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Strategic move: form corp. mobility dept.

Article Excerpt
It is very difficult to manage, much less evaluate, the return on investment in an activity that is fragmented and dispersed throughout an organization. Until now, employee mobility has been thought of as a disconnected set of activities. Relocation, fleet management, employee travel, home offices, international expatriate assignments, corporate aircraft management, and, of late, the use of electronic conferencing to offset travel have not been recognized for their commonality: employee movement. There is a way that this activity can be designed, managed and accounted for more effectively.

Typically, each of the above movement processes is the responsibility of a different staff department. Human resources, corporate travel, facilities, international assignments, procurement and IT all take a piece of the action. To further complicate matters, line managers under constant pressure for results often make unilateral decisions in the absence of a collective policy on employee movement. This adds another layer of inconsistency. If one were starting from scratch, it is unlikely that such an approach would be chosen.

If it was...