Transfer Process Optimization Framework

Problem

Internal transfers at a 40,000-person global company are anything but straightforward. The global mobility team was managing a transfer process that touched compensation, legal, immigration, tax, payroll, IT, facilities, and the employee's current and receiving managers. Each stakeholder had their own approval steps, their own systems, and their own timelines. There was no single record of a transfer's status, no standardized checkpoints, and no way to audit what happened after the fact. Transfers would stall without anyone knowing why, and the mobility team spent most of their time chasing updates rather than managing the process.

Constraints

• The transfer process differed by country, visa status, job level, and business unit—there was no one-size-fits-all workflow
• Multiple stakeholders needed to weigh in at specific points, but not all stakeholders were relevant to every transfer type
• The system needed to produce a single, auditable trail for legal and compliance purposes
• Had to integrate with Workday (HR system of record) and ServiceNow (workflow and case management)
• Could not disrupt in-flight transfers during rollout

Approach

1. Process discovery — Conducted listening sessions with the global mobility team, compensation, legal, immigration, and receiving managers to map every variation of the transfer process across regions and scenarios
2. Designed the checkpoint framework — Created a configurable checkpoint system where each transfer type dynamically assembled the right sequence of approvals and actions based on transfer attributes (country, visa, level, etc.)
3. Built the delivery system — Configured ServiceNow as the orchestration layer, with each checkpoint triggering the appropriate stakeholder notification, capturing their input, and advancing the process only when all required approvals were in place
4. Integrated with Workday — Ensured that the transfer record in ServiceNow stayed synchronized with Workday, so HR always had a single source of truth regardless of which system they checked
5. Created the audit trail — Every action, approval, comment, and timestamp was captured in a single transfer record, making the entire history reviewable for compliance and legal
6. Piloted and iterated — Rolled out to a single region first, gathered feedback from the mobility team and stakeholders, and refined the checkpoint logic before expanding globally

Outcome

• Single record: Every transfer now has one consolidated, auditable record regardless of how many stakeholders are involved
• Stakeholder clarity: Each approver knows exactly when their input is needed and can act directly from their notification—no more chasing
• Process visibility: The global mobility team can see the real-time status of every in-flight transfer and identify bottlenecks instantly
• Compliance confidence: Full audit trail satisfies legal and regulatory requirements across all regions

What I'd Do Next

• Add SLA tracking to flag transfers that are stalling at specific checkpoints
• Build a self-service portal for employees to track their own transfer status
• Implement analytics to identify the most common bottlenecks and drive process improvements