Guest post by Oyindamola Adedokun
It is no gainsaying that globalization has truly changed the modalities of doing business in the 21st century. The increased rate of interconnectedness and global interdependence has generated the need for many companies to spread their tentacles abroad if they must have a competitive advantage and wield global relevance in today’s fast-changing global economy. The development and geographical expansion of international corporations are however not usually a walk in the park.
There’s a wide array of expatriation processes that must be networked in order to manage a subsidiary or branch in a geographical territory or culture that is different from the headquarters.
Before we explore the factors that determine whether or not an international assignment is successful, it is only relevant to examine some of the other reasons why international corporations send assignees abroad.
The first reason is position filling (SHRM, 2017). Expats are sent on international assignment mostly if there is a position that no local could fill. This is mostly due to a lack of sufficient skills and expertise that allows one to function optimally in a given role. At this juncture, suitable expats are sent from the headquarters or sourced externally to fill an existing gap. This is mostly a common occurrence in the construction sector.
The second reason expatriates are sent on international assignments is to have them develop their managerial skills by gaining access to an international context of doing business, thereby fostering career growth (UKEssays, 2018). Many multinational companies (MNCs) use expatriate assignments as a leadership development tool. These MNCs often send their managers and executives internationally in an attempt to develop their knowledge of the international economic environment and their ability to work and manage effectively across national borders (Tung, 1998).
Repatriates, who have completed a global assignment, can help establish and expand an MNC’s international business because they possess first-hand knowledge of particular cultural contexts, including information about specific markets and customers. Repatriates understand how the company is perceived in another country and are part of a global social network that can advance the company’s business.
Another reason why multinationals send expats on international assignments is to enter a new market. Expats are sent on assignment to a new territory to analyze the market to see whether the company’s products or services will attract clients and users.
The last reason is to control and coordinate the global activities of a company (Bonache et al., 2001; Harvey and Novicevic, 2001) as it is in the company’s interest to integrate its transnational activities. Through their expatriates, the companies seek to replicate the values and objectives of their home offices in the culture of the branch where the international assignment is taking place.
Having discussed some of the reasons why companies send expats on international assignments, I will now examine five important factors that determine success in international assignments for expats.
The factors that contribute to the success of expats on international assignment can be classified into 5 categories: job knowledge and motivation; relational skills; flexibility and adaptability; extra-cultural openness; family situation (Arthur, Bennet; 1995, cited by Weber; 2004).
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- Job knowledge and expertise. The importance of possessing the technical skills relevant to a role cannot be overemphasized. This is one of the major factors that guarantee optimal work delivery in an international assignment. As already mentioned, one of the reasons multinational enterprises send expats on a foreign assignment is to transfer skills and knowledge to a branch. Suffice it to say that one can only transfer the skills and expertise one possesses.
- Relational skills. Accepting to go on an international assignment is invariably accepting to leave the people you are already familiar with to interact with a new set of unfamiliar people and colleagues. Relational skills go beyond the knowledge of the business model and professional experience to include personal traits such as patience, trustworthiness and honesty, empathy and understanding, reliability and dependability, influence, and persuasiveness.
- Flexibility and adaptability. These refer to one’s ability and willingness to respond and adjust to changes by balancing your core beliefs to accommodate the norms in one’s current environment. An expat would only be successful to the degree he or she is able to adapt to new processes, methodology, and procedures.
- Extra-cultural openness. The concept of cultural intelligence captures an individual’s capacity for successful adaptation to new and unfamiliar cultural settings and ability to function easily and effectively in cultural environments worldwide including situations characterized by cultural diversity (Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). It is an individual’s capability to deal effectively with people from a different cultural background and understanding (Earley & Ang, 2003). International assignments involve going to a country with an array of different cultural preferences. In order to avoid stress and frustration, an expatriate must possess some level of global competency.
- Family situation. The family situation is a key factor that determines whether or not an assignment is successful. Organizations have the responsibility to cater to their employees during an international assignment. However, does this care and concern extend to the expat family? After all, the success of an international assignment cannot be taken into account separately from family support. As a matter of fact, people would choose to leave their international assignments in order to save their marriages (Weinberger; 2020).
Getting a coaching session with Angie Weinberger could already be a step in the right direction of making an international assignment successful. You can so sign up here to receive offers for free online workshops and updates on the upcoming HireMeExpress program.
About the Author
Oyindamola Adedokun is an experienced Mobility Professional with expertise in talent mobility across Africa. He is experienced in engaging proven measures to provide both SME (Small and Mid-size enterprises) and Large-size multinationals end-to-end support in on-boarding expatriates in Nigeria.
