Female demand for international mobility at an all-time high

Renè Richter, PwC Partner in Charge of the Human Resources Research Division.

But PwC survey shows disconnect between women’s aspirations and what employers offer.

The demand for female talent being sent on global assignments is at an all-time high, with 71% of female millennials wanting to work abroad during their career, according to a report issued by PwC today. However, only 20% of the current internationally mobile population are women. These are some of the highlights from PwC’s Modern mobility: Moving women with purpose report.

To mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 2016, PwC surveyed 3,937 professionals from 40 countries to find out about their international mobility experiences and aspirations. Of these 3, 937 respondents, 2,285 were women and 1, 652 men. In South Africa, 114 respondents took part in the study. In parallel, PwC surveyed 134 executives with responsibility for global mobility to explore current mobility, talent management and diversity trends.

Nana Madikane, PwC Southern Africa Diversity and Inclusion Leader, says: “Research shows that international experience advances the careers of both men and women further and faster – yet the best and brightest female talent is still overlooked for these opportunities compared to their male peers. The report - Modern mobility: Moving women with purpose – underlines these trends.”

According to the report, women are 19% less likely than their male peers to believe the opportunities for international mobility with their current employer are equal for both men and women.

Furthermore, the more senior female respondents were, the less likely they were to believe they have equal opportunities to undertake an international assignment. Women working in the Energy, Mining & Utilities, and Communications were least likely to agree. While the Financial Services, Government & Public Services, Technology, and Professional Services sectors came out on top for equal opportunities.

The opportunities for international experience feature high on the list of desirable employer traits, with 64% of females (South Africa: 62%) agreeing that the opportunity to complete an international assignment was a key factor in attracting them to work for their current employer.

Diversity disconnects

The study disclosed a number of glaring disconnects between what companies say about mobility and diversity – and what they actually do in practice. More than half (57%) of global mobility executives said their female employees were underrepresented in their mobility populations.

And while 60% of multinationals are using mobility to develop their succession pipeline of future leaders, only 22% are actively trying to increase their levels of female mobility. Furthermore, only the same low percentage of global mobility leaders said their mobility and diversity strategies are aligned.

Renè Richter, PwC Partner in Charge of the Human Resources Research Division, says: “The findings of this report highlight the fact that many international employers are currently challenged with a lack of alignment and integration between diversity and mobility. While the majority of organisations surveyed have a diversity strategy, only a minority have aligned their global mobility strategy with their diversity goals.

“In the light of this diversity disconnect, organisations seeking to enhance the gender diversity of their succession pipelines and leadership must ensure that female talent is provided with the necessary opportunities and experiences to advance.”

Challenging gender stereotypes

The PwC report challenges certain assumptions and gender stereotypes, for example that women with children don’t want to work overseas or that women don’t want to move because it will put their partners’ higher income at risk. In fact, 41% of the female respondents who told us they want to undertake an international assignment are parents, compared with 40% of men. And 77% of women (South Africa: 60%) in a dual-career couple earn equal to or more than their partner, making the dual-career challenge a mobility factor for organisations when it comes to both male and female talent.

A gender-inclusive mobility programme

When looking at the professional concerns women are most challenged with when considering an international assignment, three of the top four barriers relate to repatriation. Top of the list is a concern about what their return role will be at the end of the assignment (Global: 44%; South Africa: 32%). In addition, the survey shows that flexibility and choice offered in assignment packages would make international mobility programmes more attractive to females (80%).

Alan Seccombe, Partner in Charge of PwC Africa International Mobility Consulting Practice, says: “To attract, retain and develop female talent international employers must adopt a modern, more flexible approach to mobility. A gender-inclusive mobility programme will include a world-class programme, together with flexibility, choice and options around assignment duration and package. Organisations that get this right, will be ahead of the game when it comes to attracting, retaining and deploying female talent.

Seccombe adds: “It’s also important that global mobility opportunities are transparent and readily accessible. Our research suggests more effort is required on this front, with 65% of female respondents (South Africa: 70%) indicating they would like opportunities to be more transparent at the companies they work for. The lack of transparent mobility opportunities and clear policies on mobile diversity are likely to reinforce barriers to the inclusion of underrepresented talent groups, including women.”

More challenges and areas of disconnect included in the report are:

• 74% of respondents – women and men (South Africa: 79%) said the best time to complete a mobility experience is in the first six years of a career – yet 33% of organisations don’t currently offer early mobility opportunities.
• Less than half of women (49%) agree that that their organisation has enough female role models with successful international assignment experience. From a geographical perspective, women in Africa (37%) were least likely to agree, followed by women in Europe (46%).
• The preferred assignment destinations for professionals don’t often match what’s on offer. Forty-eight percent of women and 35% of men said they would never relocate to the Middle East. Meanwhile, 43% of women and 39% of men said the same about Africa.

Seccombe says: “Organisations face many challenges that can make it difficult to move talent to some most in-demand locations. These challenges span the spectrum from high employment taxes, health and safety concerns, political instability, social isolation and concerns over the distance from home, to cultural differences and worries about gender and racial inclusion. This brings about a number of implications.

“As organisations focus more clearly on creating an expectation of mobility in their workforce, they should ensure that the discussion includes the locations to which international moves are expected in line with their international business and growth strategy.” On a more positive note, almost one-third of the women in the PwC study said that they would relocate to any region – and while this is not as high as among men (45%), it is still a very encouraging finding, adds Seccombe.