The advancement in the communication technology both in terms of accessibility and functionality has increased trend for the expatriate management. The key driver behind expatriate management is the need of MNCs to control and coordinate operations effectively. It ensures that the organizations perform smoothly across the globe. The requisite of transmitting knowledge and emerging international management has increased. In this context, the expatriates have become an important part of the international management. An expatriate is a person who lives outside the country on a temporary basis. This term is often used for the professionals, skilled workers and the artists who are having positions outside their native country. These persons are positioned independently or sent abroad by their companies, universities, employers or governments.
According to Vance and McNulty, 2014, the expats usually earn more than they would earn at home. The expatriates are also provided benefits such as relocation assistance and housing allowance (Vance and McNulty, 2014). Living as an expatriate provides an opportunity for the career advancement and business exposure. They are also offered with higher compensation. The problem is faced by the managers in selecting the best individual. The expatriates also face challenges in settling down in the new country. There are some measures which are required to be undertaken by the expatriates before leaving for the host country. The individuals can learn the language of the host country and consult with the expatriates about the challenges faced by them. There are repatriate courses which can be used by the expatriates when they return home. It helps them to re-adapt the work environment and culture of the home country. They are provided knowledge on the political, social and economic changes as well as the information on the changes taking place in the business environment.
As the global market is continued to expand, there has been steady advancement in organizations conveying employees to work overseas. The overseas assignments take out employees from the regular practices and home. The newly moved expatriates adapt to the assigned environments and overwhelmed with different social and cultural standards or customs. It involves challenges such as monetary and career-related costs of failing to prosper an overseas assignment.
As per Cole and Nesbeth, 2014, effective management of the expatriation process is continued to be an significant issue for the human resource managers due to 2 motives (Cole and Nesbeth, 2014). One is the cost linked with sending employees on expat projects are substantial. For instance, the average organization expends around $300,000 per expat annually. According to Tung, 2016, the expatriates’ projects last for 3-4 years, companies’ investment usually exceeds $1 million per expat. It is expectable that organizations attain a sufficient return on the considerable investment (Tung, 2016). Secondly, poor expat adjustment remains a substantial problematic for many organizations in spite of the conducting research to help organizations in better managing the expatriate process. For instance, 15-40% of U.S. expatriates fail to thorough their foreign projects and remaining is considered ineffective by their organizations. Due to these problems, the organizations have increased efforts to categorize and choose most qualified employees for the expatriate projects. As per Silbiger and Pines, 2014, the organizations have modified their selection process and standards in order to pick over out unqualified employees who lack the necessary skills to be active in overseas projects (Silbiger and Pines, 2014). Although this approach is going to help the possibility that highly capable employees are sent abroad and it may have unintentional significance as well. In this case, the organizations can end up choosing the overqualified staff for the overseas job. It also indicates that employees may be sent foreign for the tasks that do not fully exploit skills and abilities.
As per the Von Borell de Araujo, Teixeira, da Cruz and Malini, 2014, the framework and solutions which helps individuals to settle in the home country are resourcing, expatriate preparation and training and cross-cultural training (Von Borell de Araujo, Teixeira, da Cruz and Malini, 2014). There is quite a difference between working in the foreign environment than working in the domestic one. It has been observed that the managers do not pay much consideration while picking employees for the international project. There are some factors which contribute to resourcing the employees such as the advanced level of performance has to be attained in the different environment which comprises communication with diverse culture and languages. The necessities for the overseas assignments are intricate than the domestic ones. Another challenge is faced because of the dearth of information about the performance of the employees in an international project. Besides, higher performance in the domestic region does not always lead to the higher performance in the overseas environment. Sometimes, there is high pressure on the managers at the time of assigning an assignment to the employee which does not consequence in the best selection for the project. The managers also reflect the family situation of the employees as it is a great influence in their decision of accepting and rejecting overseas assignments. This challenge goes along with attaining house and working license in the particular country. It leads to the lots of complications in the expatriate families when the spouse is not able to get a work. According to Maley, and Moeller, 2014, the culture variances between the host and the home country also have a role when it comes to the selection of the exact employees (Maley, and Moeller, 2014). It has been noticed that there is always more chances for the females to be accepted than the males depending on the domestic and overseas assignments. The employees are chosen for the overseas assignments also have to expend time in the places which are threatening their lives. The overseas workers being kept as a prisoner in the Iraq, Nigeria, and Afghanistan are the best example of this situation. All of them are not able to escape or get freedom from their abductors. Some chases are met in which the bodies of the sufferers are found after some time of kidnapping them (Caligiuri and Bücker, 2014).
