Val Gascoyne, Managing Director of Time Relocation, speaks about the launch.

We had a great launch at a very busy Totally Expat Show and were pleased to talk to the many people that came to see us.  The day culminated in winning two awards, including Exhibitor of the Show, a truly great start to this unique new business.

Guide Dogs are our Charity of the Year and we were delighted that the wonderfully behaved puppies and dogs in training got so much attention and their coordinator made several contacts for more companies to support them. The day was capped off by Dave Galletly winning the £1,000 cash prize at the end of the show.  A triple win for the TIME Relocation stand.

TIME is an on-line portal providing cost effective global relocation to corporate clients, giving real time visibility of assignees status and the individual’s full control of their move.

Although originally intended for low cost moves, due to its incredible flexibility and unique costing mechanisms it is also ideally suited for very small global mobility programmes, large graduate or rotation programmes, lump sum and one way moves.  The system manages the assignees so you don’t have to and with an endless number of ways that it can be tailored to a company it can be adapted to suit all levels of assignees and size of programme.

With the cost of each service shown before being selected, you can see the total cost as you go along, helping you pick and choose which elements you want on a case by case basis.  With remuneration elements also included, you really can see the total cost of the assignment as you’re choosing the services.  No costly software to purchase and no charge for using the pricing tool.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more details and a demonstration of the system and what we could do for you.

Val Gascoyne
Managing Director
www.timerelocation.com

The idea is simple, it’s the technology that does the hard work.

An accomplished veteran of the workforce mobility industry, Smith brings over 35 years of experience to Weichert, including deep expertise in sales, business development and client services. He will report directly to Jim Schneider, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Consulting Solutions for Weichert.

“Don is without question considered a leader in workforce mobility business development, and we are excited to bring his insight and vision to our company,” said Schneider. “His proven expertise in building world-class sales teams, combined with his deep operational experience developing and executing workforce mobility programs make him the perfect person to lead our North American sales efforts as we continue to aggressively grow our business.”

Prior to joining Weichert, Smith served as Executive Vice President at Altair Global Relocation, overseeing sales and marketing. Before that, he worked with Cendant Mobility for over a decade as an executive leader in both business development and client services.

“I am especially excited to begin my new career with Weichert because the company has a clear and distinct value proposition and an innovative approach to helping clients optimize the deployment of their critical talent,” said Smith. “Weichert has a stellar reputation with its clients and a culture forged from forward-thinking mobility leaders who understand what it takes to succeed.”

Cahill has 27 years of experience in all aspects of corporate workforce mobility, and he is known for his client-centric, consultative approach to developing unique workforce mobility solutions.

“Mike is a results-oriented and driven leader with a proven track record of successfully developing, implementing and leading strategic business development initiatives,” said Jim Schneider, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Consulting Solutions for Weichert. “He’s also a talented veteran of the workforce mobility industry, and by leveraging his considerable knowledge of program and policy best practices, I’m certain that he’ll prove a valuable resource to companies looking to optimize the deployment of their mobile talent.”

Cahill began his workforce mobility career in 1986 as a consultant with Prudential Real Estate & Relocation Services. From there, he held a number of key and increasingly strategic leadership roles at Prudential, including Director of National Accounts for the northeast region and Vice President of Sales. Prior to joining Weichert, he served as Vice President of Business Development for Graebel Van Lines.

Active in promoting the advancement of the workforce mobility industry and knowledge sharing, Cahill serves on the board of the NYC Organization of Relocation Professionals.

Helping thousands of families anywhere in the world select the right schools for their children,

The School Choice Group achieves record growth and celebrates an anniversary milestone

The School Choice Group (SCG), the leading global education consultancy, headquartered in White Plains, New York, is proudly celebrating its 15^th anniversary this spring with events in London, Hong Kong, and New York.  They have much to celebrate. Founded in London in 1998, by Elizabeth Perelstein after her own family’s move there from the United States, the company now has more than 125 consultants in 50 locations worldwide, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, and Washington DC.

“I started this business in 1998 in my living room in London, and am so proud to see the amazing response to and desire for our services” said Elizabeth Perelstein, Founder and Chair of the School Choice Group.

Under the umbrella of The School Choice Group, School Choice International and its private client division, School Search Solutions, provide consulting and web-based services to global companies as well as individual families.   Their services include consulting for domestic or international school admissions and placements, special needs education, gifted student education, educational related research and corporate schooling policy benchmarking and development.  All SCG clients benefit from education experts who are backed by a wealth of resources, expertise, research and quality control that individual educational consultants cannot provide.

