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Global assignments are among the most expensive talent strategies a company can pursue—yet many organizations still don’t measure their true success.
Measuring Success with Global Assignments: Hidden Challenge, Hidden Opportunity
While managing logistics and compliance is often the primary focus in global assignments, broader outcomes—like business impact, talent growth, and long-term ROI—are frequently overlooked. This potential gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity for strategic improvement.
Global assignments designed with intention and success metrics can deliver measurable value, both for the business and the employees taking the assignment. Yet, when goals are vague, results usually are too. According to PwC and Deloitte, one of the biggest and costliest global assignment oversights is approving one without a clearly defined business goal.
What to Measure:
- Market Expansion: Will the assignee be instrumental in launching operations, building local partnerships, or capturing new customer segments?
- Knowledge Transfer: Will the assignee transfer technical, cultural, or leadership knowledge to the host team or region?
- Leadership Development: Will the assignment accelerate the individual’s readiness for larger roles? Are they now on a faster track for succession planning?
A Deloitte report titled "Smart Moves – A New Approach to International Assignments and Global Mobility" also suggested asking if the assignment helped unify global processes, culture, or systems to determine if business objectives effectively measure the value of an assignment.
Without clear success metrics, your program may not just appear vague — it could be vulnerable to tough questions from senior leadership:
- What exactly did this assignment achieve?
- Where’s the ROI?
- Did it grow and retain talent?
Employee & Family Experience
Most international assignments fail not from poor planning, but from inadequate support and employee/family dissatisfaction as children’s schooling, cultural adaptation, and spousal career issues can contribute heavily to early returns.
After an assignment is accepted, areas to gauge an employee or family’s experience are through regular touch-base calls and mid-move and post-assignment surveys including employee satisfaction and family adjustment and support effectiveness.
While on assignment, company representatives are also encouraged to measure career development, cultural and language adaptation, and satisfaction with local team collaboration in the new international assignment location.
Similar support upon repatriation is equally as important: according to SHRM, over 25% of returning expats leave their company within a year due to poor reintegration or career planning.1
Organizations that track such experience metrics can reduce early assignment returns and improve long-term talent retention.
Execution Without Insight
Even the most strategic assignment can falter if the execution isn't seamless. Delays, cost overruns, or poor vendor performance create friction and frustration. Areas to focus attention include:
- Costs: Ensuring assignments are completed within the planned schedule and budget is fundamental to operational efficiency
- Challenges: Tracking the rates and reasons behind assignments that do not reach completion will provide insights into potential areas for process improvement
- Satisfaction/Issue Resolution: Evaluating relocation management and supplier partner services and monitoring the effectiveness of issue resolution helps maintain high service standards
- Compliance: Adhering to immigration laws and tax regulations is crucial to avoid legal complications and financial penalties
“Operational excellence is often underestimated—until something goes wrong,” says Mollie Ivancic, SVP International Services, NEI Global Relocation. “Relentless execution truly underscores how proactive attention to even the smallest operational details can prevent issues before they arise.”
From Cost Center to Strategic Catalyst
One of the biggest missed opportunities in global mobility is viewing it as a back-office support function instead of a strategic driver of competitive advantage.
Global mobility can be boxed into compliance, logistics, and administrative execution functions. Yet while managing suppliers and coordinating assignments or moves are essential, some at a C-suite level may not recognize the full potential of what Global Mobility can deliver, such as.
- Accelerating business goals - placing the right talent in the right markets at the right time
- Developing future leaders - exposing them to diverse environments and complex challenges
- Enabling cross-border knowledge transfers - strengthening global alignment and innovation
According to PwC and Deloitte, by tracking success across three pillars—business impact, employee experience and operational execution—Mobility leaders can reframe their programs as strategic investments, not just administrative costs.
- Want to influence workforce planning? Show how global assignments feed leadership pipelines
- Want a seat at the table with Finance? Present real ROI, not just spend
- Want stronger retention? Demonstrate how assignees return more engaged, more skilled, and more loyal
This is how global mobility shifts from a transactional function to a strategic catalyst—powering growth, enabling agility, and future-proofing talent.
Mobility Success Isn’t What You Think
Success isn’t defined by a smooth move. It’s defined by measurable outcomes, employee growth, and flawless execution. After all, if you’re not measuring, you’re not just missing data—you’re missing early warning signs of potential problems and possibly opportunities to shape your talent strategy, retain top performers, and prove the move’s impact on one’s business.
To strengthen your global assignment strategy, PwC and Deloitte recommend focusing on three key actions:
- Define Success Before Deployment: Tie every assignment to a clear business objective. Ask: What will success look like 12 months from now? Build those goals into assignment agreements and post-assignment reviews.
- Track the Full Experience—Not Just the Move: Go beyond logistics and use pulse surveys, employee/family feedback, and repatriation status checks to measure engagement, integration, and career impact.
- Build a Metrics Dashboard: Create a simple, high-visibility dashboard covering business ROI, assignment experience, assignee post-move retention and operational efficiencies gained. Use it to help shift Global Mobility from 'support' to 'proactive strategists.'
Global Assignments as Engines for Strategic Growth
By measuring the right success metrics, Global HR, Talent, and Mobility leaders can turn global assignments into engines for strategic growth.
NEI will help you stay informed on trends and will regularly update your global assignment and relocation benefits to reflect the latest international travel guidelines, alerts, and protocols and your unique company goals and cultural nuances.
If you would like to discuss this or any other issue in greater detail, please reach out to your NEI Client Relations Manager or NEI Client Development contact at 800.533.7353 any time.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal or accounting advice. Please consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
1. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/retaining-repatriates?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Global assignments are among the most expensive talent strategies a company can pursue—yet many organizations still don’t measure their true success.
