An International Assignment normally refers to an employee taking up a vacancy or appointment at an international location to which the employee has been assigned for a fixed period of greater than ninety (90) days duration.
International trips for duration of less than 90 days are considered ‘business trips’ or transient travel and the relevant provision should apply as outlined in the organisations International Travel Procedures and Guidelines.
Services that need to be provided for International Assignees:
- Ensure International Assignees (IAs) have understanding of International remuneration, taxation, immigration, VISA’s, living conditions, culture
- Provide tools, templates and systems to meet operational requirements
- Manage IAs to completion of move and settle in
- Ongoing management of IAs conditions
- Establish and maintain ongoing relationship with key stakeholders, e.g. Supervisors, HR, (Global Mobility) GM Group Function, IAs, and Accounts Payable, Payroll and the applicable logistics /regulatory service providers.
- Provide case management support for (GM), including consulting support and liaising with the service providers.
- Liaise with Service Providers
- Ensure service to IAs and business is consistent with agreed service standards in terms of quality, cost and timeliness
- Establish relationships with continual improvement focus
- Issue resolution and escalation
- Review and validate invoices
- Improve process
- Identify opportunities for greater efficiencies in service delivery and resultant cost savings
- Complete satisfaction surveys and provide constructive feedback
- Liaise with internal functions on improvement opportunities
International Assignments is one of the components of overall ‘Employee Mobility’. The other components are corporate travel, meetings and events and virtual employee. The diagram below shows the Employee Mobility relationship, and the expanded functions for corporate travel.
The four functions under Employee Mobility all have cross-over components of service requirements, suppliers and relationships.
| Service/Supplier | Corporate Travel | International Assignee | Meetings and events | Virtual Employee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air, hotel, car booking (TMC) |
 |
|
|
|
| VISA’s |
|
|
|
|
| Corporate Card |
|
|
|
|
| Expense management system |
|
|||
| International SIM |
|
|
|
|
| Long term accommodation |
|
|||
| Family relocation |
|
|||
| VAT reclaim |
|
|
By aggregating all aspects of employee mobility, procurement / travel commodity managers can identify previously unseen synergies among spend categories not traditionally considered to be within travel’s purview.
Broader inclusions in Employee Mobility
1. Business Travel
2. Business Vehicles
3. Corporate Aircraft
4. Relocation
5. International Assignments
6. Virtual Office
7. Meetings and events
Benefits of managing total Employee Mobility and the cross-over categories of spend:
- Savings that can yield 15% to 20% or greater
- Better Employee Relationships
- Greater Agility
