How to Maintain Mental Wellbeing as an Expat Moving to a new country can be an exhilarating adventure, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. As an expat, you may find yourself navigating unfamiliar environments, dealing with language barriers, and coping with homesickness. In the midst of all these changes, it’s easy to neglect your mental well-being. That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive guide to help expats prioritize self-care and maintain their mental health while living abroad. From practical tips on finding local support systems to strategies for managing stress and anxiety, this guide covers it all. Whether you’re a seasoned expat or just starting your journey, we believe that taking care of your mental well-being is […]

Supporting the Global Mobility Manager We are supporting Global Mobility Managers to become a rockstar with a few tricks of the trade. I am nowadays more involved in operational global mobility topics than I ever was and while the constant filling of payroll instructions, hypo tax calculations, and balance sheet updates reminds me of the Sysiphus tasks I mentioned in the talk, I have learned a great deal over the last few years and I don’t mind the operational work so much anymore as long as I can still coach expats and their families. I am contemplating that even expatriate payroll is so much more interesting than normal payroll and that we need professionals with intercultural competence to ensure that […]

How to Manage Global Virtual Teams Unlike traditional teams, virtual teams don’t meet at the same location daily, which is becoming more feasible in this century. This phenomenon, ensuing from globalization, is becoming increasingly commonplace in small and large organizations alike. Indeed, one recent survey by HBR states that compared to a decade ago, the number of remote workers has increased by 115% (HBR, 2018). The surveyors defined virtual teams as “work groups which (1) have some core members who interact primarily through electronic means, and (2) are engaged in interdependent tasks — i.e., are truly teams and not just groups of independent workers).” These virtual teams require proper leadership and management, like any other team, for optimum results (Watkins, […]

By Romée Jager   Do you feel overwhelmed and overloaded before the day has started? You are not alone! It is 7:30 AM, and I started working half an hour ago. Even though it is only the beginning of my working day, I already feel way behind. I am staring at my screen and scrolling through my emails, marking them as unread again and giving them a color code.  I feel overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start. My solution? Making myself a second cup of coffee. While the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans reaches my nostrils, I think about how to structure my tasks for the day.  I wonder why we ‘’only’’ have 24 hours in a day, […]

I sat on a panel, and I just got as far as saying “I think…” when the other panelist gave her opinion on the matter. She probably didn’t notice that I was trying to say something, but for a moment, I was annoyed and thought, “How rude…”. And it seems to happen more and more that I am waiting an instant too long and then it is too late to say what I wanted to say. I now notice how I have become a “Swiss person.” or maybe I have allowed a younger and shyer version of myself to take over these days. Having lived here in Zurich for over ten years, I prefer to run my life Swiss-style. Despite considering […]