As anyone who’s visited can confirm, 'Berlin is always worth a trip'! Whether for business or pleasure, the city is vibrant and ever-changing, in part of course due to its unique history. Rather than a single centre, instead Berlin feels more like a mash-up of several different towns and villages, each with their own distinct personality exemplified by the people that live there. Small surprise, that Berlin today is home to some of Germany’s most successful start-ups.
This hotspot of communities was of course also affected by the ongoing pandemic, in-person events have been difficult to plan and organize. But the ingrained need of people to mingle in personal exchange has been harder to crush entirely, which means they still happen. Just last week, Daniel Zinner of CLEVIS & Noah Mobility and I organized one such event in Berlin by adhering strictly to the Corona-2G rules, as they are called in Germany.
With only personally invited, vaccinated or recovered individuals eligible to attend, we kept things intimate. Maintaining the same spirit of everything both Berlin and global mobility are actually about, the people!
Under the umbrella of the People Mobility Alliance, which will officially launch in early 2022, we had great discussions around People Mobility with global mobility managers and HR generalists, expats, as well as relocation, immigration, and change management consultants. One important topic, never far from anyone’s mind, was the visa and immigration issues that arise with a move to Germany. There were many animated exchanges about administrative hurdles, rising Berlin housing prices, and the current housing shortage.
Added to that, ever-relevant topics like the link between mobility and talent, cost control and predictability, and the much-discussed flexibility to increase the overall employee experience.
And of course, the current worldwide hot topics:
This quickly led to the topic of flexibility in policies and, naturally, diversity and inclusion along with global mindsets overall.
We all agreed, there is a very fine balance between keeping the personal touch alive when dealing with assignees while at the same time embracing technology and all it has to offer. The overriding consensus aligned with what our clients have already fed back via our various surveys: that technology is part of the future of mobility – but only if combined with the right amount of personal support for assignees and their families. It’s up to each company to find the balance that works for them, and to make sure that people stay at the heart of mobility.