Question 15

Do you have any thoughts you would like to share about support and services provided by Human Resources departments for corporate expatriates?

There is a need to provide support by someone who has been an expat and knows what to expect. Someone who has never been an expat providing support does not understand that what they think is minor is NOT in a foreign country.

Companies should interview the spouses and if possible let them see the country/city where they will be living. Especially wives that will have to maintain a household and/or raise children.

We have worked in the service industry and the pharma industry. The pharma industry offered a lot of support, which was wonderful for us but very expensive for them. The best service you can provide is to manage expectations and set up a contact which will ease the introduction into the new country. ie someone to show them how to get things done, schools, clubs etc.

Better inforamtion on country requirements such as tax and visas

these organisations are poor in the type of services required

i was on a usaid contract so they were relatively helpful but the knowledge of the regulations varied widely between my company which was a subcontractor and the prime contractor. sometimes the moving vendors knew more than they did. and many times the contracting officers from usaid where inflexible in interpreting the regulations which was more costly and less convenient. and this also impacted our job performance adversely.

Language and cross-cultural training would have been extremely helpful.

prepare people abroad for their reallocation in their home country. keep them updated on vacancies in the home country or elsewhere if they are interested

I think the leaders of HR departments rarely have expat experience, and therefore have little idea of what it involves. Knowing this, they out to seek out experts to help them in placing workers and families abroad. While our company has attempted to do this, the relocation company they have selected does not really have country-specific knowledge of expat assignment, and is therefore not very helpful in day-to-day adjustment. Cross-cultural training needs to be outsourced to locals who have experience with the expat's culture. Obviously, this can be difficult, but would be the optimal situation. Multi-nationals must also consider cross-cultural training between the host culture and expats on assignment from the home office.

Make sure to have all of you paperwork in order and continue to keep on top of the HR department for things such as Tax services, International Health Insurance and transportation allowance (Such as a company car).

The working spouse has an instant connection of freinds, an in-place network awhere they fit right in. It can take the rest of the family months or even a year or two to make the adjustments that come to the working expat spouse as he/she continues on with their career.

1. A small investment in preparation makes the employee more effective. 2. Going back is the larger culture shock -- prepare for it!

contact other companies and see how they did it. Most of the services/support offered to me were only done retro- After I moved here some new HR people were hired by the home office who could not believe how unfair the circumstances were, and they put them right.

The wives should get more support---work related.More work opportunities.

The better and more appropriate they are the happier the expat will be. If hte expat is happy he is likely to be more effective in his job and stay longer. Sure it costs the employer money to do this but it is an effective investment as it is expensive to repatriate the expat and retrain and relocate another.

Our HR department did not contact me once we left the U.S to understand our difficulties. Probably one of the poorest HR departments in the pharmaceutical industry. Their main concern was promoting the gfact that they had so many ex-pats, instead of trying to assist and develop those individuals' experiences.

Non-existant

no

Share the list of available services at the beginning of the expat discussion

We cannot imagine handling these things at the onset of the assignment without outside assistance of HR and / or their 3rd party administrators.

Need to make more focus on the "little things" in a transfer such as making wives & families feel welcomed bo other expatriate families in the company

complete rubbish

It costs to export current talent to another country,yet this cost is rather minute against what is gained by the company. If not done properly, it is very stressful for those being transferred (inc. the spouse and./or family), and you can expect productivity to go down, and most certainly the loyalty to the corporation. Despite my best efforts to gather and provide data on standard relocation costs and what other companies do (yes, I was doing HR's job for them) and my very best negotiating, I was nickled and dimed the entire way, and told that I was essentially an indentured servent for the first 2 years in the host country. I had to make and oversee just about all the arrangements myself. I was reimbursed only for shipping, and at that I had a limit. You can be sure I spent every penny of it, one way or another.

Local HR support in my host country is minimal, or on a request only basis. There appears to be little interest by local HR in understanding or learning what difficulties my family is facing so that they can improve their expatriate support program.

My experience was that the company did very little to assist at a corporate HR or Policy level. All help was provided by a few iindividuals out of kindness rather than anu structured approach

ohiujbjn

They almost never offer the support from the perspective of the family/person doing the moving - either from the company side, someone helps you who doesn't really know the area you are moving to, or they hook you up with a 'local' who doesn't understand where you are coming from and what adjustments you will need to make. You have to be tough, adaptable, and proactive yourself - that is the bottom line.

