ESG: Mobility's new mandate

Today’s human resources, talent, and global mobility managers face an existential question: How does global movement play into enterprise talent strategy, sourcing and distribution in a world where businesses and employees are increasingly connecting virtually, not physically?

This question has been top of mind over the last two years as COVID-19 forced many into lockdown and companies accelerated the rollout of virtual collaboration and remote work technologies.

Yet, the idea of remote and hybrid work isn’t new or entirely unexpected. Pre-pandemic, the global mobility landscape was fast evolving, putting pressure on mobility departments to drive value in innovative ways, beyond simply moving people between locations.

Many mobility departments were already exploring new ways to hire and retain top global talent, aligning policies and processes to the needs of today’s employees, and balancing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts with candidate fit. The pandemic only fast-tracked mobility’s evolution.

In this report, we explore an emerging and high-potential role for mobility departments — to contribute to enterprise environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. In a world where ESG issues are at the forefront and physical location is less vital, we believe mobility has an opportunity to leverage its unique position in the wider organisation and its access to unique data to help drive enterprise-wide ESG results.

We call this new mandate “global illumination” because it describes how mobility functions can cast light on ESG activities and gaps across the many areas of the business it touches. 

Read our report for insight into factors driving mobility's evolution, and explore opportunities for mobility functions to support the wider ESG vision.