Three Rules for Compensation Surveys in Smaller Developing Markets

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

Almost every day, I hear from a client or prospect looking for reliable market data in some small developing market, usually located in a part of the world that the big consultants have not yet discovered.  After all, our company focuses on those places!

One of the most common discussion points is about the difficulty the client is having in finding a survey which meets their needs in these markets.  You see, most clients have a very “developed world” view of what makes a good survey. But in smaller markets, you need to look at surveys through a different lens.

What Makes A Good Survey?
The exchange is typically something like this:

Client asks, “Do you have a survey for Gabon, in West Africa?”

I say, “Yes, we have a survey there, and for all of the countries in Africa.”

“Wow,” says the client, “that’s impressive.   How many bio-tech companies are in your survey?”

“Bio-tech?  None, I’m afraid.  We have a pharma company, but their office is very small.  Are there even any bio-techs in Gabon?”

“Well we are looking to open an office there, so we need to be competitive in our sector.  Do you know any other surveys I could look at?”

And so it goes.  This client, like many others, is looking for a survey in Gabon, a relatively small market, with the same parameters as they would apply in Germany.  Sector based surveys are very popular in developed countries, but in many small, developing markets, sector surveys just don’t work.

Rule #1 – Think Outside Your Sector

Why?  Simple.  The sector just isn’t big enough.  There might only be two or three similar companies, or like in our Gabon example, none at all.  To get a good sector survey together you would need at least eight to ten companies with a workforce of at least 20 to 25 staff.  But sometimes that’s not even enough.

I remember reviewing a survey once in a Central American country when I was a corporate compensation executive.  I was excited that the survey included 12 consumer goods companies (including my former employer).  We thought that with 12 companies, there would be enough data for some robust statistics.  It turns out there wasn’t.   Only 4 of the employers in the survey had a large presence in the country; the rest had small sales offices, and some had less than 10 staff in total.  Our company had staff over 150, including a regional headquarters and a factory.

So you see, a sector-based survey with 12 employers yielded good data for only a handful of positions.  My company, along with the others that had larger operations, were unable to use most of the sector data due to lack of matches.

Okay, so now you’re just looking for a survey – any survey.  Which employers make the most sense in order to get the market intelligence you need to make the right pay decisions?

Rule #2 – Look at the Leaders

Leading employers in all sectors usually have a full range of positions, from support to professional to executive.  These employers also have a strong employer brand, making them the preferred employers in the market.  The best talent naturally gravitate to these companies, as they are the ones reputed to be the best places to work.  More often than not, the leaders are multi-national companies or international organizations.

The multi-nationals are known to have disciplined approaches to reward, governed by global principles set down from headquarters.  They view compensation and benefits in a strategic way, and know the importance of using market data to determine rates of pay and benefits.

International organizations include employers such as the World Bank, various Embassies, the United Nations, the European Union, and so on.  These organizations are usually well-established in smaller developing markets, and attract the top echelon of the workforce.  Surprised?  One of the reasons is that many international organizations have very competitive pay programs which are benchmarked not only against each other, but with the private sector as well.

Together, a combination of leading private sector employers and leading international organizations captures the top of the market in many small countries.  So it’s a good place to start.

But wait a second.  You’re thinking “How will I compare my mobile telecom company to the World Bank?  They are not comparable to my company!”

Rule #3 – Use Cross-Occupational Job Matching

First of all, there are common occupations in all employers that are easily comparable.  For example, positions from accounting, finance, human resources, procurement and IT; plus secretaries, administrative assistants and less skilled support roles common in developing countries, such as drivers, security guards and messengers.

For professional and managerial positions, the real challenge is finding enough matches for a particular occupation to be able to report the data separately.  In order to ensure that there is data available for each professional level in our surveys, we often double-match positions to both a specific occupational benchmark (e.g., Brand Manager) as well as a generic professional position (e.g., Working Level Professional).  In case there are insufficient matches for Brand Manager, we can still report the aggregated data for all positions matched to Working Level Professional.  In this way, clients are assured to get a comprehensive picture of the market, even if the specific occupational matches fall short in the survey.

Is this good enough?  How many organizations use a different salary structure for each occupational group?  There are some, but not too many.   Using cross-occupational data is not really such a stretch, is it?

In Summary
There are other factors to consider when evaluating a compensation survey in small developing countries, but these three rules will help get you started. I will write another post in the future discussing some of the other challenges. In the meantime, please share your experiences working with surveys in these countries.

