Five Reasons Why Global Moves Are Good For Your Firm

A new McKinsey survey (subscription required) of leading multinational firms has come up with a surprising result -- that movement of employees around different countries is still limited and that employees fear that time overseas will somehow penalize their careers.

McKinsey came up with the results in a May report after surveying 11 major global corporations and interviewing 450 individuals. Despite the attention paid to the "global" economy, the survey found overall that most senior managers made only 1.5 cross-border moves in their careers. Among the best-performing companies in the mix, top managers made two moves.

Researchers Matthew Guthridge and Asmus B. Komm conclude, however, that companies should encourage more movement overseas. Here are five reaspons why:

1. Companies in the top third of their survey, and more inclined to move executives around, earned significantly higher profits per employee than those in the bottom third.
2. Cross-border moves make executives more sensitive to diversity issues since they have had to work in different cultures and languages.
3. Companies that encouraged global moves and provide returnees with chances to share their experience with other units are about twice as likely to have effective global mobility practices than those that don't
4. Encouraging foreign tours prevents companies from having their talent trapped in national" silos that can can truncate a company's culture.
5. Companies that ignore the experience of returning employees find the employees become frustrated and leave, causing a corporate brain drain.