Expatriates have not been spared from the ravages of the Coronavirus a.k.a. Covid-19. Their lives and careers have been and are being disrupted. Some organizations have decided to repatriate their expatriates to home countries in order to cut costs but still maintain their duties working remotely. Others have put their expatriate staff on reduced salary and benefits. Whilst others have embarked on localization initiatives whereby some expatriate benefits have been removed and expatriates treated as if they are under host countries’ local terms of employment. Retrenchments have not been ruled out in other cases. In the midst of all this quagmire there are still great opportunities for expatriate career as some organizations are gearing for recovery and soldiering on under the new normal.
Several factors come to play when it comes to international assignments; career plans, family, cultural differences, health, safety, and security. Various reasons motivate people to become expatriates; professional objectives, economic benefits, and social status among many others. Expatriates usually earn more than they would at home, and in many cases more than local employees. This is one of the reasons why expatriates are under pressure to perform and add value. It reminds me of Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
Why do organizations send employees to foreign countries to work as expatriates on long or short term contracts? In addition to staff development objectives, organizations deploy expatriates to fill vacant positions, drive globalization agenda, allow Head Office to closely control operations and improve global coordination, as well as promote foreign policy especially for diplomats. In some cases organizations prefer short-term assignments spanning several months to a year whereby employees are assigned to work on specific projects, technology transfer, or problem-solving tasks. Short term assignments rarely require the expatriate family to move.
One can become an expatriate either through company route or individual route as a result of self-determination. One has to be skilled, professionally qualified and experienced, a high performer, loyal to the cause of organization, and demonstrate potential for career growth. Two categories of expatriates emerge, those for skills development purposes and those for skills transfer purposes.
Upon deployment expatriates have to prove their worthiness to justify the costs incurred by employers. Performance becomes a non-negotiable virtue. Not every expatriate will have an upward mobility. Some will experience phenomenal career growth whilst others will enjoy enriched lateral career growth. There will also be others who will experience career stagnation if not demotion. Don’t take up international assignment without a plan on what next after the assignment. Two options avail themselves after assignment, either repatriation to home country or redeployment to another assignment. Repatriation to home country becomes tricky if one doesn’t have a re-entry plan. In such a situation, both employer and employee are partly to blame for lack of proactive planning. Such situations result in employee being placed in ‘temporary’ roles which I call ‘floating positions’ and in some worst case scenarios employee gets retrenched as the organization finds no suitable position. Remember as you take up international assignment you open up opportunities for other staff members remaining behind to be promoted. Many times these staff members excel in their duties so much that they become difficult to displace. This scenario usually feeds into the conspiracy theory that as one goes on international assignment away from the Head Office one loses touch with networks at Head Office and become ‘forgotten’.
What can be done to ensure successful international assignments?
· Develop competencies within HR team on international assignment management. If there is a sizeable number of expatriates in an organization then consider establishing a role of International Assignment Manager.
· There should be a well-planned and coordinated program for selecting expatriates, preparing the expatriates and their immediate family members, measuring the employee’s performance, and repatriating the individual at the end of an assignment.
· Upon selecting employee for expatriate assignment, employer prepares and issues assignment letter that outlines specifics of assignment. Some letters have legal jurisdiction in expatriate’s home country.
· Secure visas, work and resident permits for expatriates and their families. Requirements and processing times vary from country to country.
· Conduct cross-cultural training before relocation. Arrange for look-see visits so that expatriate and family members familiarize themselves with assignment location.
· Consider policies that entice employees to assignment locations. Over and above compensation, organization should consider benefits to enable an expatriate’s spouse to work or study. Children’s education is another key factor to take into consideration. Spouse dissatisfaction is a significant contributor to assignment failure.
· Decide on compensation approach to use taking into consideration tax implications and legal requirements. There are three common compensation methods; Host country based approach whereby expatriate’s compensation is based on local national rates; Head Office based approach whereby all expatriates regardless of geographical location are paid salaries based on head office practices; Balance sheet approach which entails that salary is calculated using the home country based approach with all allowances, deductions and reimbursements. After the net salary has been determined, it is then converted to the host country’s currency. Some companies allow expatriates to split payment of their salaries between the host country and the home country currencies.
· Consider cost of living in determining housing, utilities, schooling, fuel, holiday, and transport expenses. Cost of living vary from country to country and city to city. Expatriates may find the reality of housing standards very different from expectations especially in locations classified by the United Nations as hardship assignments.
· Other organizations like the United Nations offer hardship allowances for certain locations that are considered difficult and expatriates are non-accompanied by family members.
· Employers should communicate clearly job expectations and performance indicators that shall be used to assess expatriate’s performance. Timing of reviews and link of performance to reward shall be discussed and agreed upfront.
· Many organizations offer expatriates trips home commonly known as home visits. By and large such trips are intended for personal visits. However, scheduling time for the expatriate to visit the home office is an effective method of increasing the expatriate’s visibility and maintain links and networks with home office. This comes handy when it comes to repatriation and re-entry plans.
· The expatriate should receive advance notice regarding repatriation or redeployment so that he/she plans next steps regarding self and family especially children schooling and spouse work situation.
· Upon repatriation an expatriate needs counselling and support as one adjusts from expatriate life to local terms and conditions. There will be reduced salary and benefits from what one was enjoying as an expatriate. Many expatriates and family members struggle dealing with diminished standard of living. At times this pushes an expatriate to look for greener pastures that pay more so that he/she sustains acquired quality of life.