Companies Offer More International Assignments As Their Operations Go Global
The human capital requirements of today’s global companies have put a premium on talented individuals with the skill and interest to build a truly global career. That’s especially true in the hospitality industry, where companies are competing to attract the loyalty of discriminating travelers – and top-notch managers.
If you work for a hospitality company with global customers, offices and resources, you may soon find yourself presented with an assignment to work overseas.
While the United States still ranks as the world’s leading destination country for talented individuals across many industries (especially in the hospitality space), China now ranks second on the list, according to the findings of a survey of 184 global human resources managers by Cartus, a provider of global mobility management and workforce development solutions.
The study also found that the number of assignment destinations is surging, with respondents naming 51 different countries in their list of the top three destination locations for their companies’ employees, a 76 percent increase over 2004.
“As companies respond to growing business opportunities, pressures to recruit and retain top global talent, and demands for regional flexibility, we can expect to see more people being sent to more and different destinations, and on shorter-term assignments,” says John Arcario, executive vice president of Cartus.
“We are seeing a truly new workforce being shaped by a global economy,” Arcario adds, and, many industry observers might add, nowhere is that more evident than in the global hospitality business.
These survey findings speak rather directly to those in your organization recognized by management, their peers or formal performance review evaluations as so-called ‘emerging leaders’ or individuals with ‘high potential’ talent.
That’s because the Cartus survey found that assignments aimed at providing career development for emerging leaders is showing the biggest surge in international work assignments. In fact, while 47 percent of companies increased such assignments in the past three years, some 64 percent plan on boosting them over the next two years.
This suggests that the fastest way to career advancement – perhaps the only way in the eyes of some hospitality employers with growing staffing needs outside the United States – is to accept a global assignment that can stretch your skills, broaden your horizon and meet your employer’s increasingly global challenges.
