Evidence, Insight, Impact: The MasteringGM® Podcast

  Episode Description After almost 40 years in the relocation industry, Chris Kline has seen the same problems discussed again and again: spiraling costs, policy misalignment, exceptions, limited transparency, and frustration with suppliers. So why do so many of these issues persist? In this special conversational episode, Ben sits down with Chris, author of Unpacking Employee Relocation...

Episode Description The global mindset has become one of the most widely used concepts in international business, leadership, and Global Mobility. Organizations frequently seek employees and leaders who possess it, develop it, or demonstrate it. In this episode, Ben explores whether the concept has become too broad to remain truly useful. Drawing on recent research, he examines why international e...

Episode Description Organizations often measure what is easiest to count. Projects completed, cases handled, meetings attended, reports produced, and response times achieved. In this episode, Ben explores why activity and impact are not the same thing. Using Global Mobility as an example, he examines how organizations can become highly efficient at measuring effort while struggling to understand v...

Episode Description Many Global Mobility professionals assume that influence naturally follows expertise. The logic seems straightforward: become highly knowledgeable, deliver quality work, and decision-makers will seek your perspective. In this episode, Ben explores why organizations often work differently. The discussion examines the factors that truly shape influence—including visibility, relat...

Episode Description Mobility policies are often designed with great care. Organizations balance cost, compliance, fairness, and business requirements to create frameworks that support international assignments. In this episode, Ben explores a simple but revealing thought experiment: would senior leaders willingly accept the same assignment packages they approve for employees? The discussion examin...

Episode Description Most leaders support Global Mobility in principle. They recognize the importance of international experience, talent development, knowledge transfer, and global collaboration. In this episode, Ben explores why those conversations often change once assignment costs become visible. The discussion examines the tension between strategic ambition and financial reality, why mobility...

Episode Description Employee experience has become one of the most important topics in modern organizations. Leaders talk about engagement, wellbeing, belonging, development, and culture as key priorities. In this episode, Ben explores a surprisingly simple but often unanswered question: who actually owns employee experience? The discussion examines how responsibility becomes fragmented across fun...

Episode Description Most organizations claim to value honest feedback. Leaders encourage employees to speak up, challenge assumptions, and share different perspectives. In this episode, Ben explores why things often become more complicated when feedback creates discomfort. The discussion examines the relationship between feedback, power, trust, and organizational culture, and why the true test of...

Episode Description Global Mobility is often viewed as a specialist function focused on international assignments, compliance, and employee support. In this episode, Ben argues that mobility is something more: one of the most revealing lenses through which to understand how organizations actually operate. By sitting at the intersection of multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and complex de...

Episode Description Compliance is essential to Global Mobility. Immigration, tax, employment law, and social security obligations cannot be ignored, and organizations face real risks when they get them wrong. In this episode, Ben explores what happens when compliance becomes the dominant lens through which mobility is viewed. The discussion examines how an excessive focus on risk reduction can uni...

Episode Description International assignments are often presented as win-win solutions. Employees gain experience, organizations develop talent, and businesses achieve their objectives. In this episode, Ben explores why the reality is often more complicated. International assignments frequently involve difficult trade-offs between development and performance, flexibility and consistency, speed and...

Episode Description Most organizations claim to value strategic HR. The phrase appears in leadership discussions, HR strategies, conference presentations, and transformation initiatives around the world. In this episode, Ben explores why becoming genuinely strategic is often far more difficult than organizations assume. Using Global Mobility as an example, he examines the tension between operation...

Episode Description When organizations think about international assignment success, attention often focuses on policies, relocation support, vendors, compliance, and employee readiness. In this episode, Ben argues that one of the most important factors is frequently overlooked: the line manager. From setting expectations before departure to supporting employees abroad and helping them navigate re...

Episode Description Global Mobility professionals often describe themselves as feeling permanently stretched. The common explanation is workload: too many cases, too many stakeholders, and too many competing demands. In this episode, Ben argues that the real issue may run deeper. As Global Mobility has evolved beyond administration and compliance, the role increasingly requires professionals to na...

Episode Description International assignments do more than move employees across borders. They reveal how organizations deal with uncertainty, control, vulnerability, and trust. In this episode, Ben explores why mobility decisions provide a surprisingly powerful window into organizational trust dynamics — between leaders, functions, and employees themselves. The episode examines how international...

Episode Description Why do some highly successful employees suddenly struggle on international assignments? In this episode, Ben explores why strong performance at home does not automatically translate into international success. International assignments fundamentally change the environment around a person — and with it, the capabilities required to succeed. The episode examines how adaptability,...

Episode Description International assignments are often presented as rational, merit-based, and strategic decisions. But beneath the surface, assignment decisions are frequently shaped by visibility, influence, leadership agendas, and organizational politics. In this episode, Ben explores the hidden political dynamics behind international assignments — not as a sign of corruption or dysfunction, b...

Episode Description  Repatriation is one of the most critical — and most overlooked — phases of Global Mobility. In this episode, Ben explores why repatriation so often becomes an “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” issue, how misaligned expectations create long-term fallout, and why Global Mobility teams are frequently left managing problems they did not cause. Rather than offering quick fixes, the...

Episode Description  In this episode, Ben explores Global Mobility as a diagnostic lens for understanding how organizations actually function beneath the surface. Rather than focusing on policies or structures, the episode examines how Global Mobility reveals silos, power dynamics, trust, strategic misalignment, and the gap between stated values and everyday decision-making.   What This...

Episode Description In this special episode, Ben introduces the upcoming WAVE Impact Series in the United States — a new series of highly interactive workshop sessions designed specifically for senior in-house Global Mobility professionals. The episode explores why Global Mobility often struggles with visibility and strategic influence inside organizations, and why making value visible requires fa...

Episode Description  In this episode, Ben explores a question that increasingly reflects everyday Global Mobility practice: has Global Mobility quietly become a negotiation function? Rather than starting from a fixed position, the episode examines how growing complexity, rising expectations, and frequent exceptions are reshaping how mobility decisions are actually made — and what this sh...

Episode Description In this episode, Ben explores why employee choice has become a central theme in Global Mobility — and why it is far more complex than it first appears. While increased choice can empower employees and support engagement, the episode shows how poorly designed choice can also create misaligned expectations, fairness issues, and blurred accountability.   What This Episode Cov...

Episode Description  In this episode, Ben uses a thought experiment to explore the often-invisible value of Global Mobility by imagining what would happen if the function quietly stopped doing its job. By focusing on absence rather than activity, the episode highlights why Global Mobility’s contribution to business performance is real, critical, and frequently underestimated.   What This...

Episode Description  In this episode, Ben discusses an open-access research paper published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management that examines how international assignments create different types of organizational value for home and host units. Co-authored by Phil Renshaw, Emma Parry, and MasteringGM® co-founder Michael Dickmann, the study challenges simplistic views of a...

Episode Description  In this episode, Ben uses a thought experiment to reflect on how a Global Mobility function might be designed if it were built from the ground up today. Rather than offering a prescriptive blueprint, the episode deliberately avoids one-size-fits-all answers and focuses on fundamental design questions around purpose, decision-making, capability, and visibility.   What...