Measuring Success with Global Assignments: Hidden Challenge, Hidden Opportunity
While managing logistics and compliance is often the primary focus in global assignments, broader outcomes—like business impact, talent growth, and long-term ROI—are frequently overlooked. This potential gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity for strategic improvement.
Global assignments designed with intention and success metrics can deliver measurable value, both for the business and the employees taking the assignment. Yet, when goals are vague, results usually are too. According to PwC and Deloitte, one of the biggest and costliest global assignment oversights is approving one without a clearly defined business goal.
What to Measure:
- Market Expansion: Will the assignee be instrumental in launching operations, building local partnerships, or capturing new customer segments?
- Knowledge Transfer: Will the assignee transfer technical, cultural, or leadership knowledge to the host team or region?
- Leadership Development: Will the assignment accelerate the individual’s readiness for larger roles? Are they now on a faster track for succession planning?
A Deloitte report titled "Smart Moves – A New Approach to International Assignments and Global Mobility" also suggested asking if the assignment helped unify global processes, culture, or systems to determine if business objectives effectively measure the value of an assignment.
Without clear success metrics, your program may not just appear vague — it could be vulnerable to tough questions from senior leadership:
- What exactly did this assignment achieve?
- Where’s the ROI?
- Did it grow and retain talent?
Employee & Family Experience
Most international assignments fail not from poor planning, but from inadequate support and employee/family dissatisfaction as children’s schooling, cultural adaptation, and spousal career issues can contribute heavily to early returns.
After an assignment is accepted, areas to gauge an employee or family’s experience are through regular touch-base calls and mid-move and post-assignment surveys including employee satisfaction and family adjustment and support effectiveness.
While on assignment, company representatives are also encouraged to measure career development, cultural and language adaptation, and satisfaction with local team collaboration in the new international assignment location.
Similar support upon repatriation is equally as important: according to SHRM, over 25% of returning expats leave their company within a year due to poor reintegration or career planning.1
Organizations that track such experience metrics can reduce early assignment returns and improve long-term talent retention.
Execution Without Insight
Even the most strategic assignment can falter if the execution isn't seamless. Delays, cost overruns, or poor vendor performance create friction and frustration. Areas to focus attention include:
- Costs: Ensuring assignments are completed within the planned schedule and budget is fundamental to operational efficiency
- Challenges: Tracking the rates and reasons behind assignments that do not reach completion will provide insights into potential areas for process improvement
- Satisfaction/Issue Resolution: Evaluating relocation management and supplier partner services and monitoring the effectiveness of issue resolution helps maintain high service standards
- Compliance: Adhering to immigration laws and tax regulations is crucial to avoid legal complications and financial penalties
“Operational excellence is often underestimated—until something goes wrong,” says Mollie Ivancic, SVP International Services, NEI Global Relocation. “Relentless execution truly underscores how proactive attention to even the smallest operational details can prevent issues before they arise.”
From Cost Center to Strategic Catalyst
One of the biggest missed opportunities in global mobility is viewing it as a back-office support function instead of a strategic driver of competitive advantage.
Global mobility can be boxed into compliance, logistics, and administrative execution functions. Yet while managing suppliers and coordinating assignments or moves are essential, some at a C-suite level may not recognize the full potential of what Global Mobility can deliver, such as.
- Accelerating business goals - placing the right talent in the right markets at the right time
- Developing future leaders - exposing them to diverse environments and complex challenges
- Enabling cross-border knowledge transfers - strengthening global alignment and innovation
According to PwC and Deloitte, by tracking success across three pillars—business impact, employee experience and operational execution—Mobility leaders can reframe their programs as strategic investments, not just administrative costs.
- Want to influence workforce planning? Show how global assignments feed leadership pipelines
- Want a seat at the table with Finance? Present real ROI, not just spend
- Want stronger retention? Demonstrate how assignees return more engaged, more skilled, and more loyal
This is how global mobility shifts from a transactional function to a strategic catalyst—powering growth, enabling agility, and future-proofing talent.
Mobility Success Isn’t What You Think
Success isn’t defined by a smooth move. It’s defined by measurable outcomes, employee growth, and flawless execution. After all, if you’re not measuring, you’re not just missing data—you’re missing early warning signs of potential problems and possibly opportunities to shape your talent strategy, retain top performers, and prove the move’s impact on one’s business.
To strengthen your global assignment strategy, PwC and Deloitte recommend focusing on three key actions:
- Define Success Before Deployment: Tie every assignment to a clear business objective. Ask: What will success look like 12 months from now? Build those goals into assignment agreements and post-assignment reviews.
- Track the Full Experience—Not Just the Move: Go beyond logistics and use pulse surveys, employee/family feedback, and repatriation status checks to measure engagement, integration, and career impact.
- Build a Metrics Dashboard: Create a simple, high-visibility dashboard covering business ROI, assignment experience, assignee post-move retention and operational efficiencies gained. Use it to help shift Global Mobility from 'support' to 'proactive strategists.'
Global Assignments as Engines for Strategic Growth
By measuring the right success metrics, Global HR, Talent, and Mobility leaders can turn global assignments into engines for strategic growth.
NEI will help you stay informed on trends and will regularly update your global assignment and relocation benefits to reflect the latest international travel guidelines, alerts, and protocols and your unique company goals and cultural nuances.
If you would like to discuss this or any other issue in greater detail, please reach out to your NEI Client Relations Manager or NEI Client Development contact at 800.533.7353 any time.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal or accounting advice. Please consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
1. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/retaining-repatriates?utm_source=chatgpt.com