HR Departments should make sure the info given expats is up to date. HR Departments should try to get guides to cities from other expats who live in that city, not just rely on tour books.

I am in a job as manager of relocation for a major college. I would be very interested in the results of this survey!

I just feel that the information on this site is excellent. I learn much from the quizes.

At least in my experience, with my husband working for a smaller manufacturer in the US, they have NO CLUE as to how to help expats!

one of the most important things a HR department can offer is a cross cultural training course with the relocation package. The most difficult transition is for the trailing spouse and children. With the cultural gap removed or bridged, the successful integration is practically guaranteed.

All I know is, that here in Israel, they will bend over only if youre plannig to immigrate.

They should try to focus a bit more on the individuals involved, rather than looking at everyone as a number.

do your homework

No

My company employs thousands of expats and has many departments set up to look after visas/passports, relocation/flights/shipping personal effects, housing (which is provided in a company compound but for which we pay rent), payroll and taxation, Government liaison (for example when purchasing a car), community activities. The Personnel department administers vacation and other benefits, Recreation department provides sporting and other facilities (golf courses, yatch clubs, gyms) - generally, the company provides excellent support and services for its expats.

They should stress the do's and don'ts in a package sent well in advance of arrival

Spouses need help too. Learn what groups are available in the spouse's native language and pass that information on. Provide counseling if needed - leaving friends and family is harder on a spouse who is managing the household.

While on overseas assignments with the U.S. Military, almost all needs were included, but pay was same minimal pay received in the U.S. While on overseas assignments with McDonnell Douglas Services Inc, all needs were included including paid R&R and Home Leave and and pay was very high and first $70,000 was tax free. Guess which one I enjoyed more....lol

Make sure you use a good packing and shipping company. Sometimes your goods may arrive in less than perfect condition.

It is interesting to note the varying degrees of support, between us and other expats here in Panama. We are abroad with a non-profit organization which has only 3 expatriate employees worldwide... Our (US-based) HR department is virtually clueless about overseas assignments and its implications. With our first overseas assignemnt (1990-1998, Paris, France) we had no support with immigrations issues; no financial assistance with education for our (now grown) children; and it was many years before we had adequate living expense compensation. It was a continuing struggle which I am sure larger corporate for-profit company employees, or US-government employees, do not have! Our current assignment is in Latin America (2003-?), which is easier in terms of expenses and now we do have legal assitance with immigration issues. Our company has never shown any interest in personal overseas experiences, adjustment, neither do they show any concern for our social and emotional welfare as expatriates. (Great, huh??)

Support received was minimal for five moves. Upone repatriation to the US, I was assigned a destination services consultant who did little for me. I have since moved into that profession myself and work in career assistance for the trailing spouse and in destination services. The level of support from companies is very little and I find that HR rarely take an active interest in the needs of the transferee. From personally working with transferees, being one and working with HR, I believe that HR have little personal experience and don't understand the difficulties involved in relocating. They don't "talk the language."

Home based human resourse personnel usually have little or no experience living overseas; on their visits to overseas locations they are wined and dined and include visits to local high spots. This allows them very little insight into the daily life of someone on th ground. General meetings are attended by management so few people speak freely - especially wives groups. One of the wives'groups I attended the MD's wife took notes!

HR departments are often not based in the relocated (new) country and therefore the ongoing support and services provided/offered to expatriates are often dependant upon the regional executive.

I work in Human Resources and through experience the more information that can be provided in advance the easier the process of relocation becomes.

I have worked as an expat for +20 years in 5 different countries for 4 different employers. The packages and services varied enormously from near -0- to an excellent cross-cultural full expat package for my entire family of 4. A couple of pointers: 1) Depending on age and experience be aware that expatriation is quite exciting but not for everyone. It can be especially disruptive and difficult for the spouse and children. 2) Coming home is always a challenge even when your company means well. The major change will be in yourself. Be patient and permit yourself the opportunity to be coached professionaly on re integrating back into US society and your own company culture.

I was previously married to an RAF officer employed in Saudi Arabia where I lived with him and was locally employed; also married to a member of BAe employed in Saudi Arabia where I lived and worked. (1980 - 1988) Now, living as a pensioner on the Social Security system in Spain - got emergency heart treatment in UK in October - ongoing Spain or UK, not sure which it is to be.