“I am delighted that we are able to help our clients meet the education challenges of increasing globalization and competition around the world” said Timothy Dwyer, President and CEO of The School Choice Group

The SCG has a unique philosophy regarding school placement.  They start with the child and believe the right school can foster each child’s unique abilities to succeed for their next phase. Their expert education consultants are trained to look beyond the superficial aspects of a school – its impressive campus, the brand-new gym, or its popularity – and instead strive to understand a school’s culture, atmosphere, values, and educational environment.

In addition to consultant based services, The School Choice Group originated the only web based resource for families and corporations to compare and understand education around the world, Global Education Explorer,  as well as the first school-child matching tool, LEAP, currently being piloted for the New York City market.

School Choice International and School Search Solutions have won many education, industry and business awards.  School Choice International has been on Inc’s 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies and Liz Perelstein was named one of 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs by Fortune Magazine.  School Choice will commemorate this anniversary at its annual employee retreat in Westchester, New York on May 9^th and 10th.  Members of its global team come from all over the world, including Europe and Asia, to network with their colleagues, learn, and celebrate.

Soruce: www.schoolchoicegroup.com

FEM would like to introduce a new pulse survey, which is the latest in ongoing research into initiative tracking trends and new developments in the global relocation arena. The latest survey, titled “Global Relocation, Talent Management and the Changing Assignee Profile” explores today’s assignees, and how companies are maximizing the organizational

and career development value from their assignments.

As a “thank you” for completing the survey, all respondents will be entered into a draw for one Apple iPad PLUS you’ll receive a full report of the survey results.

Take part now

All responses will be confidential.

The study surveyed 1,273 companies across a range of industries in 70 countries and found more growth in mobility programmes managed from emerging markets compared to programmes managed from non-emerging markets.

Further, the study found that three quarters of companies say that emerging markets are important to their mobility programme; one third go so far as to describe them as “very important.”

Experts interviewed in conjunction with the report cite reasons for this trend including a changing marketplace, improved skillsets in emerging markets, economic challenges in the West, accelerated growth in Brazil, India and particularly China, and sheer volume of assignments in and out of regional locations.

“The world is changing and its centre of gravity is moving east. Today’s economic powerhouses of India and China are increasingly becoming headquarter locations rather than the far-flung outposts of yesteryear.” said Brian Friedman, Founder and CEO of the Forum for Expatriate Management, one of the experts offering analysis for the report.

“Of course, expanding into new markets demands an analysis of costs, risks and the opportunity. Beyond this though, it’s important to consider the role of ‘connected-ness.’ The presence of geographical, economical or cultural connections an organisation has tends to skew expansion in ways beyond what might be merely economically advantageous,” said Maury Peiperl, Professor of Leadership and Strategic Change, IMD.

“This has especially been seen in international mobility programmes where practices between locations have differed for no good reason and this inconsistency has become apparent for serial expatriates. Delegation control of mobility  programmes to a regional unit makes sense when either movement is confined to a region, or where there is a regional scheme (with different terms and conditions) running in parallel to a global scheme,” said Peter Reilly, Director HR Research & Consultancy, Institute for Employment Studies.

Other highlights in the market identified in the Global Mobility Survey include:

• 41 percent of companies expect assignments to increase in the next 12 months.
• Retail, pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas are the industry sectors largely driving growth.
• China, India and Brazil were ranked as the most challenging destinations.
• Hardship locations are dominated by the emerging markets, with enhanced packages provided by most companies to support employees on these assignments.

Andrew Dalglish, Director of independent research company Circle Research, commented “the subject of emerging markets has dominated the headlines and has prompted additional research into this area.  The results of the Global Mobility Survey research show that traditional growth markets still present significant challenges to mobility programmes and that new frontier locations in Asia, South America and Africa look set to bring their own set of unique circumstances.  This study provides highly compelling information for any global mobility programme touching these areas.”

Across global mobility, companies reported expansion within existing markets, expansion within new markets, local skill shortages, talent development and mergers & acquisitions as the major reasons for overall growth.  Along with major trends in global mobility, the survey also reports on assignment packages, management team structures, use of technology and investigation of compliance. The report also features an expert panel forum with key figures from the global mobility industry.

Mike Brazier, Global Mobility Survey Research Editor, commented “The Global Mobility Survey continues to provide new and detailed insight into key mobility trends for international HR and Mobility experts. We are particularly grateful of everyone who has participated in this body of research and our expanded panel of experts who have added their additional thoughts.  We hope everyone finds the report, the infographic and the web portal useful for benchmarking their own programmes.”

David’s role will involve communicating Crown World Mobility’s offering and broad range of services to clients and prospective clients as well as developing strategic partnerships to benefit the business.

