A GUIDE TO GLOBAL MOBILITY

NRI Taking
Relocation
Personally

OVERVIEW
For companies with an eye on worldwide growth,
pursuing new markets on the ground is essential.
The annual KPMG Global Assignment Policies and
Practices reports that 72% of the more than 600
organizations they surveyed worldwide make use of
mobility programs to support business objectives and
adapt to changing market requirements.
72% of the more than 600 organizations
they surveyed worldwide make use of
mobility programs to support business
objectives.
Drawing on the experience and know-how of internal
talent through global mobility assignments can
be a smart move for companies. A well-managed
global mobility program offers your organization the
opportunity to enhance its culture by giving talented
employees the opportunity to live and work in a
different country, broaden their experience, learn
new skills and establish a personal global network.
Moreover, internationally experienced employees
bring deeper insights and demonstrate exceptional
value to local clients and targets by supporting speed-
to-market goals while minimizing business risk.
Yet, surprisingly, just 12% of the 600 companies
surveyed for the KPMG report said controlling costs
and achieving an acceptable return on investment
(ROI) on their international relocations was important
to them. An even greater number of respondents (27%)
admitted not knowing their retention rates for returned
assignees.
These findings demonstrate a critical need for better
planning and execution of global mobility programs,
especially of those employees that make up non-
traditional or short-term transfers.
Many organizations are becoming more flexible in
their assignment policy approaches – setting policy
frameworks with core and optional provisions and
expanding the range of choices for either the business
or the assignee. Customized programs show a clear
trend toward more personalized programs that aim to
better meet assignee needs while keeping costs
in check.
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The survey reveals companies are also broadening the
variety of assignment types to improve the flexibility
and adaptability of their global mobility programs:
• 81 percent of participants offer short-term
assignments (less than 12 months)
• 96 percent offer long-term assignments (1–5 years)
• 47 percent offer permanent transfer/indefinite length
assignments
FACTORS INFLUENCING ROI
How quickly an international relocation generates
direct revenue for an organization depends, to some
extent, on the employee’s position. Generally, revenue-
generating positions, such as a senior sales manager,
can reasonably expect to offer a higher and faster
return against a company’s relocation expenses than
from someone in a position with less direct impact,
such as an engineer.
ROI can vary widely and is impacted by subjective
factors including:
• The type of work performed such as sales,
engineering or product development.
• How closely the employee’s position is tied to directly
influencing the company’s bottom line.
• The amount of risk involved in placing employees
in foreign countries, including oversight of permits,
visas, tax liability and other concerns, particularly for
employees not traditionally mobile, such as a team of
engineers to fix equipment on a short-term (under six
months) basis.
• The inevitable hidden and often-overlooked costs,
such as work permits, that contribute to the problems
of cost control and benefits.
• The expense of transferring an employee overseas
is considerable – in many cases three times the
employee’s salary – each year of the assignment.
Organizations worldwide are taking advantage of
global mobility programs and the use of international
assignments is rising for organizations. Companies with
established global mobility programs continue
to expand and adapt their programs to meet ever-
changing needs.
SYNOPSIS
If you’ve ever handled a domestic relocation, you
already know how many details are involved. From
creating a relocation offer to appeal to the candidate,
to helping the employee and their family transition
smoothly into the new location, there are multiple
moving parts that go into a successful relocation.
An international relocation is considerably more
complicated than a domestic transfer. However many
of the necessary details may not be obvious at first –
until they become a problem. In this guide, we’ll cover
important components of a global mobility program
that should be included in your relocation policy
design.
Some of the elements you’ll need to consider include:
Home Moving and Shipping Services
Moving is one of life’s most stressful events, even
when the move is for an exciting, positive opportunity.
Add the stress of selling a home or finding a new
residence, and stress levels can soar. Finding a
trustworthy shipping company to give peace of mind
about shipping valuables or family heirlooms that the
assignee wants to take with them pushes the stress
levels even higher.
Document Services
Obtaining passports is the easy part. International
assignments will require visas and work permits for
your assignees and their families. Documentation
requirements vary by country and some countries
require getting through a significant amount of
paperwork and red tape. Get this wrong and your
employee could be sent home or even to jail.