Support is no sufficient specially on return.

Put Human back in Human Resources

My own past experiences, coupled with discussions with other expatriates (current and former), leads me to suggest to all prospective expatriates that EVERYTHING is negotiable. Negotiating skills are never more important than in determining the appropriate package or in determining the localization agreement.

We were hired abroad as locals and knew that our benefits would be the same as the indiginous population. Even with much research before making our decision, we were truly shocked by the high cost of things and taxes (Norway). We have found that although my husband makes 1/3 more than his old wage in the UK, it is eaten up by the high taxes (43%) and costs (25% tax on items), that we don't actually make more money than we would in the UK. The human resources department can do little to help us in our situation.

My company is one of the largest employers in the region, and has departments to assist with expat recruitment such as shipping personal effects, flights,visas, etc. and it has its own medical and dental clinics for company employees. Housing is provided by the company for a nominal rent. The Human Resources departments assist with purchasing vehicles, corporate discounts on airlines/hotels, advice on terms/conditions of employment, etc. HR departments implement company policy - they are not advocates for employees if problems occur.

Attention should be given to the children of expats. There is not a great deal of informations in how to help children deal with this transition.

I'm my case, it was important for me to be more knowledgeable about the visa and work permit process than my HR suppport. Also, expect gaps in communication due to language and culture differences.

The real estate agent was able to help answer so many random questions that she did more than just real estate. That was value-added and worth it because the company had to hire a realtor anyway. Also, the office here helped out a lot but they did not in our other location (London). So that made this one much easier. There is a larger staff so they can afford to assist us but in London it was more Western and more lean so we did a lot on our own.

CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING & SENSITIVITY is crucial before any expat is sent overseas. At the same time the expats who were assigned to work with and manage with fellow expats should also have cultural sensitivity to the nuances of the people they are working with. Unfortunately this is an area TAKEN FOR GRANTED by even the BIG FORTUNE COMPANIES.

As you move into your new country, you will have many questions as to how you will transistion into the culture. The best help that HR can do besides handling the legal end of being an expat is to provide the resource's for you to do your homework about the country, it's people and what is acceptable within the country's culture to make a smooth transition.

I have found that generally human resource departments are not very well prepared or informed on what it means to move overseas. This is most likely the result of having HR responsibles that have never even been outside of their own country. As a result they do not have a real idea of the cultural differences and how they may affect the employee and most of all his or her family. I think that companies should invest in bringing in Cross Cultural / Relocation experts to manage the process. This can be an expensive investment but one that is well spent. I know of too many expats (including myself) who were abbandoned by their company. The idea that local HR will handle everything once the employee is overseas. The truth is that the local HR offices are often less prepared to take on expats that the sending location. Knowing what I know now, if I was offered an expat opportunity, I would drive the process myself. No one knows more about moving overseas that someone who has been there.

I was at one time the U.S. based Director of International Human Resources for a major multi-national company. I was also an Asia based Corporate Director of Human Resources for an Asian subsidiary of a multi national. HR should be a consultant to the expatriate not a wet nurse. In the old days people expected the company to do everything. This created lots of problems for the Company, especially if the assignment started to go South. Now I believe that the HR people should do the basic research, provide the expat with options, jointly problem-solve any difficult issues and keep the responsibility for the move firmly in the expat's hands. Cross-cultural training is way over-rated and should be optional. Language training should be optional. Who's career is involved and enhanced, here? Let the expat make the choices off a menu. Lastly, there are often, if not most of the time, more difficult issues in re-locating back to the home country than in going to a foreign country as an expat in the first place.

I am not a corporate employee. However, I have worked overseas for nearly 13 years, having lived in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore. During this time, I worked in five different international schools which provided a variety of different support services depending on the size, budget, and priorities of the various schools.

Most international schools having varying support services for their new employees. The bigger more established schools provide more support.

Support for the family is really important. I so appreciated the language training made available, and the cross-cultural classes.

any associations, or groups of expat people are very valuable sources of information! Not only for support on the above, but also on the practical side of things which is as important! Where to buy x, where to repair y, where to find the best fish, where to live! what schools to choose etc etc etc

They usually have very narrow, uncreative and limited sense of living in a country, instead of encouraging better involvement in the country and doing more to prevent burnout and stress

Include more information on financial matters and every day issues such as credit in the new country (or lack of). Not all expats want to be introduced to more expats for social purposes. Meeting the locals and getting to know them is essential.

