Employee Benefits Live 2017: UBS encourages junior staff to take advantage of international relocation opportunities as part of its approach to personal development.
Speaking in a session titled ‘The changing nature of international HR and global reward’ at Employee Benefits Live 2017, Claire McDonagh, international mobility services, HR at UBS, explained that the organisation gives all employees the opportunity to apply for overseas positions, including those who at the start of their career.
McDonagh said: “[UBS is] hugely supportive of junior staff and developing them in the business. These international assignments are key for development and international exposure, and as such, the long-term benefits for individuals.”
Once employees have taken up international assignments, UBS is keen to make the transition as smooth as possible and supports all staff with at least three core benefits deemed to be essential; tax help, immigration support and healthcare.
“In some of these locations as well, families are separated so we might have to provide some softer benefits, for example, language lessons or assistance for spouse or partners,” McDonagh said.
UBS also arranges flights, shipment of personal effects and temporary accommodation, as well as education in cultural differences.
Over the past few years, UBS has streamlined its international mobility teams, taking away time-consuming administration and allocating this to business centres, giving the mobility team more time to dedicate to supporting staff during their transition to a new country.
“Our role has evolved to enable us to give a much higher value to the business,”explained McDonagh. “We can now get more involved in the business strategy. It also gives us more time to deal with the high-profile and more complicated cases that take up much more of our time.”