Cross-Cultural and Language Training
For most Americans, even a move from a state in one
region of the country to a state in another region of
the country means a decisive shift in cultures. Pre-
training assignees in language and cross-cultural skills
of their new location will help assignees to assimilate
more quickly and to minimize culturally-based
misunderstandings.
Don’t forget to include plans to help
alleviate the stress of relocation for
them and help ease their transition.
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Destination Services
One of the main reasons international assignments
fail is because of family stress. Spouses and children
will be concerned about their quality of life in the new
country and will need support, too.
Expatriate Compensation
Corporate relocation programs are an investment in
your company’s future and your bottom line. Make sure
you don’t jeopardize the success of the international
relocation by ensuring that your employee’s
compensation allows them to maintain at least a
similar quality of life as they do now.
International Tax Compliance
There are complex tax rules governing the award
and withholding of employee remuneration abroad.
Understanding these rules will help companies avoid
exposure to tax reporting and withholding issues.
BENEFITS OF PROVIDING
RELOCATION SERVICES
Domestic relocations can be complex and time-
consuming programs to execute for most HR teams.
International relocations are even more complex and
place added challenges on your HR department if they
are tasked with handling the details of the relocation.
In spite of that, international relocation services are
essential if you want to reduce stress for employees
and their families who might otherwise be entirely
overwhelmed by the process of moving to a
foreign country.
These services benefit the company as well because
assignees that experience lower stress levels are
better able to focus on being productive in their new
position. In contrast, assignees that are distracted by
the typical concerns of an international move and
settling-in issues are less likely to be able to focus
on job challenges until their domestic challenges
are resolved. Having a professional experienced in
relocation issues assisting with the transfer reduces
the amount of stress on the employee and results in
much less downtime for
the company.
Additionally, partnering with a global relocation
services company is a smart move: they will have a
network of contacts that most companies don’t have
access to - contacts who are readily available to assist
assignees and their families with assimilating into the
new culture more rapidly.
International relocation services help employers
integrate employees into their new environments more
quickly. If you compare the investment of providing
professional relocation services to assignees to the
cost of extended downtime to the company, it’s
easy to see how providing appropriate international
relocation services is an investment that will pay off
immediately.
THE VALUE OF AN EXPERT PARTNER
An international assignment doesn’t have to be more
burdensome on your HR department; although the
complexities are much greater than a typical domestic
relocation, much depends on the scope and delivery
of your policies and services. How smoothly the
assignment proceeds is a reflection of a well-designed
policy or a very thorough Letter of Assignment, and
how trained your staff is to administer your relocation
policies and procedures.
WHAT’S YOUR COMPANY’S APPROACH TO GLOBAL RELOCATION?
OLD WAY
One-size-fits-all policy and program.
Low volume of assignments.
Process involved multiple third-parties with no single
coordinating point.
Complexity makes it difficult to respond to new
opportunities.
Focused on employee’s short-term needs, such as
travel arrangements.
Focuses on administration procedures.
Ignores spouse and family support.
Once assigned, employees are left to arrange
details themselves.
Inexperienced staff exposes company to compliance
and regulatory risk.
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Because of the complexities involved with international
relocations, third-party relocation management
companies provide services which minimize
overstretching your HR department. Because they
handle the details of relocation regularly, a third-
party relocation service is usually better equipped to
orchestrate the international transfer process for your
assignees and their families while allowing HR to focus
on their areas of expertise.
A third-party relocation service is usually
better equipped to orchestrate the
international transfer process for your
assignees and their families.
NEW WAY
Flexible approach offers a range of options to meet the
needs of assignee and employer.
Well-designed relocation program that can scale
as needed.
Single point of contact provides expert oversight.
Efficient delivery of services reduces transfer time and
assignee’s downtime.
Focuses on goals of swift assimilation into new social
and business cultures.
Partner with trusted third-party relocation services to
deliver “hands-on” services.
Incorporates relocation support services for the
entire family.
Utilizes the services of corporate relocation experts to
minimize employee confusion and stress.
Relocation professionals ensure the company is
not exposed.

CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF AN
INTERNATIONAL RELOCATION
PROGRAM
Document Services
According to the latest figures from the U.S.
Government, only about 38% of American citizens hold
a valid U.S. passport. This means there is a significant
chance that your assignees and their families will need
to obtain a passport, in addition to other documents,
such as work visas or extended stay visas.
Obtaining these documents is usually not expensive
but the process can be time-consuming (expect
months) and frustrating. A mistake in documentation
could delay getting the required passport or visa
by six months or more. This is one of those times
when – because your assignee is working with set
deadlines – it makes sense to work with a third party
relocation professional expert in negotiating the maze
of documentation required by the U.S. and other
countries.
Language and Cross-Cultural Training
International relocations often involve learning a new
language and adapting to a very different culture, both
of which may prove intimidating for assignees and their
families. Even a transfer to another English-speaking
country may require some cross-cultural training to
help assignees become familiar with language and
cultural variations.
When travelling in another country on vacation,
acclimation to a new culture or language isn’t critical.
In business, though, employees will be expected by
their foreign counterparts to hit the ground running.
Properly preparing the assignee by including cultural
information and language lessons as a part of the
company’s relocation program may be the most critical
component of ensuring a successful international
relocation.
What better way to show interest and
respect than to make the effort to
understand one another?
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Once an assignment is proposed by the company and
accepted by the employee, preparation for the move
should begin, particularly with regard to language and
cultural differences. The quicker an assignee becomes
comfortable with the local language and assimilates to
the new culture, the more likely it is that the relocation
will be successful.
Unfamiliar cultures are always a bit confusing to
assignees, at least in the short term. For example, in
Japan it is customary to bow in greeting instead of
offering the customary American handshake. In other
cultures, a strong handshake is not considered a sign
of confidence but a sign of aggression. The variations
in different parts of the world between leadership style
and the meanings of different gestures can lead to
misunderstandings and confusion between cultures.
Another critical part of preparing for an international
assignment is being aware of how local laws differ from
those of the home country.
Understanding the cultural norms of their destination
country will help assignees avoid cultural gaffes and
allow them to relax and enjoy their new environment
and new relationships.
The value of language and cross-cultural training
for both the assignee and the company cannot be
overstated. Well-prepared assignees will have
minimal learning curves, and confident employees
perform better.
Preparing assignees for the cultural and language
differences they’ll face increases the chances for a
smoother assimilation into the new culture, reduces
professional challenges, smooths the way to greater
satisfaction with the assignment, and reduces the
expensive potential that a relocation assignment will
fail.
Destination Services
International transfers are often tougher on families
than on assignees. A partner, spouse, or the children
usually have questions and concerns about the
changes and challenges they will face. A spouse or
partner may be leaving their own job behind and
may need help seeking new employment if allowed.
Helping the assignee’s family acclimatize to a strange
new location will make the transition easier for
everyone.
Some of the destination services families need and
appreciate include:
Assistance with School Search and Registration.
Employees with families may want schools that teach
in their native language to ease the transition for their
children or they may want help locating local schools
where their children can quickly assimilate to the new
country’s culture and language. The documentation for
school registration can vary from country to country,
and your assignees usually appreciate help navigating
these challenges.
Assistance Obtaining New Documents.
The process for obtaining common documents such
as a driver’s license can be confusing in a foreign
country. Obtaining work visas and permits can be even
more baffling to new assignees. The assistance of a
professional will help smooth the process of getting
needed documents and ease the transition to the
new country.
A Network of Partner Services in the
Destination Country.
Enlisting the help of experts in the destination country
to help guide assignees and their families through
the maze of assimilation will reduce the chances
of miscommunication and confusion. Third-party
relocation services providers will have access to a
network of professionals that can help with services
such as location orientation, temporary and
permanent housing.
Home Sale Assistance
Selling a home, even during a domestic transfer, is
usually a great source of stress for employees. When
employees are in another country, worrying about
selling or renting their homes can be a major distraction
from work.
Offering home sale assistance or a guaranteed
buy out option as a part of a relocation offer can
significantly reduce the amount of stress assignees
face. These types of services, when included as a part
of a relocation offer, can also “sweeten the deal” for
desirable candidates, giving you an advantage over
competitor offers.
Home Finding Assistance
Finding an appropriate new residence is a key
component of domestic relocation services; for
