Takeaways from the 2021 Mobility Outlook Survey: Financial Services

Focus on Financial Services

2020 was a very challenging year for Global Mobility. However, it gave mobility teams the time to reflect and demonstrate their value and global perception to their overall organizations. Global Mobility’s goals remain steadfast in a pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19 world: to help attract and retain key global talent.

Here are the key trends within the Financial Services industry for 2021.

1. Employee Experience

One of the main initiatives for the Financial Services industry in 2021 is improving the employee experience. Over the years, we have seen industries far and wide grapple with how to improve the experience and benefits. Currently, financial services lead the general industry in how they are offering flexibility to the employees. 45% of companies provide a cash lump sum, and 27% provide a delivery choice between cash lump sum or relocation services. A blend of approaches ensures benefits and polices are agile for a diverse, cross-border population.

However, the industry wants to enhance the experience further. 40% of companies are planning to add new policies to help add more flexibility/choice of benefits this year. Additionally, adding self-service options and tracking goals over the course of the assignment will also help improve the employee experience.

2. Communication is Everything!

Another initiative within the Financial Services industry is to increase overall communication. Over the past year, we have seen many companies explore how they can provide better communication to their employees — anything from small pre-assignment tasks explanations to full briefings on what to expect during an assignment.

Communication documents have ranged between standard one-pagers to video suites. The use of better communication tactics will help enable the Financial Services industry to give more autonomy to the employees and achieve the other initiative of providing more self-serve aspects of their assignment. Excellent communication is a great foundation to achieving a positive employee experience.

3. Diversifying the Policy Suite

Over the years, the number of policies in the mobility suite has increased. Today, Financial Services has an average 6.3 policies at their disposal. As we have seen in a COVID-19 world, the workforce is becoming more diverse and remote working has become the new normal.

The Financial Services industry is expecting to see increases in international one-way transfers (48%), international remote work (42%), and short-term assignments (38%). Whereas, the general industry will see increases to international remote work, domestic remote work, and virtual assignments. The introduction of formal policies for these unique working arrangements will better allow for more employee flexibility and address the business’ short- and long-term initiatives.

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Stay tuned for more industry-specific posts.

Don't forget to register for our upcoming MOS webinar:

Webinar Part 2: MOS 2021 Corporate Case Studies

March 25, 2021 | Session 1: 10:00 AM ET / 3:00 PM CET
Session 2: 2:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM CET

We’ll showcase how two AIRINC clients seized opportunities related to the themes of this year’s survey. Case studies include:

Reflecting changing business and talent needs in the Mobility program using data and analysis
Building a human-centric program that supports the organization’s talent targets including diversity and inclusion

About AIRINC

Listen | Partner | Deliver. For over 60 years, AIRINC has helped clients with the right data, cutting-edge technology, and thought-leading advice needed to effectively deploy talent worldwide. Our industry expertise, solutions, and service enable us to effectively partner with clients to navigate the complexity of today’s global mobility programs. As the market continues to evolve, AIRINC seeks innovative ways to help clients address new workforce globalization challenges, including mobility program assessment metrics and cross-border talent mobility strategy. Our approach is designed with your success in mind. With an understanding of your goals and objectives, we ensure you achieve them. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA, AIRINC has full-service offices in Brussels, London, and Hong Kong. Learn more by clicking here.