More About Warren

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International Employment Law “Quick Facts”: Canada

Author:
Mariana Villa da Costa – Littler Mendelson

Hello Readers! The first edition of our “International Employment Law Quick Facts” was a success! Many readers commented on the article and asked me to prepare profiles for other countries.  Again, please feel free to add a comment, or send me a note to let me know what you think about this post.  We will try to publish additional installments in this series based on what you request, so keep checking back!

Q. What are the definitions of employee, employer and independent contractor?

A. Before going into our definitions it is important to note that in Canada, the employment practices of most employers are provincially regulated, whereas federal jurisdiction is limited to employers that deal with national infrastructure, for example, banking, railways, and airlines.  Since each jurisdiction in Canada has specific legislation, it is important to become familiar with the local specifics before engaging in any labor and employment matters.

In Canada, the statutes that confer rights and obligations to employees and employers usually contain definitions. The Ontario Employment Standards Act has a good definition of Employees:

• a person, including an officer of a corporation, who performs work for an employer for payment (wages);
• a person who supplies services to an employer for wages;
• a person who receives training from a person who is an employer, and
• a person who works from home  for an employer.

Employer, on the other hand, is an owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, receiver or trustee of an activity, business, work, trade, occupation, profession, project or undertaking who has control or direction of, or is directly or indirectly responsible for, the employment of a person on it.

Although there is no precise definition of the term “independent contractor” the idea is always of direction and control.  An employer is entitled to direct and control how and when the work is performed.  An independent contractor is left to determine how to perform the services for the client; the firm that retains the independent contractor  can only specify the product and result of the independent contractor’s work.

Q. Is it necessary to have written employment contracts in Canada?

A. In Canada there is no need to have a written employment contract.  A contract of employment will exist if it was agreed, either orally or in writing. However, written contracts are not customary, unless it is for executive positions, or if employees are hired for a fixed term or task.

The main reason for having a contract for executives is to clarify and address the severance package.  On the other hand, the need to have them in place for employees hired for a fixed term or task is to avoid the statutory obligation to give notice of termination.

Q. Are there any specific rules in regards to the duration of employment contracts?

A. In Canada, if there is no specified term, the contract will be presumed to be for an indefinite term. However, parties to an employment relationship can agree on employment for a fixed term.  In this case, the employer will not have to dismiss the employee and give reasonable notice.

It is important to note that if the fixed term of a contract expires and the employee continues to work without entering into a new fixed term agreement, it is understood that the contract becomes for an indefinite term.

Q. Are there any rules in regards to discrimination in employment?

A. Canada has very serious regulations in terms of human rights and discrimination; this is prohibited in various grounds.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets a constitutional standard that all governments must follow — federal and provincial. The Charter states that every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection. However, this Charter cannot be directly used by an employee against the employer; in those cases, the individual must rely on human rights statutes to challenge discrimination on employment terms and decisions.

The Ontario Human Rights Code is an example which defines that discrimination is prohibited in the areas of employment, accommodations, services, facilities and signage. It protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of race, place of origin, ancestry, race, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital and family status, disability, and also addresses sexual harassment.

Q. What are the rules regarding working hours?

A. Different employment statutes in Canada define the work day and work week.  In most provinces, the standard work day is eight hours, but the standard work week varies in different provinces – the low is 40 hours per week, for example in British Columbia, and the high is 48 hours per week (Ontario) .

It is also important to note that most employees who perform supervisory and management functions are excluded from standard hours regulations.

Q. Are there any minimum wage requirements in Canada?

A. In Canada, an employer is obligated to pay employees wages of at least the minimum established in the jurisdiction of employment. In some cases and in some jurisdictions, employers do not need to pay minimum wage, for example, students who work in Ontario.

Q. What are the rules regarding the termination of employment?

A. In Canada the employment relationship can only be terminated for:

(i) Just Cause – When the employee engages in serious misconduct, e.g., disobedience, unlawful or dishonest conduct, violence, subordination, etc.  In this case, the employee is not entitled to any compensation beyond salary up to the day of termination.

(ii) Without Cause – Employer does not need any motive to terminate employee, however, reasonable notice or pay in lieu of notice must be provided.

Q. What should an employer know about benefits and social security in Canada?

A. Canada has an extensive social security system covering pensions and social welfare benefits, which provide coverage for almost the whole population.  Responsibility for the planning, management and delivery of social security programs is shared between the federal and provincial governments.

