myBAMM

That’s the website address for the Bay Area Mobility Management professional association (www.mybamm.org) and was definitely the feeling in the room at the aptly named BAMM Reunion, held on March 17 at the Hyatt Regency SFO. For many of the 300+ global workforce mobility professionals in attendance, the BAMM conference in March 2020 was the marker for their last in-person, pre-pandemic industry event. BAMM 2022 was a much-anticipated networking and reconnecting opportunity, with hallway conversations competing with educational sessions for attendees’ time and attention. Thanks to a dedicated BAMM board and especially to an outstanding program content and event management committee, the conference was a great coming together of industry expertise and personal connection.

We’re sharing here some key highlights. More details are available at www.mybamm.org. The agenda included:

• Policy design and strategies for recognizing the new priorities of businesses and employee talent in a changed world. Workforce mobility management has never had a stronger urgency for duty of care and simultaneously must develop policies and practices that support the expectations of global talent for a greater voice in their benefit options and control over the timing and access to services, in-person and online.
• Proactively addressing pent-up demand and limited supply, as the need heats up for relocation services, ranging from immigration interviews to short-term accommodations, household goods shipments and housing for renters and home buyers.   The partnership that enabled businesses and their service partners to work well together during the difficult challenges of the pandemic must also continue for success in the recovery. Together, all partners in the service experience need to set realistic expectations for everything from backlogs in visa approvals through to delivery dates for household goods and the availability of housing in markets across the US.
• Expectations for concrete, continuous progress in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility - specifically aligning opportunities for employee mobility with opportunities for building organizations that recognize and value diversity, inclusion, and culture awareness. Companies are encouraged to offer career and assignment opportunities to their broader employee populations.
• Upward Mobility, a cooperative, industry-wide initiative for developing an intern and recent college-graduate talent pipeline for global mobility careers, was introduced. The program is partnering with HBCUs and other universities to connect to historically underrepresented populations and students of color.  25+ relocation management companies and service suppliers are actively engaged in the pilot program for Summer 2022. For more information, contact walker@ey.com , bob.rosing@dwellworks.com or lshotwell@worldwideerc.org
• A renewed focus on talent retention – in a relentlessly competitive environment, high-performance organizations are succeeding by leaning in and listening to their employees. The case for talent management success was made with Indeed’s Journey to Embracing Remote Work and Snowflake’s creative and competitive intern program.
• Intern programs are back, but not necessarily 100% in-person, as another session explored the expectations of employees and interns for corporate housing/short term accommodations that recognized the ‘hybrid’ trend and the need for more home-like spaces since ‘office’ is also ‘home’ for employees even on the road.

BAMM is a bellwether regional conference for our industry and a celebration of the unique entrepreneurial and diverse culture of the San Francisco Bay Area. During the pandemic, as has been widely reported, California experienced net-negative population growth. In the Bay Area, however, the impact was largely felt through regional migration, as employees in Silicon Valley and San Francisco moved to suburbs and exurbs in search of housing options with more room and more outdoor space. As a result, rental and single-family home prices in the broader market have experienced double-digit growth. The Bay Area has remained a significant hiring and relocation destination. Dwellworks assisted with over 1300 moves into the market in 2021. We wrap up our brief overview of BAMM with an update on relocation trends in San Francisco, through the eyes and experience of our on-the-ground Bay Area colleagues, Ferrah McKeown, Director, Client Services, and program co-chair for the BAMM Conference and David Holt, Director, Sales for Dwellworks Living, our global corporate housing solutions brand. Enjoy Tips and Trends in 10: The Bay Area Bounces Back here.