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Ellen Shipley __Ellen Shipley, the Head of Mobility and International Assignments at BT, the telecommunications company, works to ensure the successful overseas placement of executives and their families. 30 T Magazine Issue 07 Ernst & Young
Credit: Muir Vidler Expatriate postings Management Making relocation a success Despite their obvious benefits for any executive pursuing a global career, expatriate postings all too often end in failure. So what can be done to help ensure a successful assignment? • By David Balchover Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that a significant proportion of expatriate placements end in failure, with workers returning earlier than planned to their home country, thus giving their company an organizational headache and creating further costs. So what causes these placements to end in disappointment for both worker and employer? And, more practically, what can be done to help expatriates overcome these difficulties and thrive in their new role in a distant land? Many expatriate postings might actually be doomed to failure before they have even begun, To avoid potential conflict or failure, companies need to test for cultural sensitivity simply because the particular employee is poorly suited to living and working abroad. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents (all of them current or recent expatriates, or those who had overall responsibility for assignments) to a 2010 Economist Intelligence Unit survey cited “cultural sensitivity” as the most important attribute in a Summary Despite the obvious benefits to both employees and the firms they work for, a significant proportion of foreign placements end in failure. But various measures can help ensure a greater likelihood of success, from better initial planning through to better support for the expatriate’s family. successful expatriate. If you don’t have the ability to perceive cultural differences, you are destined to struggle in both the workplace and your wider social life in a foreign environment. “Managers who struggle are the ones who aren’t sufficiently flexible to adjust their management style; what has been successful in their home country for years suddenly doesn't work any more, and they find it difficult to adapt to the new situation,” says Thomas Efkemann, an Executive Director for Assignment Services at Ernst & Young. “You need to have different managerial approaches available, and then you select the best one according to the circumstances.” Several management thinkers, most notably Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars, have sought to measure cultural differences in the workplace, comparing attitudes across the world to various concepts such as teamwork, hierarchy and risk. Any expatriate who ignores the intricate subtleties of national culture will soon pay the penalty. 35% The proportion of spouses working during an assignment, down from 89% that were working prior to the placement, according to the Permits Foundation. Ernst & Young Issue 07 T Magazine 31
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