Go overseas your own selves and see how you like your packages!

Reasearch as many aspects of relocation that you are able to before the move on your own. The one briefing seesion that was provided by my employer was outdayed and completely out of touch with reality. Try to find other people over the internet who have recently worked in the country plan to go to. The devil is in the details when you arrive in a country where you have never lived, visited or worked in before.

All of the big items were handled fairly well from my home country (and corporate headquarters) HR dept, but we felt like we had been abandoned when we reached our host country. We had to fight for every thing that had been promised and there were still areas for which we had received no assistance by the time we moved back home. The host country was wonderful, my co-workers were wonderful and tried to help as much as they could, but the HR support we received was non-existent and when we asked for help everything was a battle. We ended up doing much of it ourselves by trial and error.

Though they may only be one person in a great organization, they are still one person, all on their own, in another country, representing your company. Do not forget them! Do not assume all is okay! If they ask a request, please pursue it if you can, or at least ask more questions to see what else can be done to help them.

Get the other spouse to visit the country and see for themselves and speak with other spouses to get their experiences before a decision is made.

Utterly pathetic. No thought about the changes for us from Asia to the UK. Assumption that if English is spoekn it will be easy but it is still an utterly foreign move. No one dedciated person - all a matter of stumbling through!

I think it is important that prior to moving abroad, the employee and his/her family should be involved in cross-cultural training and perhaps being introduced to an individual from the country they are going to i.e. if they are moving to China, then have them meet a Chinese (Jordan, a Jordanian) presently living in the same country as them to offer them 'first-hand' advice which will be more credible.

They do not understand those of a different culture coming in on assignment. HR expat relations should be handled by a person who "has been there"

Provide a broad range of options for families regarding choice in schools. Simply because a school is the most prestigious for host country nationals does not mean it will be a good fit for expat kids. I have seen a lot of kids struggle in schools because they were automatically enrolled in the "best" school.

Hire an HR staff who has experienced or live through overseas posting to comprehend issues

Making the other person not employed happy is number one importance.

Not well coordinated or understood. Usually a constant struggle to keep on top of them.

It would be nice to have a person to speak to directly for the spouse as things come up~ex. when my son had an accident and it was the water parc's fault, how do i handle that?

I am probably not truely an expatriate since I never truely "move" to another country. I work short term (2 weeks to 6 months) assignments for my company all over the world including the US. I have living and housing expenses reimbursed and usually a fly back home for a week after four weeks out of the country. I think that HR departments need to try to do what they can to support the family of those that are in situations like mine. It can be very stressful on them to have to deal with everything back home while I am gone. With a school age daughter, I can't really bring them with me for such short periods of time because of the disruptions to school.

Always council the person who will travel overseas to remember they are the foreigner in a foreign country. And dress as much like the locals as your position and job will allow. DONOT be the brash, ugly American.

I was actually hired as a "local", though I earn more than most locals normally would, but within our bank we tend to be higher earners. We were offered a relocation package, which included having and Elliot's relocation assistant, and shipping of most of our goods. Our HR department really doesn't have a clue and I have been very disappointed by their incompetence.

Find out a little about a candidate's likes / dislikes / hobbies etc. and provide contact details including contact person for areas of interest to ensure smoother transition

Nike does an excellent job with their Expats--great program

Making the transition is ultimately much more challenging than anyone imagines until they are in the middle of it. My suggestion is to engage either current or former ex-pats to help you formulate programs and policies related to international relocation. These are the people who know it best!

Human resources services is a misnomer. Real people go on assignments not human resources.

more assistance with housing and education for children. my son had no induction.

It can be non existent

Language and education services cannot be underestimated in the help it gives.

i like you a lot!

Companies need to centralize their support of expats. Too often they are handled by the host country which leads to inconsistency of policy implementation and support. Also, if companies contract out support to their expats, such as tax support, moving support, etc., they should maintain a single point of contact internal to the company, otherwise, the employee feels lost in a sea of contacts and disowned by the company. Furthermore, many companies do not fully take advantage of their expats in talent planning, by not taking an active role in their devleopment and next assignments.

