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Andy MolinskyMelissa Hahn
March 16, 2016
Sending talented employees overseas can be a promising way to leverage the
benefits of a global economy. But expatriate assignments can be extremely
expensive: up to three times the cost of a person s typical annual salary,
according to some statistics. And despite the investment, many organizations
lack the know-how for optimizing the potential benefits, leaving them
disappointed with the results. The unfortunate reality is that even companies
providing well-crafted relocation packages (including the all-important
cultural training) may not have the talent management mechanisms in place to
truly leverage the valuable skills expatriate employees gain during their
assignments.
We spoke with seven different executives and consultants with deep experience
managing the expat process, asking what they ve learned over the years about
how to maximize the value of these critical assignments. We discovered five
tips for increasing the return on investment of your overseas assignments.
Have a compelling purpose and the right person.
Before you send anyone abroad, it s critical to make a business case for the
assignment, just like you would for any other important investment or decision.
There should be a clear organizational need and a compelling reason that this
need can t be met through a local hire. Everyone we spoke with also emphasized
the importance of selecting the right people, for the right reasons. This
involves three things: choosing a person who is open-minded and committed
enough to adapt to the local culture, thinking about the specific skills that
this person will develop as a result of the assignment, and identifying how
these new skills will ultimately benefit the organization.
In some companies, for example, international experience is a requirement for
moving into leadership positions. In others, there may be a particular need at
an overseas office that only a person with a specific skill set can meet. If
you can t think of meaningful ways that the assignment will help both the
person and the business move forward, you should probably rethink the
assignment.
Assign top-notch home and host sponsors.
As assignees delve into their new roles overseas and companies plug the holes
left behind by absent employees, it s easy for companies to lose touch with
people they send abroad. Just as with remote or virtual employees, expats find
that keeping up with their email isn t necessarily the same as having their
finger on the pulse of the office, which can be a constant reminder of how
different and faraway their former life really is. To prevent your worker from
feeling adrift, provide sponsors to oversee the assignee s experience on both
ends one at the home base and another at the destination. These individuals
are the point people and mentors for ensuring the fit from the company
perspective, the fit from the assignee s perspective, and for comanaging the
process throughout. In short, they are the people that the assignee can turn to
whenever problems emerge.
The most successful sponsors are typically people who have been abroad
themselves and are empathetic and understanding about the experience not only
with regard to what an assignment entails and what can be gained but also with
how challenging it can be to go overseas and return. They should also have
enough experience in the organization that they can help mentor the assignee on
how to maneuver around potential obstacles and make the most of the assignment.
Stay in frequent contact throughout the assignment.
If there was one tip that everyone we spoke with agreed on, it was the critical
importance of open, frequent communication throughout the assignment. While the
assignee needs to be proactive in reaching out to his or her home sponsor, the
home sponsor should keep soon-to-be-returning employees top of mind,
identifying how the company can leverage what they are learning and how the
employee can take the next steps in their own development at the company as a
result of their overseas experience. This communication should follow a highly
structured process. For example, one company we spoke with builds in monthly
check-ins. The assignee can update the host, home sponsors, and other relevant
stakeholders not only on how the assignment is proceeding but also on any
important knowledge they have acquired that may be of immediate use to the
organization, such as information about how a marketing campaign could be more
effective in the assignment country.
Make a plan for reintegration.
Communication should also include a conversation six months before the end of
the assignment to discuss the reintegration process. This is a time for the
employee to outline the top skills, qualifications, and insights achieved
during the assignment and express how he or she would like to incorporate them
at the home office (or in some cases on the next assignment). In exchange, the
sponsors should elaborate on how they envision the employee leveraging the
experience, being frank about what kinds of opportunities might be in the
pipeline.There may not be an ideal position for them back in the firm that
leverages their talent and fits the needs of the company. But, according to our
experts, that s precisely the reason for the constant communication throughout
and toward the end of the assignment. Anticipate these contingencies so that
both the organization and the employee have realistic expectations and a plan
moving forward.
Once next steps have been established, build in time when the employee comes
home to reintegrate. They will still likely need transition time to relearn the
old corporate culture and process their experience. This may be as little as a
few days or even a week or more. While the timeline may vary, it s critical to
build in a structured transition process with a mixture of check-ins and
downtime so reacclimation is a seamless reentry rather than a crash landing.
Develop ways to share knowledge from the assignee s experience.
Finally, for companies to get the most out of expat assignments, the
organization must be proactive in helping employees catalog and disseminate
what they have learned. There are a number of ways to go about this. One
organization we spoke to asks assignees to blog about their experiences both
during and after the assignment. These posts are shared via internal social
media and commented on by others throughout the company. Others make use of
metadata on employee profiles to highlight the skills acquired during the
assignment; this not only enhances returning expats credibility but also
enables anyone else in the organization to find them when searching for their
specific expertise. Companies can also host special sessions or brown bag
lunches on managing global work and intercultural communication, including
returning expats alongside outside guest speakers and panel discussions.
However it s done, the key is to find ways for people to share what they ve
experienced and learned so they can process the experience, reinforce the
importance of these global assignments within the organization, and, most
importantly, transfer the valuable knowledge they ve acquired back into the
company.
Andy Molinsky is a Professor of International Management and Organizational
Behavior at the Brandeis International Business School. He is the author of the
book Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures without
Losing Yourself in the Process (HBR Press, 2013) and is currently writing a new
book about how to stretch outside your comfort zone at work and in your
everyday life. Follow Andy on twitter at @andymolinsky.
Melissa Hahn helps people navigate cultural differences in relocation,
education, and family life. She is the author of the intercultural children s
book Luminarias Light the Way (2014). Follow her on Twitter @SonoranHanbok.