If mobility is rewarded then why have I never seen those who drag themselves and their families around the globe rewarded for it in the annnual assessment? And not all assignments are equal either. What about the people who go on assignments that are supposed to be 3 years but end up being much less than that? I’ve seen people move around the world for a promised 3 year long assignment that ended up only being months / less than a year long!
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Executives: we value mobility. It will be rewarded.
Then they proceed to place all the people who are mobile and have moved into the same rank group without any of the people who never leave Houston and enforce the exact same rank distribution as is enforced in Houston 🤷♂️
The maths are not mathing
Take a relocation or expat assignment if you and your family legitimately want to live and work in that location. Assume you might even need to pay a little bit out-of-pocket for that experience, and make sure you are mentally okay with that. It’s that simple.
Relocating isn’t buying you any company loyalty. Passing on a relocation assignment isn’t career su----e anymore….unless you maybe think you will be the next CEO, which you won’t be. The next CEO might even be coming from outside the company.
All the policies are set up for employment to be a 1-year contract. Any deferred benefits are just a carrot on a 10ft pole that the company knows they can yank at any time based on their choosing. That is not incentive to be loyal or have a long term career. That is an insurance policy for the corporation to reduce expenditures when they choose.
Decide what makes you happy and do it. Only move if it is a good adventure for you and your family. Don’t spend time, energy and personal sacrifice against future years that won’t be remembered by the company or paid back in full.
The corporation’s memory is only 1-1.5 years. We prove that every day as we reinvent the wheel every 2 years in every strategy and work process. If we have to relearn how to do basic things from scratch every 2 years, there is no way anyone is keeping a ‘scorecard’ either for or against you for any longer. Observe the companies dysfunction and know it is far reaching.
It makes no sense for all the people who are mobile to be in one assessment group and the people who are not to be in a separate assessment group. How do you reward the mobile people when the people who they should be higher than on a relative basis are all in the Houston rank group?
@cg AI slop response
In many corporations, refusing a corporate-ordered relocation is viewed as "career su----e" because it signals a lack of alignment with long-term leadership tracks.
When a company asks an employee to relocate, it is rarely just an administrative move; it is usually a strategic test of loyalty, adaptability, and leadership readiness.
Here is a breakdown of why declining a move can stall or end a career path within traditional corporate structures:
Perceived Lack of Commitment
Executive leadership often views a willingness to uproot your life as the ultimate demonstration of company loyalty.
• The "Company Man" Expectation: Refusing to move can be interpreted as placing personal comfort above the strategic needs of the organization.
• The Loyalty Test: Rightly or wrongly, decision-makers may assume that if you won't relocate for the company now, you cannot be counted on for critical, high-stakes assignments in the future.
Missing Out on the "Leadership Pipeline"
In multinational or large-scale corporations, cross-functional and geographical rotation is a standard prerequisite for executive roles.
• Global Perspective: To lead a global division, executives are expected to understand different markets, cultural nuances, and regional operations firsthand.
• The Glass Ceiling: If you refuse to leave your current hub, you effectively opt out of the standard leadership track. You become "unpromotable" beyond a certain regional or departmental level because you lack the required diverse operational experience.
"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (Proximity Bias)
Corporate power, budget allocations, and promotion decisions are almost always concentrated at headquarters or major regional hubs.
• Visibility: Relocations are often intended to bring high-potential talent closer to executive decision-makers or to send them to fix a struggling, high-priority market.
• Stagnation: By staying in a satellite office or a secondary market, you miss out on organic networking, high-profile mentorship, and the daily visibility that drives fast-track promotions.
Overstepping the "Up or Out" Culture
Many highly competitive corporate cultures (such as management consulting, investment banking, and certain tech or industrial giants) operate on an "up or out" advancement model.
• Blocking the Pipeline: If you refuse a move that comes with a promotion, you are effectively choosing to stay in your current role.
• The Consequence: This blocks the pipeline for rising talent below you. If management realizes you have reached the limit of your mobility and ambition, they may eventually manage you out of the company to free up the position for someone else.
Organizational Redundancy
Sometimes, a relocation request is a polite warning that your current office or role is being phased out.
• Structural Shifts: If a company is consolidating operations to a centralized hub, refusing to move means choosing to stay in a dying branch.
• The Ultimate Outcome: In these scenarios, refusing to relocate doesn't just stall your career—it directly results in a layoff or severance package because your local position will cease to exist.
•••
In many corporations, refusing a corporate-ordered relocation is viewed as "career su----e" because it signals a lack of alignment with long-term leadership tracks.
When a company asks an employee to relocate, it is rarely just an administrative move; it is usually a strategic test of loyalty, adaptability, and leadership readiness.
Here is a breakdown of why declining a move can stall or end a career path within traditional corporate structures:
Perceived Lack of Commitment
Executive leadership often views a willingness to uproot your life as the ultimate demonstration of company loyalty.
• The "Company Man" Expectation: Refusing to move can be interpreted as placing personal comfort above the strategic needs of the organization.
• The Loyalty Test: Rightly or wrongly, decision-makers may assume that if you won't relocate for the company now, you cannot be counted on for critical, high-stakes assignments in the future.
Missing Out on the "Leadership Pipeline"
In multinational or large-scale corporations, cross-functional and geographical rotation is a standard prerequisite for executive roles.
• Global Perspective: To lead a global division, executives are expected to understand different markets, cultural nuances, and regional operations firsthand.
• The Glass Ceiling: If you refuse to leave your current hub, you effectively opt out of the standard leadership track. You become "unpromotable" beyond a certain regional or departmental level because you lack the required diverse operational experience.
"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (Proximity Bias)
Corporate power, budget allocations, and promotion decisions are almost always concentrated at headquarters or major regional hubs.
• Visibility: Relocations are often intended to bring high-potential talent closer to executive decision-makers or to send them to fix a struggling, high-priority market.
• Stagnation: By staying in a satellite office or a secondary market, you miss out on organic networking, high-profile mentorship, and the daily visibility that drives fast-track promotions.
Overstepping the "Up or Out" Culture
Many highly competitive corporate cultures (such as management consulting, investment banking, and certain tech or industrial giants) operate on an "up or out" advancement model.
• Blocking the Pipeline: If you refuse a move that comes with a promotion, you are effectively choosing to stay in your current role.
• The Consequence: This blocks the pipeline for rising talent below you. If management realizes you have reached the limit of your mobility and ambition, they may eventually manage you out of the company to free up the position for someone else.
Organizational Redundancy
Sometimes, a relocation request is a polite warning that your current office or role is being phased out.
• Structural Shifts: If a company is consolidating operations to a centralized hub, refusing to move means choosing to stay in a dying branch.
• The Ultimate Outcome: In these scenarios, refusing to relocate doesn't just stall your career—it directly results in a layoff or severance package because your local position will cease to exist.