Much more help is needed for parents of children with special educational needs. Educational consultants we worked with were very good helping place our "normal" kids, but had very little knowledge and experience dealing with special needs. I had to do the research and tell them which schools sounded appropriate, and I didn't really know what I was doing. My 10 year old son missed 1 and 1/2 years of school after we moved here. We wasted months before we were even told he needed to be "statemented" by the LEA to be able to attend a special needs school.

Having an "official position" regarding expatriate placement would help the candidate know more if the company is experienced with the unique issues of life outside one's country - and may offer insight as to whether or not they wish to "train" the company in all its issues to come from this experience...

The HR rep. should meet you the first day you arrive to explain the process. Sometimes they assume some relocation service with take care of that, but the employee wants to make a connection with the familiar first(company employee) then get a idea of the steps and timing to settlement. It is amazing how important it can be to getting the transfered employee productive as soon as possible.

hr is for weenies

It is really important to assign an overseas HR or other person to head up the expatriate relocation process AS WELL as hiring an internal or external local to assist in the relocation. If this is not done, then the expat is totally at the mercy of the locals, who may provide the services requested by the home office, but who may also use their position for personal gain. I have spent 6 years in India and a little under one year in China and have had this experience happen to us twice.

Language and culture training & socialization ideas would be useful beforehand.

Extremely disjointed, were relocating from Australia to the UK but contract negotiations were handled in New York had to be approved by France and agreed by UK & Australia = nightmare! Were first people in org'n to be relocated to UK so they were completely unprepared.

Getting you to your destination is the only concern of HR. Once there, you are left to your own devises. The new secretary in your new country becomes an invaluable person in your life... until the end of your assignment.

I think the spouse and family should definitely be in on the details and particulars of the move. We were not given any type of "cost of living' adjustment, and returned in much worse financial shape than if we'd stayed in the US.

None

I think that many HR departments because they are staffed by locals can not view the full needs of an incoming expat. I have also experienced during housing search HR employees who were focused on specific real estate companies more for their own benefit (commission) rather than those of the incoming expat. Once in the housing an expat is often left alone to find a curtain maker, find the grocery, framer, install satelite tv, doctors, housekeeper/nannie, etc. sv

THe company was very good once we were in place But they failed to provide , Language and Basic cross cultural training before we left the US

They are SO important, especially if you are single and do not yet speak the language. Don't be naive, it's hard! Most have a wife that stays at home and have time to take care of things...It may not be easy for her but at least she does not have to go to work 50hours/week, be efficient and also figure out the house things as well on her own. I am a late 30's single female and even with support from the company, it has not been easy!

The HR department must know HOW to go about relocating employees to a foreign country, and be honest and forthcoming with the employee throughout the process. The employee should be given cross-cultural training in advance of relocation if possible; tax and financial matters should be spelled out as specifically as possible and as soon as possible before the move; someone should be assigned to the employee (and family) to work with them through the process and follow up regularly throughout the expat experience to make sure the experience is a good one for both company and employee and family.

No

My first company was great. But now that I have moved on, it is huge difference as a non-expat!

They should provide a guide on small things like housing, setting up banking, schools, purchasing vehicles etc

They should concentrate more on caring for trailing spouses, left to fend for themselves in foreign countries while hubby goes about fully-supported business commitments

The most helpful thing that my husband's employer did for us was to assign us two sponsors, one official sponsor to help him get settled at the office, and one from the expat community to help us get settled at home. The social sponsor made sure my kid got to school on the first day and that I go tto meet school officials. She made sure there was food in our fridge to last our first day here, and she basically drove us around until we were able to use taxis well and as needed until our car came. It woudl have been a much more difficult adjustment without her.

They should be flexible and deal with cases on an individual basis

There should be a welcome note from the HR dept. of the company along with the websites where information about the country is available before the person relocates in order to assist the person plan the move. The HR dept. should also take information about the person relocating along with family details and assist the person in getting admissions, jobs for spouse ( if applicable), apartments etc.

Better support AFTER moving, i.e., cross-cultural training, not only for the first 3 days etc

none.

It is the most important area for companies to pay attention to for their employees and families. We lose more expats due to the unconcern of the company than any other reason.

Housing expenses are most crucial, as well as moving costs together with furniture/furnishing, so make sure these are covered by the company when negotiating for the package.

Although as the expat spouse I was responsible for all the details of our move, I was persona non grata to the HR department in my (ex) husband's company! HR would not answer my emails or telephone requests for information either before or after our move. They would deal only with the expat employee.