The universal pension system is state-funded, while employees, employers and the self-employed must contribute to the earnings related pension scheme and the employment-related benefits scheme, which covers sickness and maternity pay, unemployment benefits and other welfare assistance.

The only benefits that employers need to provide to employees are those related to the mandatory statutory social security programs, such as:

• The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for residents outside the province of Quebec and the Quebec Pension Plan for the residents. The CPP is a national social security program mandatory for all employers.
• Federal employment insurance – a mandatory contribution that fund income frpm loss of employment, maternity, parental and sickness benefits.
• Provincial worker’s compensation regimes – maintained in each province –  provide benefits in case of workplace injuries.
• Provincial health and hospital insurance plans – provide for basic medical assistance and essential hospital care.

In Summary

I hope this quick summary can be used as a road map for employers doing business in Canada.  Please post your questions and comments.

Important Note:  This posting is intended to provide a brief overview of employment law in Canada.  It is not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice and counsel.

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Littler Mendelson

Tips For A Successful International Relocation

Author:
Matthew Shore – Move One Relocations

[Editor's Note:  We are pleased to welcome Matthew Shore as a Guest Author.  Matthew is Communications and Marketing Manager for Move One, a leading global relocation, moving and logistics firm serving Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa.  He is an expat himself living in Budapest, Hungary, with his wife.]

It’s no secret that the stresses of international relocation on employees and their families can take their toll. The magnitude of its effects can be on par with divorce or a death in the family. Delivering the right support for employees and their families during the first critical months after their move may mean the difference between the success or failure of an assignment.

Focus on the Family
It is often the family of the assignee that experiences the most difficulty when relocating internationally.  For example an accompanying spouse who has left his or her friends, family and other support networks to relocate can experience profound feelings of loss and displacement that can persist for long after arrival in the new location.  Providing new expats with the means to become self-sufficient and thrive in their new environment is therefore vital for the success of an assignment.

Best Practices to Support Your Assignees
It’s normal and predictable for assignees and families to experience culture shock and other challenges when taking a new assignment.  Targeted support for families on the ground at their new location helps to reduce their anxiety, speed up their sense of regaining control, and ensures a productive assignment.  It is also good practice to offer support with the aim to keep morale high by offering services that address the full range of all family members’ needs, from orientation and cross-cultural training, to recreation, social integration, security and education, as well as employment options for the traveling spouse.  This support falls under eight categories:

• Welcoming and orientation. Provide a point of contact for the newly arrived family.  Offer information, contacts, destination resources, and welcome events. It is also beneficial to arrange repatriation workshops for departing families.
• Employment liaison. Finding purposeful work for spouses can be key to successful adjustment, and the provision of multiple employment resources should be made available.  Maintaining contacts in the local economy, providing aid in exploring alternatives such as home-based business, and assistance in applying for functional training are all good practice, and help the non-working partner get the best out of life while overseas. In today’s economy, virtual assistants are an increasingly widespread option for professionals as well as administrative work in companies small and large.
• Education liaison. Most relocation companies provides information and contacts for local schools, but offering managed support programs for youths and childcare resources is also beneficial.
• Information and resource management. Making resources such as internet and intranet access is helpful in the interim period until home access is established, as well as literature and events in the local culture.
• Guidance and referral. Offering EAP services such as confidential counseling, as well as resources and referrals for such issues as divorce, spouse/child abuse, adoption, death, and mental health concerns.  Be sure to use an EAP that is sensitive to cross-cultural issues, and is familiar with international assignments.
• Community liaison. Cultivate relationships with community and social organizations and local resources that can benefit expatriates.
• Events and cultural programming. Cultural events as well as informative programs and workshops on host-country culture help families to orient and adjust to the new culture.
• Crisis management and security liaison. Relaying security information to the community. This includes ensuring crisis preparedness, emergency evacuation information through alerts and seminars, as well as rebuilding the community after a crisis.

Tools such as our city guides, and our online magazine for expats in Budapest can go a long way to address some of these points, reassuring the new assignee and their family that life in the new destination isn’t going to be a total departure from their old life, and that they can and will ‘fit in’ with their new environment.

For me there is a personal angle, too.  I moved to Budapest when my wife was offered an assignment here.  I can assure you from my own experience, taking the time to ensure that expat families are made aware of the social options in their new city helps a great deal.  For example, Move One recognizes that for non-working spouses of assignees – more-often-than-not female – finding a circle of friends quickly can make a world of difference.  This is why we make a point of supporting local expat groups and schools with sponsorship and practical assistance as part of a commitment to the local expatriate communities where we operate.  Of course, there is added value for us, in terms of brand awareness, to be visible in the local community, but we recognize the importance of supporting these organizations for the greater good of our clients.