With his practical experience, Oyindamola manages a broad range of Immigration facilities such as STR visa, Temporary Working Permit, CERPAC, Quota Approval from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Interior. He also consults potential foreign investors who are trying to explore the many untapped opportunities present in the Nigerian market on the legalities of establishing a foreign enterprise in Nigeria.
With a demonstrated history in the oil and energy sector, Oyin currently manages the immigration facilities of well over 100 expats in one of the leading oil servicing companies in West Africa.
References
Earley, P.C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Earley, P.C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 82, 139-153.
SHRM. ( May 2017). Managing International Assignment https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/cms_010358.aspx
UKEssays. (November 2018). Motive For Sending Managers Abroad As Expatriates. Retrieved from
Weber, T. (2004). What Are The Critical Success Factors In Expatriate Assignments?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/34588
Weinberger, A. (2020). Assignment Failure on the Rise? The Solution is to Prevent Family Separation – Part 1 https://globalpeopletransitions.com/avoiding-assignment-failure-through-family-issues-seven-key-provisions-for-your-global-mobility-guidelines-part-2/
You are Jason Bourne, you wake up in a hotel room in a Middle Eastern country. It’s too hot in your room. You sweat and you just woke up from a nightmare. You are not sure if this nightmare is a memory because you cannot remember who you are.
How will it be possible for you to connect with anyone? How will you trust others if you do not even know who you are? What if you have changed your identity so often that you cannot even clearly pronounce your name?
This is a challenge and you are probably shaking your head. “This is a movie, it’s not real.”.
Yes, but there is a truth in this movie that is relevant to your job search in a new country. It might even be true if you are looking for a new job in your own country.
In professional life, we want to hire people we can trust. We want to hire a competent professional who can show us that they managed a similar challenge before. We want to work with people who will be self-starters and won’t need a year to be up to speed in the role.
You need a professional identity before you can enter the circle of trust. Trust starts with you trusting yourself, your knowledge, attitudes, skills, and experiences, and how you acquire and store them in your brain. You need to be aware of how you relax, how focus, and center yourself when you are in a critical and stressful complex matrix environment.
I often notice when you come to see me, that you are not aware of most of your competencies. You take them for granted and assume that a recruiter, computer, or line manager will already know everything about you when they scan your resume because they are mind-readers and miracle workers.
For them, it is as obvious as all the three-letter acronyms you have been using on your résumé because English is their native language and they are working in a similar field, profession, and industry.
What your personal brand should say about you
When we speak about the personal brand it is something unique to you, something that makes people remember your name, that sticks with people and that keeps you top-of-mind when they are looking for someone with your profile. This brand is not just a marketing factor. Putting three labels (professional designations) on your résumé will help a reader to categorize you and put you in the right mental box.
Ideally, you keep reminding this reader of you so that the box is not closed but open, and so that the avatar in the box shines like a Swarovski crystal. Oh, look, here’s Jason Bourne again. Matt Damon is associated with this movie role. He will never be able to play any other role without us thinking: “Oh, that’s Jason Bourne!”.
When I saw “Hidden Figures” and when Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory appeared, I had to laugh. Then, I always waited for him to act like the Sheldon that he is BUT he was playing another role and did that really well. It was hard for me to accept though, because for me Jim Parsons is not an identity. For me this guy IS Sheldon.
Imagine you are trying to re-brand yourself. It’s very difficult. Your former career image sticks to your face and to your online trail. I can tell a few CEOs who won’t find a job anymore because they are burnt.
What is your personal brand?
Your personal brand is not only your name, headshot, Insta handle, trademark, signature product, or the funny pink hat. It’s also how you make others feel. It’s what you express with your seven work principles. People should identify you with how you work and how you relate to others.
They should be happy to refer you to others by saying:
“She is really competent and helped me on several occasions when I was stuck. She has been my greatest cheerleader.”
“He is true to his values and always seems to follow the correct move. He has never let me down.”
How to connect your personal brand with your seven work principles?
We recommend that you develop your seven work principles in alignment with your personal values. An example would be: “I prioritize my clients over my prospects.”. If your personal brand is aligned with your work principles, then your clients would say about you that you always take their concerns seriously and that you get back to them in an appropriate timeframe.
If you want this behavior to show, you could ask previous clients to endorse you for this behavior in their personal references and on LinkedIn. You could also try to write a special reference or recommendation about a person in your professional network, without expecting them to endorse you back.
Please tell me how you will review your work principles this week and how you will align them to your personal brand. Then take a break and watch a movie. It’s inspiring.
Guest Post by Oyindamola Adedokun
My GPT Experience
Having just recently graduated from studying international relations at the university in 2020, I was frantically searching for a role that would give me some sort of international experience. Coupled with that was a desperate desire to find someone who could mentor and guide me in an international setting. On one of those days, when I was surfing the internet to see what opportunity I could get, I came in contact with Angie on Instagram. Unknown to me that she is the Managing Director of Global People Transitions, GmbH, I asked that she mentor me in the global mobility field. She graciously requested that I shared my resume with her and informed me about a six-month internship opportunity with her company. This was the beginning of what would soon become an employer-employee relationship and, more significantly, a mentor-mentee relationship.
