Several years ago in one of my blog posts I posed a question whether starting an expatriate assignment requires more company support than repatriation. Despite the common logic that going abroad to a new and unfamiliar place should be more challenging than returning home to a familiar place, this notion couldn’t be further from reality. […]
Towards a Better Understanding of Global Professionals’ Adjustment
It is hard to argue with the claim that adjustment is one of the most prominent topics related to global mobility. Annual industry surveys, such as Cartus or Brookfield surveys, regularly point to a high prevalence of adjustment challenges. This is also reflected in the academic literature, where adjustment has been assumed a critical psychological […]
Expats: Love is in the Air?
Although spring is far gone, summer is leaving us, and the colder, darker and, oftentimes grumpier, seasons are ahead, I have chosen to write about expats’ love and committed relationships today. At first sight, this topic may not seem as important as matters of adjustment, organizational support, child education possibilities and host country climate; yet, […]
The Big Escape: When the Grass at Home Has Lost Its Green
Looking through the literature on cross-cultural travellers, you may notice that the adjustment processes and coping mechanisms across different traveller groups, such as expats, immigrants and international students, are quite similar. Yet, one group of cross-cultural travellers does differ, which is the group of refugees. Like other groups, refugees are confronted with demands of adapting […]
Expat Homesickness: Is It really that Bad?
Are you an expat, who was assigned to a year-long project abroad, and who feels homesick? I believe, many will understand you. Or are you a spouse, who decided to leave your life back home to accompany your partner, and you feel homesick? Well, that is also quite normal. What if you are an expat, […]
Trailing Spouses: In Need of Organizational Support
The topic of international assignments is rarely discussed without mentioning issues of the accompanying partners, or so-called trailing spouses. According to different industry surveys (e.g. Brookfield, 2012; Cartus, 2012) the adjustment problems and dissatisfaction of spouses/partners, as well as dual-career issues, top the lists of expatriation challenges, and quite often become reasons for refusing an […]
Relocating Children Abroad: The Myths and the Truths
When thinking about relocations and expatriates’ mobile lifestyle, it has been common to acknowledge related challenges such as cultural shock, adjustment to a new environment, foreign language difficulties, and the slow process of socialization in the host country. Mostly, such discussions concern relocating adults, and when it comes to expatriates’ children, the common assumption is […]
Expatriates have less work-life balance abroad than at home. Some evidence.
The statement that expatriates have less work-life balance abroad than at home is a Fact. Expatriate survey findings indicate that expatriates spend longer hours at work than they do in their home countries, working on average 13.4 hours per week more.
If you want to solve expatriates’ adjustment problems, don’t forget the spouse!
With expatriation becoming an integral part of the talent management in global companies more and more attention is paid to its challenges and the problems that international assignees face. However, focusing only on the difficulties that expatriates themselves encounter is not enough…
Self-initiated expatriates are happier while staying abroad than company-initiated expatriates? Some evidence.
The statement that self-initiated expatriates are happier while staying abroad than company-initiated expatriates is not a fact. Although there is no clear evidence for one group’s higher well-being over the other, there is enough evidence for differences between self-initiated and company-initiated expatriates.
Statement: Previous international experience facilitates an expatriate’s adjustment to a new country.
Previous international experience facilitates an expatriate’s adjustment to a new country.
Fact or Fiction?
Please see the evidence…
Current Trends: Family concerns remain the hot topic in expatriation
When looking at the hot topics and key challenges in expatriation, it seems that family-related issues continue to top the list. The 2010 Brookfield Global Relocation Trends Survey results indicate that, similar to previous years, multinationals view family adjustment, children’s education and partner resistance as the most important expatriation challenges. Companies also state that family […]
Statement: Starting an expatriate assignment requires more company support than repatriation
Company support at the outset of the assignment is much more important than when completing the assignment and returning home.
Fact or Fiction?
Have a look at the evidence..