There are many new online resources to help families with their moves as well.  Are there any steps you have implemented for your assignees that have been particularly effective in helping them adjust?  Please share them in the comments!

More About Matthew

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Help the Victims of the Haiti Earthquake

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

As some of you may know, the International HR Forum is now participating in a blogging initiative known as the HR Carnival.  Every other week, a different HR blogger “hosts” the Carnival, which is a compendium of recent posts from some of the best written and most widely read blogs devoted to human resources topics.

For the next HR Carnival, which will be published on January 27 by Mike Vandervort at the Human Race Horses Blog, all of the bloggers are contributing posts which spotlight charities helping the relief efforts in Haiti.  The hope is that our readers will be inspired to contribute to one or more of the featured organizations.

The editors of the International HR Forum have selected CHF International for our profile.  CHF International is not as well known as some of the organizations making the headlines in the general media recently, but the organization has been working in Haiti since 2006 on one of the largest infrastructure rehabilitation and job creation projects in the country.  They have also been undertaking repairs in connection with the 2008 tropical storm season, which devastated the northern part of the country.

CHF staff include many experts in construction and infrastructure, and will be supplemented by an emergency response team which is already on the ground.  Their expertise is best described by this quote from their website:

“… some of CHF’s areas of greatest expertise (include activities) such as building ‘transitional shelters’; temporary homes that meet international standards where a family can live during the recovery period; helping to generate livelihoods, by employing people in the clean up of their community; and aiding reconstruction efforts by creating earthquake resistant buildings.”

We urge you to consider a donation to CHF International, or to the charity of your choice, to help the victims of this terrible tragedy in Haiti.

Thank you.

Shock and Awe

Author:
Chuck Csizmar – CMC Compensation Group

When you first look to purchase compensation surveys for your international population, it’s going to be a real wake-up call.  For those accustomed to only US surveys you will find that the available data in many countries is more limited than what you’re accustomed to seeing, as are the number of companies involved.  What won’t be reduced though is the expense.  Quite the opposite.  If you have multiple countries to deal with, your budget for credible compensation data will likely become a multiple of your US experience.

When I worked overseas my budget for compensation surveys was 3-4 times my previous US budget – and I only had to worry about Europe.  What a shock that was – spending much more and arguably receiving less.

Think on it, though: each country is a separate USA, a unique national entity having country-specific labor laws, employment regulations, tax structure, competitiveness challenges and variations of economic strength.  For each you will need a country-specific survey to assess the local competitiveness of your employees.

International HR practitioners will need to adjust their thinking to react effectively in smaller countries, where the working population is limited and so is the number of survey participants.  It will be difficult to slice surveys by geography, industry or employee segment, as the data points grow smaller and smaller with each criteria.  For example, a well-regarded Mercer survey for Sweden showed 202 participating companies, while the Netherlands counted 81.  Meanwhile the US survey totaled 500 companies.

To compound this dilemma of accessing credible data you will typically be required to pay “list” costs for each survey, as compared to the US where I was able to gain lower 2^nd copy costs and often times managed to wheedle discounts or “anticipated” participation rates.  Such tactics are not as readily available overseas.

Availability of locally-grown survey data is another challenge.  I have tried to locate such sources, even those provided in the local language, in order to create a greater “buy-in” sense from management, but with very limited success.   Even global companies with non-US headquarters tend to use the multi-national consulting firms.

Accessing International Resources

Should you require information for international compensation practices, below are a number of useful sources, each of which can be tapped via a Google search.  Note: many of the non-US sources focus on limited employee segments or functional areas, which may limit their usefulness during a general search.

Towers Perrin	Mercer	Culpepper
Hewitt Associates	PwC	CSi Remuneration (AUS)
AON	Hay Group	VenCon Int’l Reseach (GER)
Radford	McLagen	Economic Research Institute
IPAS	TymWork (SWE)	Western Management Group
Taylor Root (UK)	CFA Institute	EuroComp (Western Mgmt)
Federation of European Employers	Executive Resources Limited	Watson Wyatt
Birches Group LLC	Euro Remuneration Network (GER)	Organization Resources Counselors (ORC)
Ernst & Young	Croner Reward (UK)	Robert Walters (UK)
Baumgartner & Partner (GER)	Interconsult Ltd (UK)	Australian Institute of Management

Should you only have a few positions (2-3) in a given country you can reduce costs through individual job pricing, vs. the purchase of an entire survey.  More than a few positions though, would render this tactic economically unfeasible.  A few notable sources (though others from the above list may also be able to help):

• ER Limited
• ORC
• Birches Group

Note that I have not included sources from the current vogue of online surveys, like PayScale and Salary.com.  To my mind these sources still have credibility problems to overcome before they would be accepted by senior management as a viable resource.

