Unsuccessful international assignments are costly for organisations and can be a career breaker for talent. With failure rates remaining stubbornly high, we look at what leading HR and Global Mobility professionals are doing to turn the tables and ensure their teams successfully work, live and thrive in new places around the world.
Paying the price
The most frequently measured impact of failure is financial: Assignments that don’t go to plan often cost up to five times an employee’s base salary. But the personal price of perceived failure can be far higher, leading to loss of talent—frequently because of family issues or spousal dissatisfaction.
The wrong kind of planning
The adjustment cycle expatriate families navigate is well known, from a honeymoon phase through periods of distress to adaptation. Many studies point to a perceived lack of support employees feel a month or so into settling in. This is particularly pertinent for family relocations, where overwhelming feelings of anxiety and uncertainty create a sense of stress and exhaustion. It’s a statistical reality that the primary cause of assignment failure is where an employee or their family are unable to assimilate into their new location. This physical and psychological impact undermines success and points not always to a lack of preparation but to the wrong kind of pre-planning activity, and to assignments where extra support is needed. Failure rates for assignments to developing countries are often higher than international moves to developed ones, so one size fits all support simply won’t do.
Truly tailored advice
For years, HR teams applied cookie-cutter courses to help assignees and their families navigate what most of us simply call culture shock. These materials describe how international customs and cultures might differ, with often generic advice on how to behave when moving between cultures with different behavioural styles. High-performing Global Mobility teams are the ones who now tailor this advice down to a macro level of detail or use a destination services partner with people on the ground who are experienced in supporting these transitions on a daily basis.
Focused and frank
Highly targeted pre-departure information is key to setting expectations, but traditionally it’s been broad consumer country advice about climate and customs. The reality is that moving from South Africa to Singapore
is often more about the cost of living versus salary, especially housing. What can look like a generous allowance on paper can be very disappointing during a home search where a family is concerned. Moving from Switzerland to Singapore is just as big a culture shock, but not such a financial wrench. So, pre-planning needs to be focused, finite and frank.
Family first
Among the many challenges families face, cultural adjustment, education and healthcare concerns, and a sense of separation from home rank highly for driving dissatisfaction. Feelings of isolation are often felt strongly by families, particularly if a partner has made their own career sacrifice as part of an international move. Clear policies, plus support such as coaching or introductions to local networking groups are vital. And help with technology before travel can go a long way to combat these hurdles, rather than navigating the vagaries of VPNs and video chat once in country.
Experience talks
Assignment success rates can also be enhanced where pre-planning is supported by lived experience. Many professionals will think Hong Kong and Singapore are similar working destinations and in some respects they are. But having up-to-date support from people on the ground will highlight the differences in working ways, which can be huge. Large organisations often use buddying-up for this with staff already in country to help navigate local norms.
Relocation research
‘When is the right time for this? … Never’. That’s the reality assignees face. The practicalities of career planning, immigration, packing and property searches take over from preparation for new personal and professional culture changes. Many leave this aspect to the last minute or try to hit the ground running. Internet research is often aimed at tourists, and many expat forums are for those already working abroad, not those planning the transition. There’s increasing evidence that assignment success rates are directly linked to destination research, and many Global Mobility professionals are formalising ‘time off with the family’ to complete that piece of work – whether or not that includes a personal visit and orientation tour ahead of any move.
Roles and responsibilities
Another overlooked factor is how family roles change when an assignee is expected to become productive in work at speed—leaving partners to deal with logistics at a time when they might be seeking a new job, too. Lightening the load of the practicalities of the physical move frees up time and energy that accelerates success for your staff. So, an expert resource is an essential enabler. This needn’t be a reactive offer of help in the face of problems, but some pre-work to help families understand their new dynamics.
Goal setting
The employers’ focus is often the commercial success of an assignment. But helping assignees and their families set wider personal motivations and goals can also reduce rates of failure or early repatriation. Building aspirational goals is a powerful tool and averts the risks of a ‘holiday mentality’: What would you each like to see and do differently? What soft and hard skills would you like to acquire in your time overseas? Creating a clear set of personal and family objectives widens the definition of success and quantifies what new routines they’ll need to embrace to achieve a holistic sense of pride and purpose beyond material gain.
Expect the expected
The honeymoon to adaptation journey is something almost universally felt by talent, so Global Mobility and HR teams can do some work to help prepare for this predictable phase rather than firefight when it might be too late. As assignees adopt and adapt to their new life and living, the highs and lows become less pronounced as they enter one of the most productive phases of their overseas adventure reaping rewards for themselves and their organisation. This is often when spouses and children feel at ease, creating a shared sense of success from what can often be a bold move.
On the ground
Fruzsina Hodson, Santa Fe’s Group Senior Manager, Destination Services, said
“Lots of data shows us that failure rates for overseas family assignments remain high. Yet many of our best clients are consistently cutting these numbers by offering truly tailored advice. The honeymoon period may be predictable, but the distress stage soon after is far from inevitable if you put the work in upfront. If you’re relocating to the Guangdong Greater Bay Area, don’t rely on Macau holiday experiences 10 years ago or a tourist guide, the ways of working have changed as much as the skyline. We have detailed live data and genuinely useful advice at our fingertips, plus people who live and work there whose only job is to help assignees succeed. This includes personal and professional fulfilment for families of all shapes and sizes”.
Professional partnership
If you’re looking for big ideas or small nudges to help your talent and teams relocate overseas successfully, we would love to support you. Simply drop an email to reloverse@stagingsantaferelocom.local and we’ll get back to you.