Looking to the near future, Business Mobility will change: the playground today is no more international but global. Here are some few challenges in a (not only) HR perspective

1. A (not only) HR perspective…
"The journey never ends. Only travelers end “
(José Saramago).

2. Today's world is always travelling, it never dies.
In our 3D era - despite (or thanks to) the bunch of bio and mechanical
clocks we have on tablets, PCs and all kind of smartphones - business and
social time are never resting, leaving small room to creative and restoring
“Silence” (see my: http://www.slideshare.net/PaoloDonati1/silence-for-dummies-how-t).
Like the seasons or the orbits of the solar system, we are always dwellers
of a cyclical "grand tour" made of a departure, a journey, an arrival
and… a new start…
May be because we were already part of a (biological) journey since the
very beginning of our life. Or may be simply because - even if wireless and
always-connected - we still need to personally shake hands with peers and
customers.
That’s why at the end we can still think about being more Human than
Resources…
Budapest Ferenc Liszt
Within this scenario we can figure out that – just looking to the (need for)
speed of social, industrial and technological world - in the near future also our
jobs might be different from what we can imagine right now.
Especially in respect to Mobility, which might be considered – among others -
as a “job commodity”. But (that’s new) no more on a local approach: already
now some companies are considering Mobility in a global dimension.
It looks highly bubbling but, from an HR perspective, this kind of Mobility is
driving many practical questions (and pains) in HQs.

3. I like to consider them as
challenges, and here following
are some few:
- Mobility timeframe shift: from long-
term (2-3 years with relocation
included) to frequent & short
assignments deprived of usual
(expensive) rewarding packages.
Let’s honestly admit that bigger costs are being
paid on this side rather than for pure travel-
related expenses…
- Preparation “before-action”.
If preparation is still the main
driver for success (someone
wiser than me told me that
several times), winning
companies have to start
engines now, thinking about
innovative plans for quicker,
more adaptable and ad hoc
mobility management systems.
Not that mission impossible
thinking to (already available)
software tools!
But there’s a step more...
Paris CDG (up) – Madrid Barajas (below)
- Emerging markets (…also
talking about new ones, not
only BRICS, which have
already emerged!): all kind
of “Blue Oceans” will force
companies to became more
global-smart also by
including diverse staff
onboard (yes, also women!)
Paris CDG (up) – Madrid Barajas (below)
Milan Linate

4. Current economic climate has shown
that - from the operational point of
view - mobility management is going
to be likely a “real as it gets”
business partnership between
single company and single (job/age-
clustered) workers.
Meaning, on one side, that
companies will need to re-think
business travel and transportation
not by (only) looking to internal rules
and/or still key principles of
economy, but also sponsoring (part
of CSR?) more fair and eco-friendly
systems that might better help to
match Safety and Comfort standards
for the new crew of business
travellers.
And, on the other side, meaning that
also individuals / business travellers
will increasingly be called to
personally contribute to reach these
(common) standards.
Not only by supporting own
companies in the above mentioned
approach (eg choosing the right
transportation mean for the right
business travel), but also by
considering these as real professional
growth journeys, where each of us
that - like modern Ulysses - can
enjoy the chance to fetch our own
(cultural, personal, professional)
"Pillars of Hercules”.
Bon voyage!
London Heathrow T5
Dusseldorf International
Frankfurt am Main