Another effective strategy for reducing costs is to age current data forward, coupled with the use of biennial purchasing.  However, if utilizing this strategy have a care to limit its use to countries with stable economies.  Using such standard growth figures would miss the mark in countries showing greater volatility.

The Cost of International Operations

Too many HR practitioners and their Managers fail to take into account the expenses involved in keeping their international compensation programs competitive, especially where the organization has a small footprint in a given country.  For companies new to the international scene, and for those with small populations in several countries, the shock of survey costs could be daunting.  Many times the result is a reluctance to purchase the data, in some cases letting matters on the ground continue to fester – potentially overspending and / or creating debilitating equity problems for themselves.

Call it the cost of doing business, but if you’re going to maintain effective operations overseas, and you want to provide a competitive reward package (of course you do!), it would be unwise to shortchange the process by guesstimating or otherwise trying to make-do without credible information.

The cost of surveys is a fraction of the possible financial impact that could result from retaining non-competitive reward programs.

More About Chuck:

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HR and Reward Challenges in Developing Markets – Beyond BRIC

Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC

We are all hopeful that 2010 will be a better year for business than 2009. When that hoped for upturn finally takes hold, where will your company find growth?  If your company is like many others, the answer to that question points to developing markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where growth rates are higher and opportunities are great.

Growth is Robust
Post-recovery estimates from the IMF for 2010 indicate worldwide GDP growth of 5.7% is expected, while GDP growth in developing countries is expected to climb 9.5%.

Regional comparisons are even more dramatic:

• Sub-Saharan Africa – 9.6%
• Latin America & Caribbean – 10.5%
• Middle East – 14.9%
• Central and Eastern Europe – 1.4%
• Euro Zone – 3.6%

As you can see from these figures, growth in the developing world is expected to be almost three times greater, on average, than in the Euro Zone.  Investors have already discovered this; according to Bloomberg Business Week, the top ten performing stock market indices since December 31, 1999 are all developing markets, ranging from 901% gain in Ukraine, to just 318% in Brazil. With potential like this, it’s not surprising that more and more companies are focusing on new markets in these regions.

HR Challenges
The landscape for operating in developing countries is different from what many companies may be accustomed to in Western Europe, the US and elsewhere in the developed world.  For HR, the most prominent challenges are in two areas – talent and reward.

The Talent Challenge
Developing country markets are smaller than big developed country markets.  Fewer employers participate in the market, and not all sectors are represented, but those that do are all vying for the same people – the best talent.  Highly educated professionals are often in short supply, especially those with advanced degrees which are often obtained in the US or Europe.  While professionals may have training and education in a particular occupation, it is very common for these individuals to switch occupations for advancement opportunities.  They become generalists rather than specialists, and switch between sectors often as well.

Leading Employers Play a Key Role
Certain employers are found in a lot of developing countries, and help to define the labor market.  These employers include companies from the banking; consumer products; oil, gas and mining; and telecom and technology sectors.  Many of these companies are global multi-nationals which have been operating in developing countries for many years, and have a lot of experience with the conditions.  The other major players are international public sector organizations.  This group includes employers such as embassies, development banks, multi-lateral agencies such as the UN, and leading international NGOs.

Know Your Competition for Talent
Many private sector companies are surprised when we suggest they consider the international public sector as part of the group of leading employers with which they compete for talent.  After all, what do oil companies or banks have to do with embassies or the World Bank?  The answer is a lot!

International public sector employers are involved in a lot of the same activities as private sector companies.  For example, an MBA graduate being recruited by a consumer goods company for a brand manager role is the ideal profile for an embassy public information officer.  The engineers that the oil sector seeks can be deployed as project managers for infrastructure development funded by the World Bank, or an NGO such as the Global Water Project.  In addition, of course, there are occupations that are common to all employers, in areas such as administration, finance, human resources, IT, etc.  The lesson is to expand your focus in developing countries to include not only companies outside your sector, but some of the relevant international public sector institutions as well.