international relocations, it takes on even greater
importance. Will they live like a local or will they
want or need to live in an expat community? The
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international school will influence the choice of housing
location. Long term housing may be furnished or
unfurnished and will impact their need for household
goods.
Household Goods Transportation
Moving a household is more than just transporting
furniture and appliances, it also involves moving a
lifestyle and irreplaceable items. Assignees often
appreciate assistance locating a trusted shipping
company to make sure their possessions are treated
with care and transported safely and efficiently.
Additionally, even if your assignee has done a domestic
transfer before and packed their own goods, shipping
household goods internationally can subject their
possessions to exceptionally rough handling, especially
depending on the country to which they are assigned.
Professional relocation consultants recommend
that household goods be professionally packed for
international destinations.
Clearing customs will also be easier if your assignees
are using a recognized carrier, experienced in
international shipping laws and regulations. Complete
documentation and well-marked items can help
avoid intrusive inspections, which frequently result in
damages to household goods.
For transfers with time constraints household goods
can be shipped by air, but it is an expensive option and
generally reserved for clothing and other personal
items needed while in temporary living.
Shipping by sea is less expensive than shipping by air,
and allows for greater flexibility in which household
goods employees can take with them. While it may
take up to eight weeks for household goods to arrive,
assignees can take almost anything that can fit into
a standard shipping container. Depending on the
destination country, this is usually the option of choice
for most long-term assignments.
Relocation Timeline
If you’re responsible for coordinating the relocation,
anything you can do to lower stress levels will be
appreciated by your employees and their families. And
a personal touch and a little creativity can often solve
seemingly convoluted logistical problems.
Say, for example, the international shipper has quoted
4 weeks for shipping your assignee’s household goods
to the new country. This time frame either leaves
your employee and their family with the added stress
of making do somehow for four weeks, or requires
the company to take on the additional expense of
temporary housing for the assignee.
However, if the employee has two weeks of unused
vacation you could suggest the employee use that
vacation time before their departure date to spend time
with family and friends, or just unwind before beginning
the new position. That can use up to two weeks and the
assignee will need less temporary living in the
new country.
Expatriate Compensation
Attracting and retaining the highest performing
employees demands that companies offer competitive
relocation programs—both within the United States and
internationally. With a properly-designed and managed
international relocation program, companies can
remain competitive to the best talent, while controlling
costs.
It is unrealistic to expect international transfers to be
successful without examining competitive salaries and
cost-of-living issues in the host country. It is equally
unrealistic to assume that top talent will willingly
accept a foreign assignment without appropriate
compensation.
As exciting as an international relocation may initially
appear to your assignee, their positive feelings about
the assignment will quickly fade if their personal
standard of living suffers because their compensation is
inadequate.
Gathering data to create a realistic and attractive
compensation offer is time-consuming. Partnering
with a relocation services company gives companies
access to international compensation and accounting
expertise that most HR departments aren’t staffed for.
For example, two of the most commonly-used
methods to calculate expatriate salaries for an
international relocation are the home-based approach
and the new location comparison method.
Home-based approach is often used for short-term
international assignments, as it gives an apples-
to-apples comparison with employee’s domestic
salary. This method examines cost of living data in
the assignee’s home base, allows for currency value
differences, and determines a roughly equivalent
salary figure based on those calculations. The home-
based approach, while often more costly than the new
location comparison method, allows companies to offer
salaries that match compensation applicable to equal
responsibilities in the assignee’s home country.
The home-based method may result in the assignee
being paid more than local counterparts, but it also
reduces the chances of a valuable employee being
lured away by a competitor with a better offer.
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The home-based method is also attractive to
employees, particularly those who may choose
to relocate without their families for a short-term
assignment because it means the family’s quality of
life does not suffer, based on the assignee’s salary
being indexed to a lower cost of living in the destination
country.
In the new location comparison method, employers
offer compensation deemed to be fair and equitable
to the employee, by duplicating new country
compensation levels for similar positions. This option
is usually less expensive to companies, but often less
attractive to
top talent.
Regardless of any additional benefits
the employer offers, creating a salary
offer that is attractive to the employee
is key to attracting and retaining top
talent.
International Assignment Tax Compliance Assistance
Global tax compliance for employees who have
