A project report on Expatriate and Repatriate experience

Global Human Resource Management

Submitted by partial fulfillment of the course requirement of Post Graduate
Diploma in Management

Dayananda Sagar Business School

Shavige Malleshwara Hills, Kumarswamy Layout

Banglore-560078

Submitted By,

Madankumar(PGDM 1519)
Definition of Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than
that of the person's upbringing or legal residence.

In common usage, the term is often used in the context of professionals sent abroad by their
companies, as opposed to locally hired staf

Skilled professionals working in another country are described as expatriates, whereas a manual
abourer who has moved to another country to earn more money might be labelled an 'immigrant

Starting at the end of the 20th century, globalization created a global market for
skilled professionals and levelled the income of skilled professionals relative to cost of living

The cost of intercontinental travel had become sufficiently low.

This created different type of expatriate where commuter and short term assignments are becoming
more common and often used by organizations to supplement traditional expatriation.

ANAMIKA SINGH,

Occupation: HR (TAQ), SARVA, bengaluru

Age:26

SAGAR S,
Occupation: team Leader, SARVA, Bengaluru

Age:29,

Anamika Singh and Sagar S shares their experiences as expatriates who visited,USA.

Opportunities for Organizations

Technical skills as well as relational abilities increase the probability of success by a large
degree

Saves a major amount of time in dealing with the clients and work

Provides a global understanding of the work

Improves the relationship with the client; in turn will give more business to the organization

Provides job satisfaction to the employee; this will increase the productivity
 The more complex the environment, the more it enhances the planning and motivation
techniques of the employee; thus confidence increases

Problems faced

Forced to stay in the organization for a fixed period of time after returning from the
assignment

Ill-planning of the assignment leads to poor job performance and displacement

40% of the assignments fail due to poor performance

Ethnocentrism, cultural unfamiliarity, monocultural upbringing are a huge problem

Lack of interpersonal skills and judgmental approach

Work pressure and lifestyle stress on spouse/families

Negative approach towards the career while on assignment

Lack of communication

Lack of information about happenings of the company/Indian country

Repatriates feel like foreigners after they return from the assignment.

What sort of special training do overseas an indivisual need?

One firm specializing in such programs prescribes a four-step approach

Level One training focus on impact of cultural difference, raising awareness for
differences and their impact on business

Level Two training understanding of the attitudes (positive and negative) and its influence
on behavior

Level Three training Factual/Cultural knowledge about the target country

Level Four training skill building in areas like language, adjustment and adaptation skills

Encourage the expatriate to be open-minded, respectful, non-judgmental and diplomatic

about opinions, attitudes and behaviors

The company should be open and should share detailed information about tax implications,
the effects of the move on retirement, stock options and a host of other details

A pre-departure trip arrangement for the employee/spouse

REPARTRIATE:

Repatriation is the process of returning a person - voluntarily or forcibly - to his or her place of
origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning military personnel to their place of
origin following a war. It also applies to diplomatic envoys, international officials as well
as expatriates and migrants in time of international crisis. For refugees,asylum seekers and illegal
migrants, repatriation can mean either voluntary return or deportation.
The term may also refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the
currency of one's own country.

REPATRIATE VS RETURN

While repatriation necessarily brings an individual to his or her territory of origin or citizenship, a
return potentially includes bringing the person back to the point of departure. This could be to a
third country, including a country of transit, which is a country the person has traveled through to
get to the country of destination. A return could also be within the territorial boundaries of a
country, as in the case of returninginternall y displaced persons and demobilized combatants

AFAQ AHMED
Ooccupation: People Associate Manager,
Age: 30

SIDDHARTH MALLIK
Occupation : People Associate Manager,
Age:34

Afaq Ahmed and Siddharth Mallik talk about repatriation out of their experience as under,

Where Repatriation Goes Wrong

While each executives experience of repatriation may involve nuances and individual differences,
in cases where it goes badly we see the same root causes over and over again. Sometimes found in
isolation and sometimes in combination, they include:

Mismatch of expectations. Far away from headquarters, in fast developing and fluid market
situations, expatriate executives often enjoy great autonomy in decision-making and wide latitude
in pursuing the objectives of the business. Already considered top performers before they leave,
they feel themselves growing in leadership stature during the expatriate assignment, gain
confidence in their skills, and expect to be rewarded with a challenging role when they return.
Often those expectations are not met. They find themselves in a role they believe they have
outgrown, or the company simply does not have the right stretch opportunity for them. To the
returning executive, the new role feels like a demotion and disenchantment and dissatisfaction
soon follow.

Reverse culture shock. Executives who absorb the experience of another country may be
personally transformed by the experience with widened cultural horizons and a greater
appreciation for alternative ways of approaching business challenges. As a result, they can find
themselves somewhat alienated when they return home. They may have acquired new skills that are
not fully appreciated or cannot be applied. They may have developed somewhat different values
and motivations, and their colleagues may not be interested in their experiences. The shock of re-
entry can also involve practical matters, like the abrupt change from the comfort of expatriate life or
the logistical issues of housing and schooling all of which the executive and the company may
have wrongly assumed will not be problematic.

Organizational change. With ever shorter cycles of innovation and disruption in many industries,
companies can change dramatically during an expatriates time away. Seemingly overnight, new
leaders, new organizational structures, new strategies or even a new company following an
acquisition or divestiture can arise. Expatriate executives may be lost in the shuffle or even feel
entirely forgotten. When they return, they find that their internal network has been dispersed and
they may feel that the companys abrupt change of direction has left them with little future in the
organization.

Any of these common pitfalls can turn the initial excitement of returning home into frustration for
the individual and create disruption in your organization. Yet with some forethought and some
structure, you can minimize the risk of their occurring and maximize return on the investment in the
executive.

