Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/227268
Relocation within 118 companies surveyed left their companies within a year of returning home. This doesn't fare well for the company either. Costs for a typical three-year assignment can exceed $1 million. And it becomes even more expensive when there's no return on investment. Such scenarios can be avoided by strategic planning. Before sending an employee on assignment, a company must assess its anticipated return on investment, and determine how it will assimilate this individual back into the organization. A company policy should address the professional, financial, and personal impact of repatriation on the employee and family, as applicable. Companies that incorporate these measures into their overall talent management and human capital risk management strategies have a far better chance of achieving their business objectives. Professional Repatriation Professional repatriation begins when the need for the assignment is established. It includes several factors: Candidate assessment and selection. This first decision and often the most critical, selecting the appropriate candidate with the right skills at the right time can dictate the success of the assignment. This means not only considering the employee's skills as they relate to the assignment, but also their personal/family circumstances, flexibility, motivation, values, etc. A company can host a suite of assessments to forecast a candidate's ability to work effectively in a host country and culture. Employers should do their due diligence by collecting background information, performing cognitive and personality testing, as well as self-assessment readiness exercises and face-to-face interviews. All can provide valuable insight, and if the employee has a spouse or partner, he or she should also participate. For maximum effectiveness, organizations should also consider utilising the various online and in-person assessment tools now available. These highly effective tools are designed to identify issues that should be addressed before departure (e.g., skill gaps), to ensure a more prepared assignee. Pre-assignment planning. More often than not, the preplanning stage is limited to administrative tasks, including benefits, tax responsibilities, assignment budgeting, financial preparedness, letters of assignment, and visa and immigration requirements. While these are all essential to the assignment's success, there is often zero planning for repatriation at its conclusion. [42] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2013 To lay the groundwork for a successful repatriation, organizations should consider several factors during the pre-assignment planning phase. Be sure to outline the expectations for returning to the home location, including career growth and succession planning. Have a detailed plan of how the employee will communicate with the home location and when scheduled visits will occur. Pre-established metrics for monitoring and measuring performance during the assignment to successfully transition to the next position upon repatriation are essential. Executive coaching. Coaching and mentoring during an assignment are also paramount to its success, the ease of the repatriation, and the organization's overall return on investment. There are various coaching models suitable to specific corporate cultures, and each provides the assignee with a way to discuss issues and receive the guidance needed to achieve the required outcome. Within a talent management framework, coaching can also help the employee optimise the assignment from a personal and professional development perspective and recognize areas that need additional focus. Repatriation cultural training. Reverse culture shock is defined as that suffered by expatriates upon their return home from a long-term assignment. Its effects are often profound, both personally and professionally, and can be long lasting if not addressed quickly and correctly. While most companies offer cultural training to prepare for an assignment, few offer training for its conclusion. However, this is a critically important component of repatriation that provides much-needed support and protects a company's investment. Just a day or two of reentry training is well worth the time and expense. In addition to benefitting from the training itself, the employee and family will also feel that the company is encouraging them in their reintegration and adjustment efforts. Company reorientation. As part of your organization's talent management program, do you offer repatriation orientation? If not, you're a step closer to losing the employee each day. Repatriated employees have firsthand knowledge of a company's position within the host country market space and can provide invaluable information. Yet this knowledge is rarely leveraged by the organization as part of the repatriation debrief, leading the employee to question why he or she accepted the assignment in the first place. Financial Repatriation While many multinationals have reduced the number of