Many Expatriate Employees Encounter Problems That Limit Their Contribution to the Company When They Return Home. How Can We Explain These Problems and How May a Firm Reduce the Occurrence of Such Problems?

Assignment 3 - IHRM

Many expatriate employees encounter problems that limit their contribution to the company when they return home.  How can we explain these problems and how may a firm reduce the occurrence of such problems?

As more expatriate international assignments completed, MNEs were facing organization and plan strategic repatriation. Repatriation is a part of expatriation process. Repatriate is when expatriate come back to his home country. When expatriate employees return home, they encounter problems that limit their contribution to the company. Company need to deal with this problem because companies’ ability to attract future expatriates is affected by the manner in which it handles repatriation.

There are two factors influencing repatriate adjustment when he comes back to the home country company: Job-related factors and social factors. In job-related factors, there are four elements to decrepit: first is career anxiety which is expatriate loss of visibility and isolation, company didn’t give post-assignment guarantee (this is becoming the reality for perhaps the majority of expatriate) and change in the home workplace. The second element is work adjustment which includes expatriates’ re-entry position, the employment relationship and some devaluing experience. Third is coping with new role demands because a mismatch of expectations can affect the repatriates perception of the role associated with a new position. The fourth element is the loss of status and pay, for example if the repatriate had held a senior position in the foreign location and now finds himself or herself at a less senior level. Or his/ her salary is less than before accepting the international assignment. Social factor is another factor influencing repatriate adjustment. For this factor, we can find there are major elements with some impact: family adjustment, because expatriates’ spouses, partners and children are also involved in their international assignment, so each person is experiencing their own adjustment problem. Second element is social networks, its impression about changes in the home country, it depended on expatriate and their family’s ability to keep up to date with events back home. But now with technology development, it became a less important problem.  Last element is effect on partner’s career, when partners encounter difficulties in re-entering the workforce. Usually the re-entry career (position, promotion, and mission) plan of repatriate is the most important element. Repatriates’ expectation does not eventuate within a reasonable time frame. Like expatriates don’t use too much of their knowledge, skill and capacity they acquired from their international assignment in future position or mission.

As a more global solution to repatriates’ problem, the company can design a repatriation program. So first, the company help expatriates to re-entry preparation, transition information and assist financial and tax part, like benefit and tax changes. Then between the receiving organizations in the home country, the company can make a re-entry training and discuss with the expatriate to know what skills and knowledge they acquired from international assignment. For example, market specific knowledge which included local systems (political, social, economic), language and customs knowledge; personal skills, like inter-cultural, knowledge, self-confidence, flexibility and tolerance; job-related management skills, like communication, project management and problem-solving skill; network knowledge and general management capacity. Once the company receives all those informations, they can assist expatriates’ re-entry position and career path according their skills and knowledge. The company also needs to help repatriate to reverse culture shock and their families’ adaptation, children’s education etc. According to the communication and training, the company can establish networking opportunities and help repatriate and their family in forming new social contacts. A mentor for expatriate is an effective management, because the mentor is the person maintaining contact with the expatriate throughout the assignment, he has more provision of information and help for the expatriate who is more prepared for the conditions he will face upon re-entry. To strengthen repatriates’ usefulness, we can also use Caligiuri and Lawarova’s strategies recommendations. So the company needs managing expectations via pre-departure briefings on what can be expected during the assignment and upon return, then multiple career planning lessons with the repatriate, and focusing on his career objectives and performance. After writing down a clear repatriate agreement, the company should keep mentoring programs into the repatriate’s post-assignment career. At the same time, the company needs to keep up with social family and organizational changes, provide the repatriate with a briefing on changes in strategy, policies and organization. Then personalize financial and tax advice, and provide an adjustment period upon return. Last but not least, the company needs to provide visible and concrete expressions of repatriates’ value to the firm. We can also see my opinion with Brookfield (formerly GMAC Global Relocation Service) survey that provides five methods to reduce the problems: Opportunity to use experience; Position choices upon return; Recognition; repatriation career support; improved performance evaluation. And from liking repatriation process to outcomes we can see the re-entry positions signal the importance given to international experience.