After evaluating all the aspects inducing resourcing of the expatriates, the human resources have made their choice. The subsequent step to be taken in the deliberation is the preparation and training of the expatriates. This process has an important role in the success of the overseas assignments. Then also the international companies underrate this process. According to Mahajan, and Toh, 2014, the factors inducing the training depending on the expats and their personal features like the culture of the host country and how does the company observe the project in link with the objectives of the company (Mahajan, and Toh, 2014). The expatriates work in the new country with completely different cultural characteristics. The cross-cultural training is one of the significant measures of the preparation.
It increases the job performance by simplifying adjustments to the host country. It also reduces the incorrect attributes of the behavior, increases understanding of the culture and reduces stereotype thinking. It also declines the social ambiguity which can result as culture shock. It advances cross-cultural competencies and leads to the attainment of the objectives more successfully. As per Lauring, Selmer and Jacobsen, 2014, the cross-cultural training programs differ considerably in content, length, and concentration depending on the company. It is required to provide an explanation about culture to the assignees that how it is in general and how it differs (Lauring, Selmer and Jacobsen, 2014). It contributes in the successful intercultural communication. There are some other sources which provide information about the foreign country such as convention with an individual who is known to the host country can be effective. The discussion with the prior expatriate can help a lot to other expatriates during their stay and successful completion of the projects. The language also has an significant role in understanding the culture of the host country. The assignees can be provided with language courses. The course takes place either before parting or during their stay in the host nation. It is helpful in communicating and understanding native colleagues (Reiche, Lee and Quintanilla, 2014).
As per Jayasekara and Takahashi, 2014, the expatriate management is essential not just when they leave for a new country but also when they arrive back. The process of coming back and the return of the individual’s home entry after living overseas for a substantial period of time are known as repatriation (Jayasekara and Takahashi, 2014). The repatriates have to alter the time to the home country, work and start the collaborating again. It is not easy for most expatriates to come back and adapt own’s culture. It has been noticed that it is easy for most of the expatriates to live overseas and adjusting to their own home. The repatriates experience a reverse culture shock. They are in the high mood after their arrival home and everything seems perfect. Everything is monitored by a low mood and nothing as it used to be. After a passage of time, they feel neither overexcited nor nervous nut they feel normal. The frameworks and solutions are selected for the expatriates and help them settle down in the new country and help them to re-adapt when they come back to the home country (Zhu, Wanberg, Harrison and Diehn, 2016).
The employees are offered a repatriation course when they arrive home. According to Dickmann, and Cerdin, 2014, it is a significant way to make returnees and their families about the encounters they are coming to face with their rearrangement (Dickmann, and Cerdin, 2014). The counseling sessions, group discussions, seminars, social get-together have a role in informing repatriates and their relatives about the challenges they are going to face after re-entry. The content of the repatriation courses differs expressively according to the desires and demands of the individuals. Although, most of the repatriates suffer from out of mind syndrome and out of sight so they are provided with some mutual traits. As per Li and Jackson, 2015 the reverse culture shock deals with the changes and readjustment to the home country. The psychosomatic and emotional symptoms of feeling like immigrants in their own country and evolving coping plans have an important role in the course (Li and Jackson, 2015). The information is provided on the political, social and the economic changes. They are also provided with the cost of living, health service, personal security, public utilities, law, and order. The business environment information such as law and company policy, new products and services of the company, trends, and developments, acquisitions, the introduction of the executives to the would-be colleagues are provided in detail when the plans are different than the overseas company. The employee benefit plans and services, the introduction of the executives and supporting staff is also provided (Baruch, Altman and Tung, 2016). The financial planning is reviewed such as taxation, investment, insurance, and pensions. The information is offered for the school children’s education such as national curriculum, examinations, admission process, standards, and the university entrance. The issues of the spouse are resolved such as job search and CVs. It includes finding occupation, guidance for writing CVs, skills apprising course and job search support (McNulty and Vance, 2017).
