X HR Oops! Expats Often Become Ex-Employees By some accounts, more than half company placed her in a position to 25% in companies that provide of employees sent on International with less responsibility and said her repatriation training and to 10% if the assignments end up quitting within ideas "will not work here." She left training starts before the employee's the first two years of returning to the for a job at another company, which return. home country. In one company stud- benefited from the first company's led, 100% left within one year. Con- investment in her development. Questions sidering that companies spend as Companies can avoid these much as three times an employee's 1. What changes would you expect costly mistakes with plans for repa- to observe in an employee annual salary for an overseas assign- triation that respect the value of the who completes an overseas ment, this fallure to reintegrate expat's experiences. A company can expats is an expensive one indeed. assignment? What value could begin the effort while the employee Returning home and experi- Is still on the assignment. For exam- these bring to the employer? 2. Suppose you work In the HR encing culture shock in reverse is ple, the company can assign a man- already difficult but does not explain department of a company that ager in the home office to mentor the leaving one's employer. The high expat and speak about that person's sends high-potential employees turnover likely has more to do with on two-year overseas accomplishments to colleagues, so the employer's failure to show that it that the person is not forgotten while assignments. The company handles repatriation with a values what the employee learned away. Periodic return visits also may overseas and has planned a way to help to keep the employee con- briefing and training program apply it across the organization, A nected and the Information flowing. when the employee returns, and corporation in Korea had a process Performance management should it has a 25% turnover rate. How of asking returning expats to spend Include measurement of the kinds of would you suggest the company a few weeks preparing reports about skills a person learns from cross-cul- improve the turnover rate? what they learned, but the reports tural assignments-for example, bet- Sources: Marie-Therese Claes, "Learn- were never used. Another company ter leadership and negotiation skills Ing Other Cultures," BizEd, March/April sent a marketing executive on a five- from learning to see a situation from 2020, pp. 47-50, Neal R. Goodman, year assignment in Germany, where several perspectives "Expat Exodus," TD, November 2019, she learned the language and devel- Such efforts matter. The research pp. 50-55; Allen Smith, "Dealing with oped a set of new leaders, When she showing 50% turnover among expa- Culture Shock," HR Magazine, Summer returned home, full of new ideas, the triates also shows that the rate falls 2019, pp. 22-23