over development needs such that assignees are able to deploy the competencies required to meet ever- developing and fast-changing strategic goals. Learning programmes via training courses can provide a simple method of updating skills. Development, however, goes beyond improving skills capabilities to result in a change in the individual’s ways of knowing, doing and being – it results in behavioural change whereby individuals cross a threshold of significance in their lives. To achieve this requires opportunities to see the world differently by working with different people, in new and challenging environments. Working in communities of practice, networks of opportunity, action learning sets, and using the virtual world can all provide development opportunities, in addition to global mobility. PM principles involve everybody in the organisation


– managers, individuals and teams. Here, organisations need to ensure that assignees are willing and able to work across all levels and functions such that they can play their part in the integration of PM vertically and horizontally across the business. Continual monitoring and regular reviews underpin


successful PM. Organisations must therefore ensure that their PM processes track and record the achievement of results, their impact on performance, the competencies of individuals and teams, and how results and competencies are achieved. Organisations must focus on aspects of the global


mobility process that affect assignees’ day-to-day performance and remove obstacles to raising productivity. The use of services that reduce the time spent on aspects of moving provide examples. If assignees are spending time on house and school search, for example, this clearly affects their productivity. The costs of such services can easily be outweighed by productivity and performance improvements. Organisations should also consider aspects of family life.


Unhappy families create stress for assignees, again affecting performance at work. Dual career support, for example, can be seen as a cost but the benefits that flow from assisting dual career partners to follow their desired career paths can outweigh this in terms of assignee productivity. Organisations need to consider all aspects of the


move throughout the expatriate cycle (from selection, in-post, through to repatriation and post-assignment retention) to identify aspects where support at potentially low financial cost can be outweighed by considerable benefits in performance outcomes. Last, but by no means least, comes employee


engagement. Engaged employees are productive and typically exhibit high performance. Organisations must consider their employee engagement strategies, operations and processes and ensure that they focus on engagement principles. Employee engagement has implications for a wide range of human resource issues, including the work environment, meaningful work, job resources, communication and voice, and leadership and management. In turn these influence activities such as diversity management, reward policy and involvement and participation.


RETURN ON INVESTMENT OR EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT? This two-part series began with a question. Should organisations expect ROI or should they manage their expectations to accept that this might not be quantifiable? There is a rationale for attempting to measure ROI in a financial sense and efforts to improve assignee performance must play a part in this. But should organisations simply accept that they need to manage their expectations because the true value of ROI in both a financial and non-financial sense cannot be achieved? Here the answer is no. There is no need for organisations to lower their


expectations of what ROI can deliver in the way of useful information on the value of international assignments. Organisations should therefore not discount ROI data as it does play a valuable part in assessing assignment outcomes. However, ROI by itself is not enough. What organisations should do is to embrace the strategic nature of PM principles and consider how successful global mobility rests on a mix of ROI data and the assignment outcomes that can be expected to assist in the delivery of organisational success at the strategic level from PM processes. The combination of PM and ROI information


can provide a formidable tool to ensure the strategic integration of competency development with business goals and act as the basis for high performance within global mobility.


“ ENGAGED EMPLOYEES ARE PRODUCTIVE AND TYPICALLY EXHIBIT HIGH PERFORMANCE. ORGANISATIONS MUST CONSIDER THEIR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES, OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES AND ENSURE THAT THEY FOCUS ON ENGAGEMENT PRINCIPLES.”


DOWNLOAD


Download our Mini Factsheets at thinkglobalpeople.com


GLOBAL MOBILITY MINI FACTSHEET: WORKING ACROSS CULTURES


Culture shock


DESPONDENCY Reality then sets in as individuals have to perform at work, children must settle into new schools and spouses/partners must have a structure to their lives. At this point, living in the new culture can feel difficult. This can lead to feelings of loss of confidence and of capability leading to a period of despondency and disenchantment. This period again varies from person to person but is thought to last for around six months.


DEPRESSION At its lowest point, a sense of depression can set in as assignees and family members feel unable to cope. This can lead to inappropriate


Culture shock refers to the cycle of heightened excitement, despondency and depression before reaching adjustment when living and working in a different culture. It can seriously affect the mental and physical health of assignees and their families.