How Can I Be Competitive?
The second significant challenge for companies in developing markets is figuring out the reward structure.  Compensation schemes are different in each country, but there are some common themes across developing countries which differ from more developed countries.  For example, the span of salary ranges is often much wider than the typical 50% to 67% often found in developed countries.  The differential from one grade to the next can vary dramatically depending on the levels — often the jump from manager to executive can be 35% or more.

Base Salary is Just the Beginning
It is quite common to provide cash allowances, such as 13th and 14th month, as well as transportation allowances or housing allowances in many countries.  In addition, in-kind benefits such as beverages or meals, transportation (commuter buses) and subsidized loans are found in many markets.  The value of allowances and in-kind benefits can be substantial, ranging up to 30% or more in some countries.

Good Market References Are Important
One way to ensure a competitive position in the market is to establish your position with reference to the leaders, using a high-quality compensation survey.  The survey should include values for base salary, cash allowances, in-kind benefits and short-term incentives.  In addition, you’ll need to be aware of the social benefits and other statutory pay practices, how pensions and insurance are provided, and how the income tax scheme influences how compensation is structured.

In Summary
Developing markets are exciting, diverse and challenging.  Human resources professionals need to become aware of the unique market dynamics in smaller developing countries, including the role of leading employers and the complexities of how rewards are provided.

Note:  Birches Group conducts total compensation surveys in 147 developing markets.  Visit our website for more information.

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Warren Heaps

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How to Develop Effective International Assignment Policies

Author:
Alan Freeman – LOF International HR Solutions

During a recent conversation a colleague shared some frustration she was feeling. “I’ve read lots of articles and attended conferences where we’re told what we “should” be doing with our International Assignments (“IA”) policies on the basis of what everybody else is doing with theirs. What I’m not hearing is how to go about structuring our program in a way that really makes sense for our company. Where do we start? Who should be involved? What steps are necessary?”

“True”, I said. “We hear a lot about best practices such as keeping the spouse happy, increasing flexibility, controlling costs, keeping exceptions to a minimum and conducting benchmarking studies to find out what everyone else is doing. That’s all well and good but if your company sells luxury consumer goods in the best department stores in the largest cities of the world, do you think that practices that work well for mining companies in rural West Africa or at 14,000 feet in the Andes Mountains will be relevant and useful?”

“Exactly – they wouldn’t!” she said, “so what should we do?”

Let’s start with The Prime Directive. Simply put, your IA policies and program exist to help your company achieve its business objectives by having the right talent, in the right places, at the right times, doing the right things. Clearly, your company’s business objectives define what the various “right items” will be. Is this another way of saying you must start by truly understanding your business? Yes, of course!

“OK, that makes sense” she said, “then what?”

Well, now it’s time to go about structuring your program. A process that has proven to work well follows these steps:

Assemble a Policy Development Team

To often, policy development is left up to a Global Mobility department or single HR staffer working in a vacuum.  This generally is not effective. Utilizing teams of key stakeholders provides greater breadth of ideas, broader input from key functions and business operating units, and greater understanding of and buy-in to the end product. The team must be led by someone with significant depth of IA program expertise and include Global Mobility, Tax, Accounting, Payroll, HR Business partners from units that utilize international assignments, etc. Bringing in expert consultants and specialty service providers, e.g. immigration, international tax, global security firms, etc. can pay large dividends as well.

Conduct Benchmarking

There are two types of benchmarking to consider. First, conduct internal surveys of line managers who make use of IAs, and current and former assignees themselves. These groups can provide a wealth of information as to what has been working and what has not. They further can often make great suggestions for new approaches worth considering.

Second, do take a look at market practices through both generally available surveys and, potentially, custom surveys more precisely focused upon your company’s industry and competitors. This can help generate ideas and help gauge competitive positioning. Be careful, however, to not only look at what companies are doing but also to ask how well those practices are working. It’s amazing how many times I’ve heard a colleague say “we do ____” and in the next breath, say “and I’d change that practice in a heartbeat if my management would allow me to!” Another caution about benchmarking is that it’s imperative to consider the policy package as a whole and how the many provisions work together in total. There is a definite tendency toward getting caught up on individual line items and, hence, “lose sight of the forest for staring at the trees”.

Draft a Policy Structure

Put together the first array of policy provisions that make sense given the demographic, geographic and time variables dictated by The Prime Directive. Make sure they integrate and work together in a consistent and holistic manner.

