Mobility Talk: Supporting staff mobility

Starting a new job, which may sometimes entail moving locations, can be an exciting as well as challenging experience. Mobility trends indicate that internationally recruited staff have made an average of 1,769 duty station moves per year between 2009 and 2013. With the incoming Mobility and Career Development Framework, a new staffing system for international positions, it will be the more important to provide support to staff as they pursue new opportunities within the UN Secretariat.

To support staff in making such career transitions, a variety of new resources are available:

  • A set of Duty Station Guides. These guides provide staff with comprehensive information on all aspects of life including entry procedures, health services, security, housing, education, childcare, spouse/partner career support, driving, banking, and lifestyle as well as other country-specific information and tips. Additionally, staff can consult the mission specific guides prepared by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.   
  • A Relocation Checklist can help staff navigate through the on-boarding process. The checklist is a step-by-step guide to the administrative process of moving to a new duty station.

The guides and checklist are available on the HR Portal and by clicking here. Please note that you will be prompted to log into Unite Connections to access the list of guides.

  • The Global Induction Platform (GIP) is an online tool that provides new and current staff with induction information in a tailored and self-paced manner. The GIP ensures that all staff members, wherever they are, will receive consistent information as well as customized material for their new position. It also includes access to the full range of duty station guides, at-a-glance essential reading, and links to required courses. The GIP will be made available to all staff members joining or transferring within the Organization and may also be found by clicking here.
  • New guidance on how to organize a Buddy System has been made available to relevant offices. The Buddy System provides informal assistance and support to staff when moving to a new location. The participating local human resources office identifies a “buddy” to pair with the arriving staff member. The staff member can then communicate with their “buddy” about the duty station, office, or any other aspect of their new location as they prepare to arrive and settle in.   
  • A new Spouse Employment Guide describes the options and procedures for spouse employment in the main family duty stations. 

The aim of these resources is to help staff members and their families in considering career opportunities as well as to provide practical and useful advice when moving to a new job and/or duty station.

This article is part of “Mobility Talk”, a series of articles around the Mobility and Career Development Framework and related topics. We invite you to submit your suggestions for topics to be covered in this series! Please send your suggestions to mobility@un.org.

For more information, see: Mobility Talk: A new approach to staffing in the UN Secretariat.