merger or acquisition is contingent on cultural dexterity. In a country like Brazil or France, for example, getting to the truth during due diligence can be much more nuanced due to hierarchy and indirect communication styles.
Finally, senior leaders themselves are often surprisingly unaware of the cultural complexitythat surrounds their international interactions. Not only do we not know what we don’t know, we are programmed to believe our way is the best way, and thus we are often oblivious to the many feathers we ruffle. Meanwhile we wonder why emails are not answered, a contract signing is delayed, or a product launch doesn’t meet expected goals.
The CHRO, HR business partners, and Learning & Development are indispensable internal advocates for building global competence. Senior leaders should amplify HR’s message that having the necessary skills to interact with global colleagues, clients, and suppliers is a must. The C-Suite that “walks the talk”, putting itself through the same developmental steps they wish for their employees are the best role models and internal influencers for the prioritization of global skills. There is not a business function that does not benefit from the developing skills to recognize cultural communication differences and how to bridge the gap. From R&D teams working to develop lifesaving products, to sourcing and contract negotiations in supply chain, to helping managers build engaged and high performing global teams, we all need and benefit from global competence.
These are just a few ideas of how HR can begin to address the need for global competence in their companies. Global Mobility and Learning and Development – two important HR units – are the perfect partners for addressing this developmental need. Markets continue globalizing, and even domestically, the need to understand employees’ cultural differences has increased due to legal immigration.
Nothing exemplifies this more than the pork processing plant that called for intercultural training because the employees were increasingly refugees from other countries, and the managers who had been there for years were struggling to communicate effectively. Interestingly, a byproduct of this training and development effort is increased employee engagement and retention. McKinsey and Company did research on 30,000 workers and identified lack of career development as one of their top reasons for attrition. In fact, upskilling and continuous learning are a major trend for 2025 as identified by Forbes magazine.
Download article here: Part 1: The Undeniable Need for Global Competence Development
For questions, please contact Mercedes N. D’Angelo | mdangelo@iorworld.com