According to the views of Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016, difficulty is faced by the repatriates as a process of version. It is prejudiced by the expectations of the expatriates and the perception of the company’s about international assignments (Caligiuri and Bonache, 2016). The expatriates take easily to approach when they return to the home; they do not feel any need of professional help with the repatriation. They feel that everything will be the same as they left. They found themselves more efficient, courteous and financially stable. If such expectations of the repatriates are meet then only their job commitment increases and turnover rate decreases. It helps in saving the cost of the company of losing a key employee. The repatriates feel work-related changes such as losing control on authority and status due to their international assignments. The job should the chance for the employees to preserve trustworthiness within the organization. The employees are also required to add a contribution to the company in order to keep their image unharmed. Not only work but the society has also changed during the international assignments. The repatriates face problems of housing, the job of the spouse and schooling for the children (Martins and Tomé, 2014). The expatriates also rent out the house during their stay to the abroad. When they return home then they have to buy the house.
Conclusion
The expatriates are required to develop a encouraging attitude towards the atmosphere of the host country where the international assignment is undertaken. The learning language is a advantageous factor in understanding the culture of the foreign country. The expats are prerequisite to gain knowledge in order to communicate effectively. When the expatriates come back home then they are suggested to keep in touch with their family and friends instead of suffering from the out-of-sight and out-of-mind syndrome. In the above report, a framework is suggested to select the best individual by the managers. The framework helps individuals to settle down in the host country. The framework provided also helps individuals to readapt the culture and work environment when they arrive back to the home country.
References
Baruch, Y., Altman, Y. and Tung, R.L., 2016. Career mobility in a global era: Advances in managing expatriation and repatriation. The Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), pp.841-889.
Caligiuri, P. and Bonache, J., 2016. Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.127-141.
Caligiuri, P. and Bücker, J.J.L.E., 2014. Selection for international assignments. Collings, DG; Wood, GT; Caligiuri, PM (ed.), The Routledge Companion to International Human Resource Management, pp.275-288.
Cole, N. and Nesbeth, K., 2014. Why do international assignments fail? Expatriate families speak. International Studies of Management & Organization, 44(3), pp.66-79.
Dickmann, M. and Cerdin, J.L., 2014. Boundaryless career drivers–exploring macro-contextual factors in location decisions. Journal of Global Mobility, 2(1), pp.26-52.
Jayasekara, P. and Takahashi, Y., 2014. Improving post-assignment behavioral outcomes of expatriates: A Sri Lankan perspective. Journal of Global Mobility, 2(3), pp.298-316.
Lauring, J., Selmer, J. and Jacobsen, J.K.S., 2014. Business or pleasure? Blurring relocation categories and motivation patterns among expatriates. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 14(2), pp.170-186.
Li, N. and Jackson, M.H., 2015. Global relocation: an examination of the corporate influence on expatriate adjustment. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 53(4), pp.471-489.
Mahajan, A. and Toh, S.M., 2014. Facilitating expatriate adjustment: The role of advice-seeking from host country nationals. Journal of World Business, 49(4), pp.476-487.
Maley, J.F. and Moeller, M., 2014. Global performance management systems: The role of trust as perceived by country managers. Journal of Business Research, 67(1), pp.2803-2810.
Martins, D. and Tomé, E., 2014. Knowledge management in multinational companies: the repatriates’ role in the competitive advantage in subsidiaries. In European Conference on Knowledge Management (Vol. 2, pp. 628-636). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
McNulty, Y. and Vance, C.M., 2017. Dynamic global careers: A new conceptualization of expatriate career paths. Personnel Review, 46(2), pp.205-221.
Reiche, B.S., Lee, Y.T. and Quintanilla, J., 2014. Cross-cultural training and support practices of international assignees. Routledge Companion to International Human Resource Management, pp.308-323.
Silbiger, A. and Pines, A.M., 2014. Expatriate stress and burnout. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), pp.1170-1183.
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Vance, C.M. and McNulty, Y., 2014. Why and how women and men acquire global career experience: A study of American expatriates in Europe. International Studies of Management & Organization, 44(2), pp.34-54.
Von Borell de Araujo, B.F., Teixeira, M.L.M., da Cruz, P.B. and Malini, E., 2014. Understanding the adaptation of organisational and self-initiated expatriates in the context of Brazilian culture. The international journal of human resource management, 25(18), pp.2489-2509.
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