Four Advantages of Working at GPT
You Get to Work in a Multicultural Setting
GPT was my first significant experience working with people from different cultural backgrounds. You are exposed to hands-on experience building your cultural agility when you intern at GPT, as you meet people from different parts of the world. Apart from the fact that we had a team that spanned three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa, I had the privilege of meeting and interacting with clients from different parts of the world, from America to Germany, the United Kingdom to India, from Switzerland to Bangladesh, etc. This experience is surreal!
You Learn From a Cutting Edge Industry Guru
Angie Weinberger is undoubtedly a force in the global mobility profession who has lots of experience to share with both newbies and industry professionals. Angie is an expat career coach, author, conference speaker, and guest lecturer and has a long-standing history of expertise in the corporate world. Can you imagine feeding from a person with this repertoire of knowledge and experience?
You Get a High-Value Coaching Session With Angie for Free
As I mentioned, Angie is an experienced and seasoned coach who is highly sought after. She would take you one-on-one on your career and professional goals. She gives tasks that help you gain clarity on your goals and what to do to achieve them. These sessions helped me gain insight into what I really wanted for my career.
General Upgrade of Your Skill Set and Your Knowledge of Global Mobility
At Global People Transitions, you would be in charge of the general administrative tasks. This exposes you to lots of hands-on, relevant real-world experience to learn how to perform effectively and efficiently in the 21st-century workplace. Additionally, being Angie’s right-hand person exposes you to everything in between global mobility and relocation to coaching and training professionals to acquire intercultural communication and team management skills, and many more among the plethora of professional skills Angie shares from her Swiss-Army knife of a professional skills repertoire. I am happy to mention that these experiences have helped me land a fantastic job as an Experienced Analyst in one of the ‘Big Four’ professional services companies in Lagos, Nigeria. In this role, I will be supporting expats from different countries to settle in Nigeria, from ensuring that there are no statutory and regulatory complications to helping them seamlessly integrate into the culture in Nigeria. The skills and experience I garnered while working at GPT would be helpful as I have watched Angie coached expats that had just newly moved into new countries.
I unequivocally recommend interning at GPT to anyone, especially final-year students and fresh graduates, who are ready to jumpstart their career in a fast-paced, international and multicultural setting. Angie is such an engaging and caring manager, coach, and mentor who would be not only interested in how well you perform on the job but also in how you can achieve your long-term career goals. Angie demonstrated this by recommending many jobs and opportunities for me to apply to. Not limited to these, she also showed care for my personal well-being during the internship as I interned with her during a period when there was a protest that led to unrest in Lagos. The best lesson you will learn from her; she is on a mission to bring the human touch to global mobility. As an intern, you will experience firsthand how it makes a world of difference and realize this is the added value you can later contribute to your future employers.
Do you know Darth Vader, the dark force in many of the Star Wars movies? Did you know that we all have a bit of Darth Vader in us? We are driven by our fears. The Star Wars movies are full of allusions to deep psychology and how our attachments and fears form our behaviors and life. With this post, I would like to give you an understanding of how we are influenced by our fears and how you can change to become a Jedi.
Fritz Riemann, a deep psychologist established a theory based on four basic forms of fear (“Grundformen der Angst”). The four basic forms of angst are formed in our early childhood and determine to a large extent how we behave when we are grown up. In the extreme form these fears turn into psychological illnesses.
For Riemann, the Sith are schizoid, depressed, obsessive and hysterical people. You have to be aware that even though these terms have found their way into our everyday language the clinical spectrum of these illnesses is serious and needs treatment through therapy.
Carl Gustav Jung, another deep psychologist discovered the “shadow”. Jung assumed that all of our relationships with other people are based on unconscious projections of our own wishes and expectations into their behavior.
According to Jung, the shadow is the part of us that we have driven into the unconscious as it was unwanted (for example behavior as a child) as opposed to our “Persona” which was the desired (performing) part of us.
Did you ever notice that you don’t like traits in another person and later someone told you that you have this trait too?
To speak in Star Wars terminology: You might have a bit of Darth Vader within you even though you might be a Jedi most of the time.
Like Darth Vader, we were not always bad. Some of us had negative experiences. Other lost trust in the world because of a traumatic experience. Our education system did not help either. We were ruled by authority and we had to perform. If you did not have your homework back in the 70-ies and 80-ies you were punished.