HONEYMOON When people


live and work abroad,


they typically experience a honeymoon period when they are delighted to have arrived and are excited about their new adventure. While individuals might feel a sense of elation, they are not necessarily at their most productive. Although there is no defined timescale as everybody is different, this phase typically lasts for around four to six weeks.


remember that everyone is different and will adapt in different periods of time. Not everyone will experience the cycle in the same way; some may not experience the honeymoon stage but feel despondent or depressed early on. Organisations need to consider the


effects of culture shock on performance management and take into account cultural adaptation in their appraisal processes. Organisations should consider the assignment types being used. Assignees on short-term assignments may not reach cultural mastery until the end of their assignment.


coping


mechanisms being employed which can lead to alcoholism and drug dependency. Marriage breakdowns can also occur. At this lowest point, assignees can


retreat into their own cultural ghettos as trying to understand and work with locals becomes too difficult due to lack of cultural understanding. Assignees may give up on their assignments and elect to return home early.


CULTURAL MASTERY Individuals and families do usually recover from the low point in the culture shock cycle by employing appropriate coping mechanisms, leading to cultural adjustment. At this point they feel settled, competent and capable of operating effectively in their new culture, having achieved a sense of mastery. This can take up to a year after arrival in the host country culture.


MANAGING CULTURE SHOCK Understanding the culture shock cycle is important because people are not going to be fully productive before they have culturally adjusted. It is also important to


TRAINING As well


as cross-cultural training,


organisations can include culture shock training in their preparatory programmes. When people know what to expect, they are better able to prepare coping strategies to manage their culture shock feelings. Employees should receive stress management training such that they are able to recognise stress symptoms and develop coping mechanisms. Preventative and remedial measures


such as counselling, stress management programmes, and the provision of stress breaks can be helpful. Mentors and buddies can aid adjustment.


To access the Mini Factsheet series visit thinkglobalpeople.com and find out about events, webinars and podcasts. Contact us info@thinkglobalpeople.com


For comprehensive information on managing Global Mobility visit our sister website relocateglobal.com


43 relocateglobal.com | thinkglobalpeople.com


GLOBAL MOBILITY


ASSIGNEE PERFORMANCE ( PART 2 )


© 2024: Relocate Global & Think Global People


GLOBAL LEADERSHIP MINI FACTSHEET: TALENT & CAREER MANAGEMENT


Selection approaches


The selection of individuals to undertake senior job roles requires careful planning and clear criteria. Special attention must be paid to cross-cultural issues when selecting for international positions.


A STRUCTURED PROCESS Transparent and open advertising positions is likely to provide


of greater


diversity in the candidate profile than closed, opaque approaches. Research indicates that minorities are more likely to be selected if the processes used are open to all. It is important to follow a structured


selection process. This usually involves a team of people


including line


management and HR professionals. For international positions it might also involve a representative from the global mobility function. Although those involved always try to


be objective, it is natural to select people who are similar to oneself, particularly in terms of cultural norms. A cross-cultural team can help to reduce some of these biases and lead to a fairer outcome.


SETTING THE SELECTION CONTEXT It is important to define the strategic purpose of the job, the precise nature of the role, and its direction and targets. The global assignment context should be identified as well for international positions. Selection criteria must be established,


with a job specification produced. In addition, a person specification will be


required with essential and desirable competencies listed. For international roles, the list


of competencies can be


extensive so it is crucial to be realistic as to which are the most important.


CAREER PATH PLANNING A career path planning approach can be adopted in the selection of managerial personnel. Individuals’ career


paths


are charted within organisation and selection decisions are influenced by the movements of managers within this career structure. In the


international context, the


nature of the assignment location and the individual’s family circumstances can play a part in suitability for the role. Career path planning should give


used where


An assessment centre might also be the


potential candidates


are brought together and a number of selection tools, such as interviews, group exercises, and psychometrics are used in combination to select candidates. Feedback from the


management the


system might selection decision, taking on


board recommendations from peers, subordinates, and managers.


performance feed into


individuals


the opportunity to state availability for international transfers and circumstances that might need to be taken into account if the assignment is to be accepted. This is because global mobility affects the whole family, not just the assignee.


SELECTION METHODS Ideally there will be several potentially appropriate candidates to choose from. It is important to use a range of selection methods, particularly for senior and international roles, as this is likely to produce a more reliable selection decision. The most commonly used method is


the interview. Structured interviews should be used in preference to unstructured interviews so that


compared more effectively. A formal assessment process might


also be employed. This might include psychometric testing, for example. It can also include exercises that provide an opportunity to carry out parts of the role and be assessed on these. The selection team should take care to avoid potential cultural bias in any tests used.


candidates can be


To access the Mini Factsheet series visit thinkglobalpeople.com and find out about events, webinars and podcasts. Contact us info@thinkglobalpeople.com


For comprehensive information on leadership and managing global mobility visit our sister website relocateglobal.com


relocateglobal.com |


thinkglobalpeople.com


© 2024: Relocate Global & Think Global People


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74