Edinburgh Network Huddle

Expat Academy has proved to be a valuable resource for me and my (one other!) team member - so much so, that each time I've worked in-house I've rejoined expat academy (I first joined them in 2012, I think!) . Although I've worked in the Global Mobility sphere for many years, I always come away with at least one nugget of new information or food for thought at every session I attend, whether that's a 'huddle' session or the conference or colloquium events. It's a really valuable space for me to connect with other Global Mobility leaders too, as I'm the only person responsible for Global Mobility in my business - networking and sharing experiences, I find, helps me to formulate my strategy for my business.

My new hire (to expand my team to 2!) also found it really helpful. She was completely new to global mobility and expat academy sessions have supported her through her learning journey and to understand what this niche area is all about! She's also begun to network with others at her level and so it provides a support network for her too.  She's also been able to engage with GMPD as a sister endeavour to Expat Academy and has found the two together to complete the picture for her.

I'd highly recommend membership at whatever stage of your career!

 

The Expat Academy is unique in the Global Mobility industry sector. It is without doubt the most recognised organisation for the provision of on-going Global Mobility support as it relates to training , industry updates and networking with fellow Global Mobility peers.  Membership provides for a wide range of activities that are vital for Global Mobility professionals such as:-

• Regular attendance at the Club 100 and Symposium events

• Entrance to the EA Annual Conference

• Access to the EA website, specifically access to the EA “vault” which provides a wealth of templates across all policy types and the benchmarking data allows you to ask questions and explore the wealth of responses

• GMPD accreditation – this is the only Global Mobility recognised accreditation in the industry

• Access to the Vanguards forum - aimed at Senior Global Mobility Managers to enable development of their GM career path

• Global Heads forum – provides regular Global Head meetings to discuss market issues/potential resolutions and generally to understand “best practice” in the Global Mobility space.

 

I started working with Expat Academy in my role as Head of Global Mobility at Arup when I first came to the UK in 2015. I was amazed by the value of this membership. As well as offering the perfect networking platform and dozens of free training courses the membership gives access to their 'Vault' which contains every kind of policy template, assignment letter etc, ever written which you are free to use, copy and get inspired by. The team working at the Expat Academy have years of experience in different Global Mobility roles. I highly recommend a membership for you and your team.

No matter how well you think you have mobility covered someone in the room will have looked at it from an angle that you haven’t – sometimes, just sometimes, that fresh perspective is priceless. You can't ask for more than this. I’ve been to many networking events in my career and the level of sharing in this group is off the chart! 

It’s always valuable to keep on top of new trends but the networking part where you can share practices is also something I find incredibly useful,

I often referred to the benchmarking tool in the first months of my new role.  There is a wealth of knowledge on all Global Mobility topics.  When the topic I was researching was not previously discussed I posted a question out to the network.  The network responses were very helpful and reassured me I was on the right track.  I recommend to all GM professionals to refer to the benchmarking tool when managing first time or complicated queries regarding international mobility.

What a fantastic day! It was really interesting to hear about the challenges that other organisations are currently facing, and also reassuring to know that we are not alone in our struggles. I found the round the world updates really useful and it resonated with me that although we might be in different locations, our struggles are similar!

 

An ideal opportunity to look externally and gain insight into other organisation's GM agenda. To be able to bring business related challenges to discuss with like-minded people and professional experts is priceless. 

 

Being able to share best practice with other Global Mobility professionals is key - why re-invent the wheel when it’s already there. Insight into compliance is much appreciated and helpful. Thank you for the opportunity to participate!