No one told us that we are great because we are creative, or even because we are who we are. We were taught to perform for making it in life. My parents had a different approach to education, but they also were young and idealistic and sometimes forgot their own children over the ones they took care of.
Today when you watch TV or check an ad statement you will see that what is often shown to us is a world full of existential angst or full of gold-coated “happy families”.
We are torn between a world to be afraid in and a world where everyone is on happy pills all the time. It’s like a world where the dark forces rule and were the Sith have won. Everywhere.
Could you still become a Jedi?
What if you decided that you did not want to be ruled by fear and anxiety?
What if you wanted to be the light and show others to stay “good” or to stay on their mission?
What if you could be Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia Organa?
You see that the Jedis confront their fears all the time. They deal with it. They do what they are afraid to do and they fight evil step-by-step. They don’t stop. They sometimes take a break to train or to collect the force. They retreat to be able to focus on their mission again.
Real change happens only through taking action. You start by confronting what you are afraid of. You go into the dark tunnel and the abyss of your soul. You dive deep into the black sea of concern and unconscious. There, you will find the monsters, the Sith, the evil you need to handle. You need to work through those with a light-saber. You tackle one relationship after the next relationship. You go through them all. All your fears, projections, shadows. I’ll stay by your side like Obi Wan Kenobi.
Cherish the people who criticize you, but don’t let their criticism stop you from what you think is right.
Stay on your path.
One day you will look back and only see Jedis around you.
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I promised you 10 life-saving rules from my experience as a Global Mobility Coach when you embark on your Expat Journey. Moving to another country poses a lot of challenges. Too often we all rely on our employers and hope that they will make sure everything is done properly.
When we get an indication that an international assignment could have challenges because we talk to other expats, we might not take those so seriously or we might think that certain issues do not apply to us. You probably also think you can outsmart everybody else, correct?
Still, here are 10 rules you should follow when embarking on your Expat Journey.
- Host Market Salary: Often the salary in the host country is determined at “peer” level. However, it might not be very transparent what that exactly means. Often there is room for negotiation. Familiarise yourself online with the cost of living especially for rent. Try to budget your spending in the first months as you might not have a good feeling for the currency yet.
- Host Grade / Title and Role: All too often we accept an offer that does not totally match our experience level. Try to find out what your role entails and address your expectations early in the process. Get a written role description.
- Repatriation or Transition Plan: I have seen many assignees who never clearly articulated what they would like to get out of their international assignment experience. They also do not know how the experience would lead to a new role in the home entity. Formulate a plan for your repatriation before you go on the assignment.
- Immigration, Tax and Social Security: Usually assignees see those three areas as burdensome administration. However, mistakes in immigration, social security or tax can be costly. Follow the instructions from your employer closely. Make sure you have understood what the assignment conditions are in these three areas. Do you know what is expected of you and when you have to meet certain deadlines? If you are not getting supported by your company seek external help.
- Life Partners & Spouses: Many of my assignees discuss the assignment with their life partners and spouses and rely on their consent to come along with them. Often though I get the impression that the decision is a wish of the assignee and the other partner has to decide to come along to maintain the relationship. Often this puts a high strain on the relationship because in the host country your spouse or life partner is on his or her own, does not have a network and even worse does not have a meaningful job like you have. Get coaching and find communities on the internet before you embark on your journey. Building up a network in the host country is key.
- Kids and Teens: I do not have children myself but I can imagine the strain of having to take your child out of school and moving to another place since I was one of those children too. It is hard and your children might need more attention than usual. Often they have to learn a new language and make new friends. Work with your spouse/life partner through the issues, find out how easy an international education will be in the host country, discuss with other global parents and most importantly listen to your children’s needs too.
- Parents and elderly family members in the home country: Before you embark on your journey consider what to do in family emergencies. What can you do if your parents need help or have an accident? What about your old auntie or uncle who was always there for you and is all alone now?
- Emergencies in the host countries: We all believe that we will live forever but there are moments in our life when we are suddenly in the middle of a bomb attack, civil unrest or exposed to a natural catastrophe such as a Tsunami. Have an emergency plan ready. Discuss with your partner and friends at home what to do in case of you getting injured or dying. Learn the emergency services of your companies and their phone numbers by heart so you can call them. Enrol on their websites.
- Global Mobility Experts: Accept that there are professionals in the field who support expatriates all the time. Seek their advice and support. Be nice to them! We usually have very good relationships with our assignees. We know a lot about your personal concerns. For us, an assignee is a human first. So if you are nice to us we will gladly help you through all your topics and hold your hand when the going gets tough.
- Make friends for life: In our global world today it is easy to feel at home in most places once you have established some meaningful relationships and once you have had a chance to see the country you moved to. Work is important but remember: Work will always be there. The moments you will remember later are those you have either shared with people, been to places or doing special activities.
All the best for your adventure.
