By: Tonya Foust Mead

Is your expatriate pool in need of a transfusion? Perhaps one of the best ways to support the life blood of global expansion is through the creation, institution and management of innovative work and family support policies.

For instance, depending upon the research source cited, around 69% to 80% of the expatriates accepting overseas assignments are married (Harrison, 2001; Windham, 1999). Spouses accompany roughly 77% of married expatriates (Windham, 1999).  According to the literature presented by academe, expert consultants, and practitioners in the field, the accompanying spouse is of critical importance to the success of an overseas assignment (Torbiorn, 1982; Arthur and Bennett, 1995; Punnett, 1997).  With regards to dual career couples, Harvey (1998) considered spousal adjustment an important aspect of the spouse’s overall satisfaction with the international relocation.

On the domestic front, support for the direct employee was conceptualized by Hom and Griffeth (1995) who envisioned a corporate support model based on pay, benefits, fairness and role conflict to reduce turnover.  The Families and Work Institute (1997) found that excessive job demands impacted retention negatively while job quality and workplace support positively impacted retention. Concerning the expatriated employee, corporate support programs such as the provision of local contacts, spousal support networks, expatriate clubs, mentoring, life planning, career counselors, and acculturation assistance have been identified by numerous experts as helping to facilitate expatriate and spousal adjustment and improve the chances of overseas assignment success (Black and Gregersen, 1991; Brewster, 1991, 1994; Brewster and Pickard, 1994; Cohen, 1977; Harvey, 1999).

Why then, are multinational corporations hesitant to offer innovative work and family support policies for the expatriated executive? The high costs of expatriation could serve as justification (Gregersen and Black, 1999; Byrnes-Lenarcic, 1998; Harvey, 1983; Zeira and Banai, 1984; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Torrington, 1994; Birdseye and Hill, 1995). The introduction of innovative work and family policies just might make the difference, however, between success or failure of an overseas assignment. In fact, a few of the recommendations contained below do not require an increase in spending, just a minor adaptation of approach. Please find below, then, decisive rationale for considering the institution of such policies.

Financial Benefits

Recent studies presented by several scholars may shed some light on the financial benefits of innovative work and family policies: Evidence suggests that corporations with innovate work and family programs: (1) have a better chance to improve its bottom line (Friedman, 1991); (2) foster employee loyalty (Grover  & Crooker, 1995); and (3) may experience financial returns that are three times higher than companies with weak support policies (Wyatt, 2001).

Support the Backbone

While it is well-known that expatriates utilize expatriate social clubs as a popular tactic for reducing stress and adapting to a new environment (Choen, 1977; Black and Gregersen, 1991; Brewster, 1995, Tung, 1998), not much insight into other coping tactics have been found. A study by Mead (2002) that was recently presented at the European Conference on Research Methodologies for Management and Business Studies, Reading, England found that accompanying spouses, as a coping tactic, considered husband-centered activities paramount in the reduction of stress associated with an overseas assignment.

Unlike previously assumed, accompanying partners of expatriates selected husband-centered activities over more traditional and self-centered activities such as exercise, yoga, aerobics, Tai Chi, Pilates, and others to relieve stress while living abroad.  While most IHMR may have misjudged the provision of spousal assistance as a means of ‘feeding the wild beast’, evidence points to the contrary. The moral and family support given to the expatriate by the spouse could fill the void where corporate support has been perceived as lacking, misplaced or ill conceived.

For instance, Davidson (1999), when surveying internationally assigned personnel of 11 international UK-based organizations found that the expatriates’ perception of headquarters’ commitment to the management of overseas staff when compared with the management of home-based staff was considerably lower.  Furthermore, Davidson found that such organizational neglect by the home office was a major cause of stress for the expatriated staff.

