1. Role of an HR Manager in Expatriation
Submitted by:
Kanya Patil – 14021
Kaustubh Bhake - 14022
2. What do you mean by Expatriates?
• An expatriate is a person temporarily or
permanently residing in a country and culture other
than that of the person's upbringing or legal
residence.
• In common usage, the term is often used in the
context of professionals sent abroad by their
companies, as opposed to locally hired staff.
• Skilled professionals working in another country are
described as expatriates, whereas a manual labourer
who has moved to another country to earn more
money might be labelled an immigrant
3. Reasons for Expatriation
• Starting at the end of the 20th century, globalization
created a global market for skilled professionals and
levelled the income of skilled professionals relative
to cost of living
• The cost of intercontinental travel had become
sufficiently low.
• This created different type of expatriate where
commuter and short term assignments are becoming
more common and often used by organizations to
supplement traditional expatriation.
4. Advantages for Organizations
• Technical skills as well as relational abilities increase the
probability of success by a large degree
• Saves a major amount of time in dealing with the clients and
work
• Provides a global understanding of the work
• Improves the relationship with the client; in turn will give
more business to the organization
• Provides job satisfaction to the employee; this will increase
the productivity
• The more complex the environment, the more it enhances the
planning and motivation techniques of the employee; thus
confidence increases
5. Problems for an employee….HRs
concentrate!!
• Forced to stay in the organization for a fixed period
of time after returning from the assignment
• Ill-planning of the assignment leads to poor job
performance and displacement
• 40% of the assignments fail due to poor performance
• Ethnocentrism, cultural unfamiliarity, monocultural
upbringing are a huge problem
6. Problems for an employee….HRs
concentrate!!
• Lack of interpersonal skills and judgmental approach
• Work pressure and lifestyle stress on spouse/families
• Negative approach towards the career while on
assignment
• Lack of communication
• Lack of information about happenings of the
Company/Indian country
• Repatriates feel like foreigners after they return from
the assignment
7. What HR Managers should do?
• Cash incentives are important tool to encourage
individuals to go abroad
• Should focus on easier transition for expatriate
employees and their families
• Encourage the expatriate to be open-minded, respectful,
non-judgmental and diplomatic about opinions, attitudes
and behaviors
• The company should be open and should share detailed
information about tax implications, the effects of the
move on retirement, stock options and a host of other
details
• A pre-departure trip arrangement for the
employee/spouse
8. What HR Managers should do?
• We suggest a 4 level training for the expatriates
• Level One training – focus on impact of cultural
difference, raising awareness for differences and
their impact on business
• Level Two training – understanding of the
attitudes (positive and negative) and its influence
on behavior
• Level Three training – Factual/Cultural knowledge
about the target country
• Level Four training – skill building in areas like
language, adjustment and adaptation skills
