Would Your CEO Accept the Assignment Package They Approved?

Episode Description

Mobility policies are often designed with great care. Organizations balance cost, compliance, fairness, and business requirements to create frameworks that support international assignments.

In this episode, Ben explores a simple but revealing thought experiment: would senior leaders willingly accept the same assignment packages they approve for employees? The discussion examines the gap between policy design and lived experience, and why understanding that gap can lead to better decisions, more credible policies, and stronger employee experiences.

What This Episode Covers

• why policy design and policy experience are often very different things

• how employees experience mobility policies in practice

• the limitations of evaluating policies through cost and compliance alone

• why fairness and employee perception are not always the same thing

• practical ways to bring decision-makers closer to employee reality

Key Reflection Questions

• when was the last time policy decision-makers viewed mobility through an employee’s perspective?

• how much attention is given to employee experience during policy discussions?

• would your organization’s standard assignment package feel attractive if you were asked to relocate under those conditions?

Key Insight

Good mobility policies are not only efficient and compliant. They are also credible. Credibility comes from understanding how policies feel when people have to live them.

Related Themes

This episode connects closely to discussions around employee experience, policy design, stakeholder management, assignment acceptance, organizational trust, and strategic Global Mobility.

Host

Hosted by Benjamin Bader, Professor of International HRM and co-founder of MasteringGM®.

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