Ahead of next week’s innovative Festival of Global Mobility Thinking, Forum co-founder Andrea Piacentini, and Head of Reward at Standard Life talks to Relocate’s Ruth Holmes about diversity and inclusion – showcasing the key findings from the upcoming RES Annual Report – and explains why the Forum is supporting this new must-attend event on the HR and mobility calendar.

What is global mobility’s role in the diversity and inclusion agenda?

 At next week’s much-anticipated Festival of Global Mobility Thinking, sponsored by RES Forum’s Learning Lab, Relocate Global will welcome RES Forum co-founder, and Head of Reward at Standard Life, Andrea Piacentini to join other high-level speakers from Deloitte, academia and global mobility to talk agile organisations, diversity and inclusion – so topical after this year’s first statutory gender pay gap reporting in the UK.“We are supporting Relocate Global’s Festival of Global Mobility Thinking because it is taking the issues we talk about in mobility up to the next level,” said Mr Piacentini.“Relocate Global has created a community that looks at every aspect of global mobility and cross-border working. Alongside business-focused content including profiles on up and coming locations, Relocate Global looks into important themes for HR practitioners such as diversity and inclusion and agile working, as well as tax, reward and immigration.“This unique perspective is why we at the RES Forum are pleased to be involved the Festival of Global Mobility Thinking and we have a particular interest in how to take diversity and inclusion forward across the board.”

Agility and inclusion for global mobility

In the context of the agile working agenda that will frame next week's immersive Festival of Global Mobility Thinking, Mr Piacentini believes that the issue of gender pay will, “bubble along for the next few years,” but that true inclusion (covering a broader view of diversity, for example race and age) will come back to the top of the agenda very soon. “What’s interesting for me at the moment is the noise coming from the ‘stale, male, pale’ population – you hear them say, 'what about us?' The key, I think, is getting advocacy from not just, say, female advancement advocacy groups in companies (making it the hobby horse of a particular team or area in an organisation), but making sure inclusion and diversity of thought is in every manager’s DNA. That’s going to be the real step-change and it’s important because research shows that diverse teams deliver better results. “In Edinburgh where I am based, it is often said that there are children who are effectively being ‘trained’ from S1 [the start of secondary school] for a career in the Edinburgh Financial Services scene through selective [private] schooling, networks developed at school, nepotism and developing the right accent. That’s fine, but by the time people who haven’t had the same ‘training’ are getting interested in a career in financial services, they have to play catch up or are locked out completely. I think that’s why social mobility, and looking beyond those superficial measurements of capability is important.“For global mobility, it’s about translating these insights and putting them into our own programmes. If diversity and inclusion is important, what stats, data and processes can I produce to approach these issues that feed into what the organisation is doing?“If companies really believe in diversity of thought, they have to build it into the global mobility programme. Mobility is not an island on its own: it’s integral to the broader issue.”AoEC will be facilitating at Relocate Global’s Festival of Global Mobility Thinking on Friday, 11 May. Explore how you can meet the challenges of VUCA and support your people through change.

Book now!

Relocate Global’s Festival of Global Mobility Thinking on Friday, 11 May, sponsored by Res Forum Learning Lab. The event takes place at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London NW1 2AR, on Friday 11 May. For the full programme visit: www.thinkrelocateevents.com. 

Gala Awards Dinner, Thursday 10 May ­– last chance for tickets

Come and celebrate success and best practice across global mobility with our international guests at the Relocate Awards Gala Dinner. Join us for a fabulous night at the Underglobe beneath Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London SE1 9DT. By popular request there will be even more networking time and dancing this year!Toast the success of the winner of the Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award sponsored by Res Forum Learning Lab.Contact Charlotte Wilkinson for further details: charlotte.wilkinson@relocatemagazine.com or call +44 (0) 1892 891334 Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory 

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