Expatriate Selection Criteria and its Success

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Hello friends.

Now, let’s talk about the elements of the success and failures of the expatriation process.

Now, if you want to make your expatriation assignments successful, then, first of all, you will have to focus on “cross-cultural adjustments”.

So, say, for example, if a candidate is going to the USA from India, then you will have to give initial training to the candidate and the candidates’ family as well if applicable. You have to make them aware that the culture of the USA is very different from Indian culture. And what do you need to do to adjust there?

The second is “training and orientation”. I already talked about this.

The third is, “accurate and adequate information”. So, you need to give them basic information like the “health care cost”, “insurances”, and “taxes”, in which locality should they reside? What would be the distance, some emergency contact numbers, and so on and so forth?

Then, you need to communicate the assignment details very clearly and you should stay in constant touch with the person so that if a candidate has any issue, there must be someone to assist.

And lastly, “support services”. For example, if a person is finding it difficult to adjust or if the person wants to relocate, if there is any paperwork-related query, adequate support should be provided for all of this too as the country is not familiar, and the candidate has no support system.

Therefore, the organization should ensure that they get a proper support system so that the person can work efficiently and he can complete the assigned project successfully without any issues. Okay.

Come, now let’s talk about “expatriate failure”.

It can fail due to some important reasons.

The first one is “culture shock”. When an individual moves to a new country and begins to notice major differences, either the person can adapt to those changes, or else he or she is in a constant shock that this shouldn't have happened and that shouldn't have happened. (Got it?)

Then, the second one is “family stress”. If an individual has gone alone, then he might feel homesick, or if the individual relocates with the family, then, continuously adjusting the family, adjusting yourself, making sure that the entire support system is in place becomes stressful. And due to immense stress the person is not able to focus on the expatriate assignment.

Then next is the “global mobility team”.

If the mobility team of an organization is not able to train efficiently, clear the expectations, or provide the required support, then the complete expatriation program of the organization goes for a toss. Okay.

Then, lastly, “poor candidate selection”.

You might have probably selected a candidate who is not so capable of doing international work, he has some personal challenges which you have overlooked and that is why the expatriation assignment could not be completed successfully. Okay.

Now, let’s see what should be the selection criteria when we want to select someone for an expatriate assignment?

So, first of all, let us discuss what are the factors that are involved in expatriate selection.

The first factor is “technical ability”. When we talk about technical ability, it means the knowledge and skills that are required in a candidate. So, you have to identify first, if that particular candidate has the required knowledge and skills or not. If yes, then what is the candidate’s competency level?

Based on that, you can compare with other candidates and see whose skill level is rated where?

Then the other factor is “cross-cultural stability”. This is again a very important factor because if you are sending a candidate to another country and that person is not able to cope with the change in culture, change in the work environment, then despite having all the knowledge and skills, the candidate won’t be able to perform well enough.

The reason being, the person is very much accustomed to the way of working, to the way of operating, which he is not able to flex. Therefore, “cross-cultural stability” is very important.

The next factor is “family requirement”.

Now, when we talk about the family requirement, we have to consider, what life stage or the family stage the individual currently is in?

So, either it can be a young couple, a young couple with children, it can be a mid-aged couple with teenage children, so on and so forth. So, how is the family's demographic developed, and whether the person will be able to relocate to another country for some time? And what kind of impact is it going to have on his or her family?

Considering this is very important because generally, many times it is seen that family plays a very important role in the final decision. Whether a person is going for an expatriate assignment or not. (Got it?)

And the last factor is “language skills”.

There are a few countries where you are required to know some specific languages. For example, if you are going to Germany, then it is necessary that you know basic German to communicate. 

Then, if you are going to China, you should have the knowledge of basic mandarin. If you are going to Japan, then you must know basic Japanese. Similarly, French is a must for France, and so on and so forth.

So, your linguistic capabilities also play a very significant role because you will have to interact with the local people residing there. They are very proficient in their language. Hence, if you want to get involved with them, you need to know their language and be aware of their culture. (Understood?)

Now, let’s talk about what are the next steps after the candidate is selected?

So, let’s see quickly.

One, that person needs to be briefed about the entire assignment.

Second, the candidate along with his or her family should be involved in a comprehensive training where the finer aspects of the expatriate assignments are shared.

And finally, when the assignment is over, repatriation training should also be imparted so that the person does not feel a cultural shock while returning back to his country. Okay.

With this, we close this particular topic.

Well, if you have any queries or doubts, click on the discussion button below and get your questions answered, discuss them with your fellow learners and share your experience as well.

Thank you.

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