Model the Costs

The first question executive management is likely to ask when the new program is presented for approval is not, “how does it meet our business needs?” It’s assumed that it will. The first question is, “what’s it going to cost?” If you are reengineering an existing IA program you’ll need to show the difference in costs between the proposed and existing programs.

Fortunately, there are many applications and providers that make cost modeling relatively straightforward.

Test Your Ideas as You Go

One of the worst ways to achieve buy-in on your ideas is to keep them to yourself and spring them on someone only at the end. If you communicate as you go through the process, sharing what you’re thinking about and soliciting inputs, that engagement frequently gives the other a sense of having had input and influence on the final product. Those who feel they had input are much more likely to respond positively. Their inputs may well have a lot of value as well.

In a larger corporate environment this could be done via periodic progress update meetings.

Finalize and Implement

In pursuing the steps above, you’ll ultimately obtain approval to proceed. Prepare the necessary communications and implementation materials. If you are reengineering an existing program, you’ll have already determined whether current assignees will be “grandfathered” under their old terms, converted to the new terms, or converted with some sort of buy-out provision.

When you have it all in place, move ahead.

Continually Evaluate and Improve

Finally, when you implement your new program, be sure you’ve also built in metrics and processes for determining how well it’s working on an ongoing basis. You can’t have anticipated everything that will ultimately be encountered and change happens! Be ready to be flexible and make program adjustments “on the fly”.

More About Alan:

LOF International HR Solutions web site

Alan on LinkedIn

email Alan

Five Secrets to Reduce Benefits Cost, Part 3

Author:
George Bashaw – Atlas Global Benefits

I didn’t know you have kids.  Seriously, aren’t you single? I need to see some documentation.

Ok, that is a bit overboard. However, if you want to get serious about saving money on benefits, a dependent audit may be a bumpy but lucrative road.   This blog is the third in a series of five techniques to lowering your benefits cost without changing your plan design or carrier.  Prior posts in this series include Know Your Claims and Duplication of Coverage.

Secret Three:  Dependent Eligibility Audit
The intention of a dependent eligibility audit is to ferret out those who are ineligible for benefits.  Examples of ineligibles may include non-resident step children, college grads who may feel like dependents but technically are not, or the classic unemployed ex-husbands who will not get off the couch, but like an old hound, you feel sorry for them.  Joking aside, these people add up quickly. Finding one ineligible participant in your plan can save up to $6,000 per year.  Finding a slew of them will have a noticeable impact and go straight to the bottom line.

Communication is Key
Caution!  People get a pit in their stomach when they hear the word audit. Second, they do not like sharing personal information. Therefore, the way you deliver the message about the audit is key. In other words, you do not want to blast out an email today saying “proof of your dependent status is due by the close of business Friday.”

Sell the benefits of an audit to the participant.  The participants’ costs are going up and their benefits are getting cut, too.  Explain, as an employer and plan sponsor, you have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure all dependents are eligible, and to misrepresent is fraud.  Therefore, it is necessary to make sure the plans are in compliance.

Steps to Successful Audit

1. Positive Communication
2. Communicate at least a month before you start your audit to set expectations
3. Create a plan and review with your employment attorney
4. Communicate “the plan” (don’t call it an audit)
   • The definition of eligibility requirements
   • Methods to prove eligibility
   • Halo period where the participant may change status without penalty or embarrassment
   • Final deadline (here is where you may decide to define the nature of fraud)

Please share any stories you have about your experience with employee dependent audits.  If you happen to try one and you do not find any ineligibles, I may respond, “Look closer, the employees committing fraud may have left the building out of embarrassment.”

More about George:

• George Bashaw
• Email George
• George on LinkedIn
• International Benefits and Compensation Group

Five Facts About International Schooling

Author:
Liz Perelstein – School Choice International

Most companies sending employees overseas offer some kind of cross-cultural training.  But we rarely think of cross- cultural training for school children, even though education can be a make or break issue for many families considering an overseas assignment.

As you can see from the facts below, even expats who send their children to international schools encounter cultural differences that may be significant, and may clash with family customs.  Schools – local and even international – are a microcosm of the culture they inhabit.  Without understanding the host country’s educational system children can be disadvantaged in the admissions arena, in academic performance and in the ease of transition.

Consider these facts:

1) Did you know that 8^th graders in Belgium, Korea and Japan do not use calculators in math classes?

Curriculum differences like these make it hard for children trained on calculators to adapt to local mathematics instruction in these countries.

