CEO at Topia, the leader in Global Talent Mobility.
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As we’ve settled into remote work over the past year, employees have reveled in the flexibility and freedom to work wherever and whenever best fits their individual needs and lifestyles. Plenty of evidence shows that it has been a boon to productivity.
Despite that, employers have remained a bit less enthusiastic, primarily because many are still reeling from the compliance challenges of remote work, namely around tax, immigration and business presence issues. While many companies had probably hoped 2021 would be the year we’d return to normal (i.e., back to the office), that’s been decidedly not the case. In fact, according to a report from my company, employees have instead insisted they should be able to work from anywhere, leaving employers scrambling to accommodate their demands.
As companies come to terms with the fact that there’s no turning back and that remote work is here to stay, I expect 2022 to be the year of distributed work. Organizations will likely be forced to adopt formal policies, processes and systems that allow them to operate in a hybrid environment going forward, instead of implementing a temporary fix. As a result, I believe we’ll see these six trends become guideposts for the coming year.
1. Companies that offer the most flexibility will win.
Amid the talent shortages and growing demand for mobility, the organizations that offer the greatest flexibility with formalized processes instead of ad hoc operations will likely win in terms of both talent and business growth. Since the onset of the pandemic, employees overwhelmingly have demanded flexibility from potential employers. Companies that maximize their ability to say “yes” to remote work requests, rather than have processes that are all about saying “no,” will be best suited to attract and retain top talent, which in turn fuels bottom-line growth.
2. Budgeting for global talent mobility at scale will be essential.
In today’s market, mobility is no longer a nice perk — it’s an essential part of performance management and meeting business OKRs. In my experience, distributed teams fuel diversity and enable greater access to talent and innovation. Offering flexibility and mobility is no longer just a way to attract talent; it’s an essential business function that demands appropriate budget allocation.
3. Technology will be a crucial ingredient.
Managing talent mobility at scale is impossible without the right tools. I recently spoke with an HR leader at a global organization who’s faced with the daunting task of implementing remote work for her 75,000-plus person organization across 100 countries. The idea of managing it all with emails and spreadsheets is ludicrous. In order to make managing global talent mobility feasible, companies must invest in tools built to do the job at scale.
4. We could see a surprising demand for working in the office.
For the most part, employees have enjoyed the flexibility of remote work, but I expect we will see the pendulum swing back toward working in-office to some degree, as long as employees feel safe while doing so. For some, the lack of structure, presence of distractions, and inability to interact with teammates has been challenging both professionally and mentally, especially when compounded by pandemic lockdowns. Seeking that camaraderie and connection, many might gravitate back to the office at least a couple of days each week.
5. Compliance audits could increase.
For most of the last two years, governing bodies have been extremely forgiving when it comes to enforcing tax and immigration compliance, because of the emergency situation created by the pandemic. But now that the initial crisis has waned, Brexit is complete and some countries are actively recruiting digital nomads, we can expect countries, states and municipalities to step up their enforcement efforts. That means companies must have the proper processes that allow them to track and report employee locations accurately and efficiently to remain compliant and reduce risk.
6. Employers will emphasize employee experience.
Having the flexibility to work remotely is a key part of an outstanding employee experience, but if the process for requesting, approving and managing remote work is cumbersome, the friction will be a deterrent for employees. Instead, employers must implement seamless solutions that make global mobility simple, attractive and fun. Rather than view it as a cost of doing business, companies with the right approach and robust technology have an opportunity to turn it into a strategic value proposition.
With greater employee demand for remote work, international experiences and flexibility, companies must approach global talent mobility as a competitive differentiator that’s part of their larger talent strategy. Rather than reluctantly cobbling together a process to make it work, creating a comprehensive, scalable global talent mobility program will allow companies to enthusiastically embrace remote work in the coming year for the benefit of both employees and the organization.
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