Involve the Family

Although there has been a general trend for married expatriates to accept overseas assignments on single status (Windham, 1999). An intriguing study by Mead (2002) as discussed above found that expatriates with accompanying children when compared to expatriates without accompanying children appear to be more stable and more appreciative of the current levels of corporate support offered while on an overseas assignment. In her study, there were statistically significant differences in the mathematical means of perceptions between  Group 1= Early Departures and Group 5= Expatriates with Accompanying Children for the variable,  ‘corporate office’s ability to alleviated the stress associated with an international relocation.’

These findings may have proven a basis for understanding the differences between Groups and their level of satisfaction or confidence in corporate support services, in particular Group 1= Early Departures and Group 5= Expatriate Families with Accompanying Children. These two diametrically opposing extremes signaled that expatriates with accompanying children were more likely to be satisfied with corporate support services offered to them than the expatriates in the early departure group. The group most at-risk for early departures was Group 6= Expatriates without Accompanying Children.

As corporations were perceived by the participants to be adequately providing services for the private educational needs of accompanying children, it became apparent to the married expatriates with no accompanying children or single expatriates that the levels of corporate support services were not equitable for everyone. This finding mirrored similar trends in the US whereby single executives have begun to demand equal benefits as their co-workers with families. The benefits of time off, family leave, day care facilities, sporting events have taken on the appearance  to be greatly beneficial to executives with families but were perceived of little use and therefore of no value to single, and/or childless executives.

Corporate Support Policies: Expatriate Perceptions across Groups

 
Note. Adapted from European Conference on Research Methodologies for Management and Business Studies Conference Proceedings, “The Global Workforce: An Elusive Participant Group” (Mead, 2002).

Create Networks

Traditionally, the maintenance of strong relationships with family and friends has been proven to help one combat stress. Turner (as cited in Hwang, 2000) a research psychologist at the California School of Professional Psychology in Alameda discovered that the naturally produced anti-stress hormone, Oxytocin reaches a higher level for women with social support than for women without social support.

Further analysis of this finding is critical, for at the same time, Harrison (2001) a Penn State professor, after a five-year study of 221 international assignee couples reported that reliance upon the extended family located in one’s home country as a means of coping has an adverse effect on cultural adjustment. The researcher rationalized that a plausible explanation could have been that accompanying partners who spent too much time maintaining relations with distant friends and family failed to exert the effort required to forge new and meaningful relationships in the host country. As such, on-site support through the creation of networks and mentoring has proved ever more important to the success of an overseas assignment.

Combat Negative Income Mobility

Contrary to popular belief among IHMR, 42% of dual income families experience a decrease in their living standard after relocation (Fitzgerald-Turner, 1997).  A reduction in household income is not the only concern of accompanying partners and expatriates.  Maitland (1999, Management Dual Careers) reported that it was not unusual to find that nearly 25% of American wives earned more money than their husbands prior to a relocation.

            “Giving up a career to follow your partner overseas is not just about losing a salary. It affects status, self esteem and balance of power in the relationship.” (Maitland, 1999, page 11).

Based upon the research of 88 accompanying partners and expatriates (Mead, 2002), for married expatriates without accompanying children, the threat of negative income mobility has proven very real, thereby instigating the decision to depart prematurely from an overseas assignment.

When compared with ten sub-segments of the expatriate population, this group was the most likely to depart prematurely from an overseas assignment. Furthermore, the researcher’s study has shown that there is a possible correlation between partner’s desire to work and expatriate’s over-involvement with work.  Of 24 possible family and spousal variables tested, the two variables: (1) ‘expatriate spouse wishes to resume career’ and (2) ‘expatriate executive too involved in work’ received the exact mean score. Although she indicated that more research needs to be undertaken to determine it there is a direct correlation, as the expatriate endeavors to spend less time at home and occupied much of his time and thoughts with his job—his partner rationalized that a heightened desire to work were in order and justifiable.