2) Did you know that German parents give their children a Schultuete, or a cone filled with treats on the day they start first grade?

Children unfamiliar with local customs can feel awkward or embarrassed, affecting the transition to their new school.

3) Did you know that in Brazil children either go to school in the morning OR in the afternoon?

Spouses may find it difficult to work in countries with a school schedule alien to them.

4) Did you know that Saudi Arabia is enforcing a law that requires expat children to attend a school of their own nationality?

Many families choose a curriculum other than their national curriculum, often to preserve curriculum continuity with former or future schooling.

5) Did you know that admissions for 4-to-10 year olds for New York City independent schools requires an entrance examination that is ONLY administered in New York City?

Admissions opportunities may be limited for children if parents are unaware of requirements.

To learn more about educational customs in different parts of the world, visit our School Choice International blog or our Fact of the Week Collection.

More About Liz:

• Finding Schools Blog
• Liz on LinkedIn
• Contact Liz
• School Choice International Website

The Gift of Time

Author:
Yendor Felgate – Emergence Consulting

I am continually reminded in my coaching that folk remain under pressure as we enter the new year. Rather than refreshing over the holiday period, many of us have brought our work, life and family challenges straight into the new year.

We probably don’t sufficiently acknowledge in difficult times that it requires huge amounts of additional energy and effort to produce the same results. This means that if we do not change the way we work and live, time will vanish even faster and we will not achieve as much.

In an effort to work smarter and enjoy the journey more in our never ending search for better results, I offer two approaches that have benefited me personally.  The first refers to the gift of time and the other is about living in the moment.

“Stop, Start, Go” Test

I often ask people what they can stop doing.  This tends to be an uncomfortable question.  Few of us seemingly want to stop being ridiculously busy.  It is almost as if being busy is the same as being valuable.  Being busy in this sense is both addictive and a habit.  As with all addictions, it is seductive and comes at a price.

The test is an easy one.

• List all your activities for the last week.
• Identify those activities that directly relate to your purpose or objectives.
• The rest you can stop.

The difficulty is implementing this. The world will simply not understand at first what you are doing. However, keep going, they will catch on.

This is a tremendous team building opportunity.  Not surprisingly, people respond better to this than the traditional approach of being told to do more, or being harangued about needing to improve.  It does, though, require a willingness to simplify.

Simplicity is about having clarity on what is really important, rather than dumbing down.

Stop

The next hurdle is being told that there is nothing that can be stopped.  Let’s test this.  We ran the stop, start, go test on executive meetings at a banking client.  By simply doing away with unnecessary meetings and reducing meeting times, we gave back 20% of executives’ time.  How valuable would this be to you and your organisation?

Some other thoughts on stopping:

• Stop emailing instead of doing real work
• Stop doing things in triplicate
• Stop being accessible 24/7
• Stop asking your team leader to sign or see everything
• Stop rework
• Stop second guessing others
• Stop worrying about things you have no control over

Start

Start saying “NO” to things that are not important.  The discomfort arises when we ask people when last they said ‘no’ to anything.

The conversation often starts with I cannot stop anything (you already know the answer to this) and ends with I cannot remember when last I said ‘no’.  Start saying “YES” to important things, but just be clear on what this is.

There is of course an art to saying “NO” and includes things like:

• Not taking other people’s monkeys
• You cannot live other people’s lives for them
• Empowering others to make their own decisions
• Sharing knowledge and information for others to implement

If people understand that you are trying to help them to help themselves, saying “NO” is easy.  Just remember, ‘no’ means ‘no’.

Go

The point is not to fill the time you have freed up with more work.  The “GO” aspect is about getting and keeping your balance.  You get the balance that you deserve.  In other words, if you allow work to intrude, you end up working.  The “GO” adage is go live your life.

This is almost impossible unless you live in the moment.

Living in the Moment

Living in the moment is a coaching term that refers to acknowledging and being present – the here and now.  When I ask this question, I am often told that “of course I am here and focused”, “just let me check my email”.

I think being able to parallel process is a wonderful gift, but the larger skill is ensuring people receive your full attention.  If you are not sure what this means, then watch children at play.

By being in the moment, you make better decisions, people respond better and you are more alive to possibility, than by keeping half your mind on the next meeting, and the next…….

I look forward to hearing your stop, start, go stories, so please share them with us.  Here is to the possibility of living in the moment this year!

More About Yendor:

• Yendor on Linkedin
• Emergence Consulting
• Contact Yendor