Answer to Question #306235 in Management for Mohd Danish

Question

 In the past, a large share of expatriate managers from Canada have returned home before successfully completing their international assignments. Suggest some possible reasons for the high “failure” rate. What can HR departments do to increase the success of expatriates?

Answer 1

There are several ways in which the HR departments can make the number of successful international assignments to increase. These methods include:

a) Develop ways in which one can document the experiences of the past assignees and giving the report to the current manager of how a past international assignment was conducted and the factors that led to its success. This will help the international assignee to to also use the past values and conduct that their predecessors used.

b) Appropriate training should be done to the managers citing the cultures and lifestyle of the country been assigned to. This will help the manager to know which characters are despised in the country that they have been assigned and which values are appreciated. These values and cultural norms will convince the other country how serious the international assignee (manager) is and treat them with respect.

c) Another way to ensure a successful international assignment is to frequently contact the international assignee throughout the assignment to determine cases where they might go wrong or where they went wrong. This will help the international assignee from making the same mistakes.

d) One must have a compelling purpose for conducting an international assignment. This will enable the international assignee to accurately learn the cultural norms and values used in the country going to be visited.