FEM welcomes duo Sandra Winstanley and Marcia van Buuren from Heineken. In 2017, Heineken won the EMEA EMMA for Most Innovative Use of Technology in Global Mobility. Since then, the team have carried out further changes and developments. Find out what happened next when they rolled out… 

How long have you been involved in the Global Mobility sector?

Between us I reckon 15 years’ experience in Global Mobility.

What are the most significant changes that you have seen in that time?

• Massive increase in diversity (and complexity) of our international population, in terms of nationality, host locations, gender, job level/experience, reason for assignment….
• Increasing business need for reliable and timely information to make strong decisions on new assignments – both from a succession/international career perspective as from a purely business (cost/ROI) perspective 
• Shift in assignee expectations around rewards package, level and type of support and interaction with

What do you think are the three greatest challenges facing Global Mobility professionals in the EMEA region today?

• Truly leveraging mobility to support talent strategy, such as having policies and processes and information that really support international career moves that are needed to achieve business goals. For example, being agile enough to accommodate new ways of working (virtual teams, rotations and commuters), instead of only traditional expatriation; encouraging diversity in the mobile population…
• Continuing to provide the level of centralized support required to engage assignees – despite cost constraints and higher demands – so need to leverage technology to make processes efficient and seek smart ways to communicate at important moments during an assignment.
• Compliance – keeping pace with increasingly onerous regulations (GDPR, security of technology, tax, immigration…)

What do you find valuable about the Summit?

There's a great mix of mobility professionals with HR corporates throughout Europe – there are lots of opportunities for networking and interaction on relevant topics with the well thought out and balanced agenda. 

What are the key messages you hope delegates will take away from your session?

That technology can help us address many challenges. In a nutshell:

• How to inform stakeholders
• The process efficiencies available 
• The increase in assignee engagement
• Engaging assignees
• Compliance

Who would you recommend should attend your session and why?

 If any of these ambitions apply to your company/mobility team then definitely attend: 

• Keep leadership well informed
• Ensure that operational processes run efficiently
• How to optimise financial processes
• Exchange timely information with providers
• Become a Centre of expertise, as well as a transactional support team

If you ticked any of these boxes, then this session is for you!  We will share our journey, and explain how we used technology to help us achieve the goals

Which session are you most interested to attend and why? 

Mobile, Not Necessarily Moving… the new realities of a globally linked, globally mobile workforce. I am keen to hear about other patterns of working cross border, and how companies are dealing with a new generation of internationals..

How many years have you been coming to FEM Events?

HEINEKEN affiliation goes back many years; we have personally attended for the past 2 years and can't wait for this year's 10th edition.

Would you please give us a message that we could publish about FEM and its 10^th Anniversary?

Warm congratulations on achieving this milestone! Thank you to FEM for 10 years of bringing together mobility professionals from around the world, promoting education and information exchange and raising the bar within our industry.

In the future, as international careers become more and more desirable and accessible for more people, FEM’s contribution will become even more important as a platform for innovation and influence. Here’s to the next 10 years!

Join Sandra and Marcia at the Technology Masterclass, 14:35 – 15:15 on 8th November in London.

Register to attend the FEM EMEA Summit here