Restoring Work-Expat Life Harmony

Who doesn’t know (or is married to) the guy who comes home exhausted after a marathon day or a business trip too tired to do much of anything? Like most men, he probably also doesn’t want to talk about it. Of course, he has legitimate reasons. He wants to get away from his work.

Mobility is a Work-Life Challenge

International HR managers need to start paying serious attention to the work-life balance challenges of their global managers.

Repatriating Female Managers

There are added layers of stress when the repatriating manager is a woman.

Expat Marriages: What HR Should Know

Companies can help to successfully relocate married employees by recognising that relationships are packed up along with the household goods.

Outsourcing International HR

As companies extend their reach into the global marketplace, new and expanded organizations are being placed in the role of international HR consultants, providing the administration and services needed to support expatriate populations.

Substance Abuse in Expatriate Life

Substance abuse by expats and their dependents contributes to assignment failure. However, convincing people to seek help, given the strong denial or secrecy surrounding these problems, can be a challenge.

Young Global Professionals: The ‘Hidden’ Expats

Unlike many of their older counterparts, the new younger breed of global professional will move on a moment’s notice and have no dependents to worry about.

Hot Expat Destination: China

With world foreign direct investment (FDI) set to rebound in 2004, the attraction to China in particular is growing.

Who Looks After HR Abroad?

Senior level HR professionals on overseas assignments take note: who’s looking after you?

Turning Spousal Survey Data Into Policy

Ask spouses what they want, and you’ll be able to help them — and the expatriate employee — succeed.

HR’s Role in Making Families Feel Safe

In locations where schools close because of terrorist-related threats and families face additional challenges, not all companies are making their employees feel secure. Robin Pascoe reports.

Supporting the Family During Short-term Assignments

If you think short-term assignments solve all the family-related issues of other assignment types, you are far from right.

What Do Expats Want From HR?

This is not a joke: some expats just want to know what the initials HR denote.

What Do Expats Want From HR?

This is not a joke: some expats just want to know what the initials HR denote.

Not everyone involved in an expatriate assignment speaks the language of a corporation, so as an international HR specialist, the first question to consider asking of a relocating employee or family (especially on a first time posting) is this: do you know what I do?

Posing that question at the beginning of the relationship between company and expat will not only help sort out some of the basics, it’s an excellent starting point for HR people to explain what they can or cannot do for an employee and/or a family during a relocation.

At the same time, an expat employee or family member (if they are invited into the discussions) can provide HR with an overview of his or her own expectations during the assignment.

What are those expectations?

Generally speaking, expats want everything and usually want it done by yesterday.

Employees wants to know that their career will keep on ticking while away on assignment and that they won’t vanish into the corporate abyss upon repatriation.

Accompanying spouses wants to know all the logistics of the move and if the possibility of working while overseas will be viable. The children, meanwhile, usually just want to know why their parents are ruining their lives by moving.

From HR’s standpoint, the support required for an expat varies depending on their adaptability and needs, according to Johanna Glennie, international assignments manager for UK food retailer Tesco. But she outlines some key areas.

“The key support areas for an expat are typically managing the whole process of expatriation and repatriation, being a consistent contact and source of information for them in their home country, and keeping them on people’s agendas.”

Glennie believes the most fundamental area of support comes in the final six months of expats’ assignments, when they are working on finding their next role.

“This is where the role of HR support as a facilitator of the repatriation process is most critical,” she says.

“We help ensure they return to a role which recognises their abilities and skills, and most important of all, encaptures their personal and business growth while on assignment.”

Whether the expectations on either side are realistic or not, HR is usually left trying to satisfy everyone, often with limited resources allotted by the company.

But talk is cheap - fortunately, as communication is critical between HR and the expat in order to meet any or all expectations.

Don’t forget the family

If there is an accompanying family, most expat spouses believe that communication between the company and family should come directly through them.

That’s because many employees are still reluctant to approach the company with problems because they are worried it might affect their career.

Further, there is anecdotal evidence suggesting that the working partner doesn’t always give the ‘full story’ to the spouse in order to avoid heated discussions at home.

This makes the notion of direct communication with spouses even more important.

Most expat spouses have few problems voicing the family’s needs. In fact, they feel it is the needs of the family which HR systematically ignore.

“My personal feeling is that HR departments are badly distanced from the people they should care about the most,” says UK expat and writer, Amanda Carter.

“It’s not employees who make postings go bad; it’s their families. How can HR personnel expect to improve things if they don’t ask families how they feel about everything?”

“This is what spouses and families want: to be considered, consulted and listened to. In most postings, HR managers never even bother to meet the spouses let alone ask them if they actually wants to go on assignments.”

For many expat spouses, a demonstration of how much they are appreciated by the company could definitely originate with the corporate chequebook.

“Being an expat used to be lucrative,” says Amanda Carter. “These days, it isn’t. Spouses need more help with travel costs for visiting family like elderly parents or children in boarding schools, assistance with phone bills, and an awareness on the part of HR that spouses are losing income by virtue of accompanying partners abroad.”

Finally, what expats want most of all is to know that the company which has uprooted them and transplanted them into a foreign country cares.

While it’s often difficult for HR to find program money for training, communicating on a regular basis is now an easily clicked ‘send button’ away.

— From ExpaticaHR