Maximizing ROI: Moving Cultural Training Beyond Mobility

Kendra: What do you hope to achieve by combining the Cultural Training and Global Talent Management businesses?

Charisse: IOR has worked with both Talent Management and Global Mobility for decades and has the experience to ask the right questions, connect the right players and offer benefits to:

1. RMC partners, to use a single provider for multiple services, offering cost effective and time sensitive solutions.
2. Corporate Clients, to facilitate the conversation amongst HR/Talent and Global Mobility.
3. Assignees, to minimize points of contact and leverage knowledge across services.

Kendra: Are traditional programs going away?

Charisse: No.  Our team will continue to offer the customized and flexible core Cultural Training programs for which we are known.  In addition, we provide innovative Global Talent support including:

1. Cost-effective coaching.
2. Blended learning options incorporating new technology.
3. Online assessments for candidate selection and development.

Kendra: Can you give a specific example of how IOR’s Global Talent Development team is saving time and money for our partners and clients?

Charisse: We are currently working with a US-based multinational organization that has opened operations in China. Several employees are relocating there while other colleagues will be working with their Chinese coworkers on virtual teams.  You have expats and virtual associates, and both groups must build the skills to interact with their new Chinese colleagues.  We efficiently addressed the employees’ needs together, rather than running separate mobility and learning & development programs.

Kendra: So, is that a Global Mobility program or a Talent Development program?

Charisse: It’s both.  The relocating expats need support to successfully live and work in China, while the virtual team members and leaders primarily need the skills to work effectively with Chinese teams.  Here’s how we approached it:

• We designed one learning initiative that included travelers, leaders, virtual team members and those relocating to China.
• Everyone received a one-year subscription to Country Navigator that included a cultural profile and deep country-specific information.
• Assignees received additional intercultural coaching that included their spouses to ensure they developed the unique skills needed to successfully live and work in China.
• Leaders and virtual team members had the option of additional blended learning opportunities to support their work with the integration.

We’d love to hear more of our partners’ stories, questions or comments, so please contact us!

Written by: Charisse Kosova, M.Ad.Ed., Director, Global Talent Development.  Contact her here.