David said: “We have a large network and a great pedigree in world mobility.  I’ll be focusing my efforts on new business and cross selling to grow and build our business, concentrating on the energy and financial sectors and new developing markets.

“It’s a return to Crown for me, as I have previously worked as a corporate business development manger.  I also have experience in HR and business development for the financial sector and this knowledge will be useful in my new role with Crown World Mobility and the global mobility process,” concluded David.

David Wightman is 44 and lives in Medbourne in Leicestershire with his wife and daughter.

For more information about Crown Worldwide’s services, please visit: www.crownworldwide.com

To ensure the success of our new operation we are delighted to introduce Mr Thomas Morocz as the General Manager.

Thomas started in the international moving and relocation industry in 2007 where he worked in Seoul, Korea.  He holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Business and Economics from University of Pecs in Hungary. He currently resides in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and speaks English, Hungarian, German and Korean.

Thomas understands that Mongolia can be a challenging place to conduct business, but it is also a country with significant opportunity as it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The economy grew by 6.4% in 2010, 17.5% in 2011 and by more than 12% in 2012 as it sits on top of a mountain of mineral wealth – coal, copper and gold.

Thomas is enthusiastic to build up and manage our new branch in Ulaanbaatar with focus on quality of service and care, which Santa Fe is known for around the world.

For more information regarding our new office in Mongolia, please do not hesitate to contact Thomas.

Thomas Morocz

General Manager

Santa Fe Mongolia

Phone: +976 9905-0289

Email: Thomas.Morocz@santaferelo.com

The survey, which was completed in November 2011, examined:

• The impact of immigration restrictions on international business
• The impact of dual careers on international mobility within organisations
• Current practice in spouse/partner support
• Current assignment demographics

The survey attracted 177 organisations employing almost 7.5 million people in both the private and public sectors. Expatriates comprised nearly 1.8% of this workforce, reflecting both organisations that place significant emphasis on international mobility and also organisations that are just starting to develop a global mobility policy.

Read the full report here.

Source: Permits Foundation

IPM and the Forum for Expatriate Management have identified the seven deadly sins of global mobility.

1 IMMIGRATION

Do you have the correct immigration papers for your globally mobile employees?

Do you know who is where?

This area is being increasingly enforced with potential for large penalties.

2 SOCIAL SECURITY

Do you know if you are paying the correct social security in the host country (and possibly the home country?)

The penalties for getting it wrong can be severe.

3 TAX

Benjamin Franklin once said “nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes”, and it is very unlikely that you can plan an international assignment without touching on this area.

You must consider both the home and host country tax positions. Tax may be due in both countries.

Are tax returns being filed and tax being withheld in accordance with home and host country tax requirements?

Are you paying more or less tax than you should be?

Tax authorities are ‘red hot’ on International Assignees – they see easy wins! The penalties are severe and also costly in terms of time and resources as well as risk to corporate reputation.

Are you compliant?

4 UNSUCCESSFUL ASSIGNMENTS

Assignments rarely fail because of business reasons but due largely to the assignee’s inability to adapt to a new environment, or the family failing to settle.

Do you have “unsuccessful” assignments?

Are you managing these issues and maximising your return on investment?

5 INEFFECTIVELY MANAGING COSTS

There is no getting away from it – international assignments are expensive, and many companies see the cost as a “necessary evil” if they are to compete globally. Many companies are now calculating the cost of the assignment prior to it starting, to justify the requirements for an international assignee as opposed to a local national.

A business case will help you focus on the value proposition of why the assignment is required and set out some quantitative and qualitative measures of return on investment.

Are you maximising tax efficiencies?

Do you know how to reduce your costs?

6 POLICIES AND ASSIGNMENT TYPES

Do you have policies or policy frameworks to cover all types of assignment – long term, short term, commuters, local plus, and extended business travellers?

Are they competitive or over generous?

Do you spend a lot more than you need to because your assignees are effective negotiators? Do you apply policies equitably?

Get a copy of the FEM‘s Long-Term Assignment Policy report at any Totally Expat Show for valuable information on long-term assignments or speak to IPM who can help you review your policies.

7 GLOBAL MOBILITY STRATEGY

Do you have a Global Mobility Strategy?

How well does it support the Corporate Strategy?

IPM can support you in this area.

If any of these issues are familiar in your business IPM can support you.Call +44 (0) 845 458 5643 or email Georgia.Georgiou@ipmglobalmobility.com to arrange a meeting.

In the meantime, take IPM’s FREE Mini-Audit to check how compliant you are – click here to get started.