Event recap: insideMOBILITY® AMPLIFIED | April 1-2, 2025
Amplifying mobility through collaboration and community
In today’s interconnected talent mobility ecosystem, collaboration and transparency are essential to success. For the first time, we brought together mobility professionals, supplier partners, and managed service providers to build stronger connections. Working closely together sparks innovation, encourages fresh thinking, and drives greater value across mobility programs. Explore where attendees tuned in the most.
1. Positioning Mobility as the Company VIP
Mobility departments do far more than just move employees from Point A to Point B. They’ve taken on an increasing list of responsibilities, whether they volunteered to own the additional work, or it was requested of them.
|
94% of session attendees were responsible for more than just mobility.
|
Additional workstreams include tax, immigration, business travel, compliance, employee recognition and more.
Yet despite the increasing workloads, all but one attendee said their teams are smaller than what they’re tasked with managing.
To help company leaders understand the value of mobility teams – and to advocate for proper staffing – mobility professionals are:
Strategically storytelling about the impact of mobility and team sizes; for some stakeholders, a data-driven approach will resonate most, while for others, an emotion-based appeal worked best.
Leaning on managed service providers (MSPs) to not just share data that helps with storytelling efforts, but also provide thought leadership on the best way to position the data/tell the story to achieve the desired outcome.
Detailing the scope of mobility’s role, including tracking the frequency and types of questions asked on a daily basis.
Commissioning outside studies to showcase true team size needed, versus the reality of the team size.
Exploring on-site staffing solutions.
2. Amplifying Mobility Through Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is everywhere – whether it’s planning a vacation, creating a meal plan and shopping list or driving efficiency at work. It’s also a growing interest in the mobility world, where mobility professionals are talking about the ways they envision using AI to support their work.
Here were the top eight ideas that drove the most interest from attendees:
“While AI has the potential to revolutionize the employee experience if deployed correctly, it’s still important to remember that AI cannot replace the critical human touch element of caring for a family during their move.”
3. Innovation Spotlight: Mini-Talks That Sparked Big Thinking
Taking inspiration from Music City, attendees tuned in to a series of immersive “mini-talks” that showcased our supplier partners’ creative mindsets and problem-solving approaches.
Click through to discover the innovative processes and forward-looking changes being practiced in household goods shipping, temporary living, destination services, real estate and technology:
-
The Future of Containerized Shipments: Driving Efficiency in Global Mobility
-
Innovation in Action: Emerging Solutions in Destination Services
-
From Bricks to Clicks: AI’s Evolution in Real Estate
-
Innovations in Moving Industry through Technology Enhancements, Cost Control and Compliance
-
Reimagining Temporary Living: The Next Wave of Innovation and Impact
“Today’s mobile employees, especially those from younger generations, appreciate eco-friendly solutions, ones that can create significant tangible carbon footprint reduction. Our vaults are made of steel – the #1 recycled material in the world – so they last up to 20 years, compared to just six months for a traditional wood vault. Plus, we wrap contents in reusable cloth pads instead of consumable paper.”
Visit Affinity Vaults
“Concierge programs should offer flexible, personalized welcomes and connections in their host destination to set the stage for a positive relocation. We aim to get to know the executive and deliver on what matters most to them… we’ve provided a luxury vehicle for airport pick up, delivered a welcome basket with locally sourced items and escorted employees to dinner to make them feel at home in their new city.”
Visit GO Destination Services
“While AI is currently being used in the home buying and selling process to streamline efforts and make processes more efficient – resulting in faster moves – the future state of AI and home buying has so many opportunities. From using personal behavioral data to identify suitable homes to anticipating questions and providing critical information during virtual tours, AI will certainly impact future home buying experiences.”
Visit Morreale Real Estate Services
“When used correctly, technology plays an important role in fostering authentic interactions during the moving process – while also creating efficiencies. Consider, for example, how we provide GPS access to our movers two hours prior to both pickup and delivery, so customers can go about their day while waiting for their goods to arrive.”
Visit ACE Relocation Systems
“Strategic partnerships are driving innovation for the entire talent mobility ecosystem. Partnering with Graebel opens our clients to a wealth of reporting capabilities and data that can drive strategic temporary housing policy decisions that benefit their mobile employees and clients.”
Visit 3Sixty
4. Navigating Immigration – and Mobility’s Role – in an Interconnected World
Increasingly, companies are turning to global mobility teams to handle immigration and tax for mobile employees, despite the expertise needed to manage the vast complexities of ever-changing regulations.
Attendees workshopped several immigration and tax scenarios and discussed how mobility could play a strategic role in fostering collaborative solutions. Here were the top three takeaways:
1. Bring in the experts
While mobility teams have a role to play when it comes to tax and immigration scenarios – particularly considering non-immigration impacts to any decisions – they aren’t the experts.
Legal and expert supplier partners should be brought in to discuss considerations and possible solutions.
2. Employee education is important
Combatting misinformation and ensuring mobile employees have accurate, up-to-date information will help employees understand the decisions being made and prevent them from being caught in non-compliant situations that put themselves and their companies at risk.
3. Consider data-driven innovation solutions
Use available program data to help address the situation – and think outside the box for solutions.
Look into quick in-country processes that allow temporary status, like digital nomad visas; consider remote work options; or evaluate establishing employment work rights in the host country.
Mobility professionals have a range of resources available to them to successfully develop and execute their talent mobility program and build support among key stakeholders for the company-wide value of their function. Perhaps more importantly, mobility should help businesses remember that behind every work permit, work visa and tax challenge is a human being – a person – and they have a family.
Where do we go from here?
The insights shared at insideMOBILITY® AMPLIFIED provided a foundation of collaboration to build on throughout the rest of the year. With an increasingly complex and demanding workload, mobility professionals that work with third party partners like relocation management companies, managed service providers and supplier partners on big ideas, break-the-mold strategic initiatives and innovating processes are those that will thrive.
We’re proud to be a partner to our clients in navigating the accelerated pace of change in talent mobility and serving as the strategic partner and collaborative facilitator that enables success for all. Stay connected with Graebel events to continue learning and evolving on this path to success.