Human Resources Management for Expatriation: Globalization Means More International Work and Workers

Sending executive and managerial staff to organize and oversee subsidiary offices in foreign locations is a challenge for human resources management. Expatriation is a complex and costly phenomenon, requiring attention given to concerns such as family adjustment, insurance, costs of moving and settling in, language and cultural training, and personal attitudes, needs, and goals.

With careful attention to these areas, expatriate workers can make huge contributions, both to the subsidiary and to main office functions back home. However, it is important to understand that effectiveness in international assignments is different from effectiveness in monocultural contexts. The most successful manager at home may not be the most successful overseas. Supervisory and HR staff need to consider the special requirements of an international placement when selecting and preparing staff for expatriation.

Pre-Selection

Realistically speaking, there may not always be a range of choices for personnel to take the overseas assignment, considering, on the one hand, skills and background needed for the work, and on the other hand, personal and family availability for such an assignment. It is worth noting that even with the great strides made by women in management in recent years, still 85% of expatriate managers are men. This is unfortunate, since women are often more skilled at the reading of context and non-verbal clues, a critical component of cross-cultural communication competence.

Generally, managers who exhibit flexibility and the ability to fail and start again will do better in international placements. There is no specific personality test that can signal potential success in expatriation, but mature, well-grounded people have the foundation on which to build competence in a new cultural environment.

Orientation and Planning

The overall cost of the move can be controlled with careful advance planning. If at all possible, scouting ahead of time for housing, personal transport, and children’s schooling, if applicable, can cut down on both stress and costs of keeping personnel in temporary lodging at the start of the assignment.

Cross-cultural communication training is often seen by companies as a “frill”, not mission critical for managers. However, experience shows that staff who come to the field equipped with knowledge about cultural issues in general and the special context of the country of assignment in particular are better able to “hit the ground running” and make more insightful contributions from the earliest stages of expatriation.

Developing Long Term Effectiveness

Although there is no evidence for a high rate of failure and early return of expatriate managers, a recognized problem is that of negative-minded and unhappy expatriates who do nothing but complain about the country of assignment and their national colleagues. However, many expatriate managers become competent in their new culture, and some people become highly skilled at international communication, easily making themselves at home in new cultures as they encounter them.

What can HR managers do to foster increased cross-cultural communication competence in their staff and to increase the chances of expatriates developing competence in the skills needed for global business? Most important is an openness, both on the side of the company and on the side of the employee to understanding the ways in which cultures vary and the myriad opportunities for maximizing each culture’s competitive advantages, once these are understood.

The employer should expect all employees planning for expatriation to be knowledgeable about global business and cross-cultural communication, and the employees should expect support from the company in gaining such knowledge and skills.

Bringing the Value Added Back Home

An opportunity frequently wasted by companies with overseas subsidiaries is that of using the increased skill and knowledge of an employee returning to the home office after an overseas assignment. Expatriation gives new perspectives and teaches managers to exploit opportunities that they may not have recognized before. Yet it is common for returnees to feel sidelined, as if they have just “missed” the past few years, instead of gaining valuable skills in their work. HR managers should give attention to finding ways to use the increased value of the workers whose knowledge of the company’s overseas operations may be unparalleled back home.

Expatriation has many facets and Human Resources managers need to consider them in concert, not piecemeal in order to minimize costs and maximize value from each overseas assignment. Pre-departure selection and planning, in-country orientation and skill-building, and the re-entry phase are all important components for planning. Left to chance, any one of these factors can undermine success and lead to increased costs, but managed attentively, expatriation can significantly improve and increase your global business.

Mar 16, 2009 8:38 AM

Guest :

I agree totally Nancy, there is a clear need to implement HR strategies which support expats before, during and after a relocation.
Expats tell us that such strategies which demonstrate support for the expat's experience also have the added benefit from an HR perspective of building loyalty and commitment in the expat to their new environment (country & company) at a time when they may have no history or emotional connection to their new country... and therefore are at a higher risk of assignment failure.
Developing long term effectiveness:
Key to the success of an assignment is not only the cultural awareness, competency and communication skills of the expat but also their ability to manage personal and massive change. Having to plan, motivate and manage yourself (and family) through an international relocation requires leadership skills, tools and strategies to manage change, adapt to a new environment and take control of the transition process. These are core capabilities that directly impact the success of an assignment and just like cultural training, can be developed.
Bringing The Value Added Back Home
All expats have a wealth of experience of managing significant, massive and ongoing change but…. many are unable to describe how this ability can be translated into their attitudes and behaviours in a professional setting. Enabling expats to define their newly developed skills and bring them into their work environment and back home after an expat assignment, adds value to the expat's cv and skill set and also is a clear ROI for the employer.
Anne Parker, Director, ExpatEase www.expatease.nl