worked or lived in a location and received or earned
equity and incentive awards can expose companies
to the tax reporting and withholding associated
with providing these types of awards long after
the employee has physically left the location.
Understanding the complex tax rules in this area, and
defining a process to report, withhold and handle large
volumes of transactions are just some of the areas
companies need to be aware of.
Most company HR or accounting departments
lack trained personnel to handle international tax
compliance. A third-party services provider can
complete tax returns for clients’ international assignees,
offer payroll advisory services to help clients obtain
payroll information to be used in processing tax returns,
plan for social security taxes and other types of tax
withholding, avoid payroll tax over-payment, and
provide much-needed expertise to minimize a client’s
exposure.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
In today’s increasingly global marketplace, global
business will be the primary source of growth for many
companies. Organizations will source talent from all
over the world and international assignments will be
business as usual.
Global business will be the primary
source of growth for many companies.
Companies that wish to seize first-mover advantage
simply can’t afford to treat global mobility programs
as a niche activity. They need to use international
assignments as a way to develop their next generation
of leaders. They need to develop standard global
mobility procedures that are cost-efficient, effective,
and repeatable. The traditional one-size-fits-all
approach to mobility programs is no longer good
enough. Global mobility demands a full range of
options to address a variety of situations, from strategic
assignments to commodity jobs – and everything in
between.
An effective global mobility program must offer
services and options that fit the needs of the
business and its employees, delivering high value at
a competitive cost. To achieve desired results in this
new environment, companies will need to dramatically
improve their global mobility capabilities. At the same
time, companies must address critical issues such as
regulatory compliance and tax, which can prevent a
business from using global mobility to its advantage.
One potentially effective way to contain the
administrative costs associated with international
transfers is for organizations to consider outsourcing
those processes that are not part of their core business
to external service providers.
NRI Relocation can provide expert assistance for a
range of international relocation program needs, to
allow companies to focus on the high-level strategic
human resource aspects of their programs. Our
service offerings encompass nearly every component
of international assignment administration, including
program design, compensation estimates, pre-
departure services, coordination of services in the
host country, ongoing support and tracking, and
assignee repatriation. We can also provide support
in coordinating international vendors such as moving
companies, destination services, cross-cultural
consultants, and language lesson providers, tax, and
immigration.
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NRI RELOCATION GLOBAL
MOBILITY SERVICES
NRI Relocation’s Global Mobility Services are
dedicated to helping companies better manage their
international workforce. When clients deploy their
talent to international assignments, NRI Relocation’s
professionals provide proactive expatriate services
with a personal touch, along with international human
resources support.
HOW NRI RELOCATION CAN HELP
Assignment Services
Success in today’s global business environment
requires companies to develop a diverse workforce,
and attract, retain, and mobilize talent around the
world. NRI offers complete, single-point assignment
management services for relocations anywhere
your business takes you.
Global Compensation Services
A complete array of services including assignment
cost estimates, payment processing, balance
sheets total compensation reporting, and shadow
payroll reports provide Human Resources, Finance
and Payroll departments with everything they need,
when they need it.
Language and Cultural
Country-specific programs to help equip
relocating employees to successfully develop
new relationships in their new business and social
environment.
Visa & Immigration
Help employees through lengthy visa or work paper
processing for their global assignments. NRI offers
expert resources to reduce hassle, frustration, and
paperwork, allowing employees to remain relaxed
and focused.
School Assistance
When you’re new to an area, it’s difficult to know the
best educational options for your children. NRI will
help your employees with the right resources to
help them make informed decisions.
Tax Assistance
NRI offers clients access to a full range of domestic
and international tax expertise, from pre-assignment
planning through to repatriation. Includes tax and
social security calculations, tax return preparation,
tax planning and payroll interface for tax
equalization.
NRI Taking
Relocation
Personally
EXPERIENCE
WHY OUR CLIENTS TRUST US

SERVICES: DESTINATION:
• Policy Design • Temporary Living
• Policy Administration • Home Finding
• SNAP! Budgeting Tool • Rental Assistance
• WebView On-Line Portal • Mortgage Programs
• Expense Management & Reporting • Settling In

DEPARTURE: GLOBAL:
• Home Marketing Assistance • Assignment Services
• Home Sale Options • Global Compensation Services
• Household Goods Transportation • Language & Cultural
• Visa & Immigration
• School Assistance
• Tax Assistance

Contact NRI Relocation Today

800-598-8887

1110 W. Lake Cook Road, Suite 301

Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

www.nrirelocation.com

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