Allow Flexible Travel

To the outsider, a request for a flexible travel budget may seem like a frivolous expenditure where further review is unwarranted. But wait. As we go inside the mind of the expatriate and family to analyze the motivation for their request, we will discover that they use flexible travel to achieve the following four objectives:

1)         To relieve tensions.  Bountiful amounts of research attest that travel and leisure activities are used to cope with stress (Coleman and Iso-Ahola, 1993; Iso-Ahola and Park, 1996; Iwasaki and Mannell, 2000; Iwasaki and Smale, 1998). However, no one has identified nor explained expatriate behaviors toward travel until now. Mead (2002) found that accompanying partners and expatriates themselves considered ‘travel’ as the third most popular method for combating stress.

2)         To increase knowledge of culture. There has been a high incidence of early departures in situations where intercultural training was not given high priority by multinational corporations (Zeira and Banai, 1985; Harzing, 1995; Birdseye and Hill, 1995). And yet,  there are perceptions that US firms when compared with German and Japanese firms, have under-invested in cultural and other training programs for their workers (Bishop, 1993; Lynch, 1993). Regional travel offers three advantages: (a) to counteract lack of pre-departure preparation, (b) to facilitate cultural adaptation, and (c) to augment language and cultural training. Such additional opportunities for learning serve to increase retention (Arthur, Bennett, Stanush and McNelly, 1998).

3)         To become more proficient on the job. In their daily dealings with others, in the delegation of duties and contract negotiations with joint venture partners, it is human nature for expatriates to draw upon their own cultural knowledge to manage the morass of communication whirling by. Due to misinformation, poor preparation and lack of in-depth cultural knowledge, in expatriate vs local communications, misunderstandings and tensions are commonplace (Kuada, 2001). Downes (1996) predicted that it would be more difficult for expatriates to be efficient in culturally different environments. This is due to the failure to recognize, interpret and react to the ‘silent language’ that is conveyed by the locals in unison with implicit verbal messages. Further Martin (1992) and Sackman (1992) found that it has been proven difficult for outsiders to acquire such inside knowledge of the inner workings of a specific culture due to mistrust and inter-group pressures. Researchers postulate that an increased understanding of the host country’s culture has been reported to: (a) enable expatriates to identify early-on the effective expressions, behaviors and gestures necessary for productive interaction, (b) facilitate the adjustment of the expatriate (David, 1972; Dinges, 1983).

4)         To maintain corporate connections. There has been ample evidence that people embark upon leisure-related activities to escape the pressures of everyday life (Burkhart and Medlik, 1981). Mead (2002) however, argues that an expatriate’s decision not to travel would in most cases constitute problem avoidance.  The researcher has found while reviewing qualitative narratives of participant quotations that expatriates combine leisure-related travel with (a) travel associated with problem solving, (b) staying in contact with the home office, (c) managing dual, transnational residences, (d) supervising elderly parents or non-accompanying children, and (e) facilitating medical examinations.

Facilitate Communication

Runzheimer (1998) found that there existed a communication gap between the company and the expatriate. This is quite odd considering that the free-flow of information with the absence of translation and expression problems represented just one of the many reasons why multinational companies favor expatriation over local hiring (Downes, 1996). After further analysis, though, the communication gap appears to rear its ugly head not in the frequency of communication, but the type and content of the message communicated.  Practical and supportive communication that assists the employee to cope with difficult situations has been shown to have a mitigating affect on stress and strain (Fenlason and Beehr, 1994). On the other hand, when the communication merely reinforces the difficulties and problems that an employee is experiencing, it will cause an increase in employee stress.

This article has presented evidence that the expatriate and family are indeed partners with multinationals in their objective to expand geographically and to build a global presence. As the lifeline to global expansion,  brand awareness, and profitability, they represent resources that are invaluable to today’s IHRMs. As a vital lifeline, it is imperative that the maintenance of healthy relationships is sustained to enable the financial viability of a foreign subsidiary, the virility of the individual expatriate, and cohesiveness of the family unit for years to come.

Dr. Mead, PhD, MBA, MA http://www.ishareknowledge.com/ is a consultant specializing in human behavior, school and social psychology. She can be contacted at: tonya@ishareknowledge.com. She invites you to visit her marriage advice column, appearing three times weekly at: http://www.examiner.com/x-4793-DC-Marriage-Advice-Examiner.