Rethinking Repatriation

If your repatriation program kicks into gear only when an expatriate is about to return, then it is
likely too little too late. Many of the problems that plague repatriation take root before the
executive departs for the new assignment and can continue to grow throughout the foreign tour.
You can avoid these missteps by creating a comprehensive program and end-to-end process that
begins before a candidate is selected and continues well after he or she has returned. It includes
these best practice
Before making an expatriate appointment

Identify the right people. One of the best ways to avoid mutual disappointment in expatriate
assignments is to make sure you are sending the right person in the first place. Through rigorous
assessment you can identify candidates who have the potential, agility, commitment and culture
fit to navigate the move and the return.

Manage expectations up front. From the outset, you should have candid discussions with the
executive about opportunities after repatriation. Be realistic. Says Helen Maye, Chief Human
Resources Officer at Smith & Nephew: It is very important to manage career expectations and
have pre-assignment conversations. Tell them how it is going to be when they return, because
most executives do not think about life after their expat assignment. Make it clear that it is
unlikely that a role will have been pre-planned for their return. And if, on returning, the
executive must temporarily settle for what feels like a lateral rather than an upward move, it does
not mean failure, especially since having completed the expat assignment will allow him or her
to progress much faster subsequently and get in the succession for a senior position.

Ensure commitment from key stakeholders in advance. In setting up the reintegration

program, HR should secure buy-in from leaders for a re-entry process that is much like
onboarding and includes coaching, mentoring, ongoing support, and progress reviews. Says
Elisabeth Capmarty, HR Director Emerging Markets at Janssen, Before sending an executive
abroad, we try to get commitment from senior leadership. We ask them whether they would be
ready to reintegrate the executive with their teams. If the answer is no, we seriously reconsider
sending the executive abroad, because we know that reintegration is going to be difficult to
manage.
While the executive is away

Communicate. Maintain regular contact with expatriate executives. Check their progress in
adjusting to the new environment. Encourage them to talk frankly about any problems they are
encountering, and find out what additional support they or their families might need. Update
them on any changes in personnel, structure, or strategy at home. In short, do everything possible
to make them feel valued and in touch. Wolf Kupatt, President Latin America at Baxter, who has
experienced several assignments in emerging markets, knows first-hand about expatriate
communication challenges. Today, as a leader sending people abroad, he observes: Most
companies do not pay enough attention to the executive once the person and family are out of
sight. They know little about what is going on in the environment and the challenges the
manager faces apart from business. Each time I go into a country where there is an expatriate, I
take time to talk to the family or at least catch up on the latest from the home front. Now, for
example, with the massive strikes and protests creating a very uncomfortable security situation in
Brazil, I stay very close to our ex-pat managers there. This might seem like overdoing it, but the
fact that someone is interested is very important to them.

Plan ahead. Initiate discussion of the move back home a year in advance with the executive.
Begin preparing the executive, the family and the home environment to reduce the shock of re-
entry for all involved. Include in those discussions not only the relevant HR personnel and
outside advisors but also the leader and the team to which the colleague will be

When the executive returns

Undertake career planning. Expatriate assignments can be both personally and professionally
transformative, requiring a fresh look at the development and career plans of returnees. Explore
with them any changes in motivation and career objectives they may have undergone. Identify
the leadership and business skills they have acquired. Reassess their potential and determine
what support they will need to implement their development plan and realize that potential and
be clear about where they stand in the succession pipeline.

Address the issue of an appropriate role. Ideally, you will have set realistic expectations with
executives before they depart. But, as we have noted, conditions change, and sufficiently
challenging roles may be in short supply when an expatriate returns. Conversely, as a result of
the expatriate experience, a returning executive may be ready for a much bigger role than
initially anticipated a readiness that the exercise in career planning and development should
uncover. If the organization and the executive have remained in close contact and the executive
has effectively networked while away, they should be able to identify or even co-create a suitable
role. Further, other highly desirable international assignments will inevitably open up in the
future, with much greater scope and responsibility roles that are likely to be entrusted only to
people who have proven international experience.

Offer support. Have dedicated professional teams ready to help the repatriate and the family
relocate, readjust, and navigate often cumbersome administrative systems inside and outside the
company. Identify a mentor or coach to advise the returnee, making sure to match the right
people and create a rich network on which the returnee can draw.

Be sure, also, to track the impact of the program at every stage. Through surveys, debriefings,
and ongoing dialogue with the executives, find out what is working and not working and
continuously improve the process. In addition, measure the return on investment in the program
by tracking retention rates, conducting satisfaction surveys, and assessing promotion readiness.
Increasingly positive results will not only help ensure leadership buy-in but also assure
executives that they can accept expatriate assignments with confidence.
Conclusion

It is relatively easy to quantify the value of achieving specific business goals during an
expatriate assignment increasing market share, establishing new production facilities, gaining a
foothold in new markets, and the like. The value and benefits of consistent successful
repatriation, although more difficult to calculate, are nonetheless real and substantial.

They include:

Engaged and motivated repatriates

Reduced turnover of highly skilled executives

Executives who embrace expatriate assignments

Improved international connectivity and knowledge transfer

An employer brand known for exceptional professional development Moreover, in our work
assisting leading companies with all of the elements of a comprehensive program, we repeatedly
encounter the same refrain: with growth in emerging markets making executive mobility a
strategic necessity, successful repatriation is no longer a nice-to-have; it is an essential. Those
companies that get it right will not only better execute that strategy, but also develop and retain a
deep bench of genuinely global talent prepared for the next twists and turns in the ongoing story
of globalization.