ORC Sightlines
June 2010
In this issue:
- 2010–2011 Salary Increases: ORC Survey Reports Data for 120 Countries
- Should the Global Mobility Function Be Centralized or Decentralized?
- Improving Diversity & Inclusion in Technical Organizations
- Frank White Recognized as One of Most Influential
2010–2011 Salary Increases: ORC Survey Reports Data for 120 Countries
Twice a year—in the spring and in the fall—ORC conducts the Local National Salary Increase Survey (LNSIS). ORC just released the findings of its spring 2010 LNSIS. Now in its 20th year, the survey reports average salary increases paid in the first quarter of 2010 together with forecasts for the entire year, and estimates for 2011 for local-national employees around the world. The data are broken down by three employee categories (executives; managers, professionals, and technical employees; and clerical/administrative and support staff) in 120 countries and eight industry groups. The survey is an invaluable tool for HR and compensation professionals who employ local-national staff to use in setting their overall compensation policies and merit increase budgets.
The following table summarizes average percentage increases expected in 2011 for all industries combined in several of the countries included.
| Executives | Managers/Professionals | Clerical/Admin/Support | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| France | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Hong Kong | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
| India | 10.1 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| United Kingdom | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
Results of the Spring 2010 Local National Salary can be purchased online at https://www.orc-netsafe.com/surveys/lnsis.cfm. For more information about the survey and how you can participate in the autumn 2010 edition, please contact Erik Olson at erik.olson@orcww.com.
Should the Global Mobility Function Be Centralized or Decentralized?
Global mobility is usually a small but highly specialized department within the overall HR function. It is characterized by a need to be far more involved with the personal lives of employees and their families than other areas of HR, as it must deal with educational issues, spousal employment, moving logistics and so on, and frequent collaboration with non-HR functions, such as the tax and payroll departments.
So what's the best way to organize global mobility, as a centralized corporate department or as part of divisional or local HR?
Having a central command facilitates integration of international assignment management with the company's broader talent management and leadership development processes as well as coordination of all support activities for the expatriates (e.g., language training, moving), policy issues and administration. On the other hand, in a decentralized structure, the staff is closer to the field. Local HR implements policy on its own within overall company guidelines that are established and monitored at the corporate level. In this type of structure, however, it may be more difficult to maintain a uniform and equitable practice.
Differentiating Functions
Typical functions that a centralized department might handle include the following:
- Coordinating assignment transactions with internal departments (e.g., payroll, tax) and external parties (e.g., moving company, language trainer, immigration attorney)
- Complying with home- and host-country immigration and tax rules
- Guiding an assignment request through the approval process, which may include a business rationale, employee developmental objectives and a repatriation plan
- Handling vendor bills and authorizing vendor services
- Tracking and storing documentation (e.g., letters of agreement, immigration and visa papers) and assignment status
- Guiding requests for policy exceptions through the appropriate approval process
- Answering policy questions from assignees
If decentralized, typical functions for home and/or host offices may include the following:
- The home office starts the candidate assessment process, approves the application, reviews the offer with the assignee, supports the individual assignee's career development and planning, and prepares the repatriation plan.
- The host office prepares a summary of position requirements and developmental objectives.
- Both address corporate HR issues and review the offer.
What works best for an organization depends on the factors mentioned above. As an organization evolves, the structure of the department is likely to follow suit and go from centralized to decentralized and vice versa—possibly several times.
ORC Worldwide is one of the market leaders in global mobility services. For more information on how ORC can assist you with your international assignment needs, log on to http://www.orcworldwide.com/compensation/mobility/index.php.
Improving Diversity & Inclusion in Technical Organizations
Members of ORC's HR in R&D and Workforce Opportunity Networks came together recently for a conference call discussion of best practices for managing diversity and inclusion in a highly technical workforce. Participants shared strategies that have helped their organizations recruit, retain, and develop female and minority scientists and engineers, including:
- Encourage women and minorities who make it to the higher levels to reach back down to help those following them (e.g., create a senior women's group with this as its specific mission).
- Make sure job profiles (e.g., years of experience required; papers published) accurately reflect the requirements of the work and are not unnecessarily excluding qualified candidates.
- Tie employee resource groups into the organization's talent management processes to help surface talented scientists and engineers when it comes time to decide on critical assignments (e.g., hold talent review meetings with ERG leaders).
- Integrate diversity into onboarding and training programs.
- Demonstrate a clear linkage between diversity goals and technical managers' own technical/business objectives (e.g., involve them in the goal-setting process).
- Hold technical managers accountable in a meaningful way for diversity performance.
If you'd like to learn more about how the HR in R&D Network can help HR leaders with responsibility for research, development, or engineering functions, contact Michal Fineman. For information about ORC's Workforce Opportunity Network and other diversity networks in the U.S. and Europe, contact Bonnie Arrix.
Frank White Recognized as One of Most Influential
Frank White's colleagues and clients consider him something of a guru when it comes to environmental, health, and safety matters. Now he has been officially so designated. EHS Today, a magazine for environmental, health, and safety professionals, has listed Frank in the "Guru" section of its annual listing of the 50 most influential EH&S leaders. Frank is a senior vice president of ORC and heads up the EH&S practice headquartered in Washington, DC. He and his team help companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia manage EH&S programs effectively, meet global compliance obligations and control workplace risks.
