Expatriates
Presentation
FIRST SLIDE
Multinational companies continue to rely on international assignment (LA) practices in implementing their international business strategies. One of the main challenges in finding staff for these international postings is to cut the rising failure rate of those sent abroad. Why? In order to minimize the very high direct and indirect costs incurred when international assignees fail. The assessment factors for overseas postings should include 2 main areas: * Hard competences: technical and post requirements, technical and tactical knowledge, bio data-type factors such as: language skills, and international experience. * Soft Competences: personality traits, knowledge skills and abilities to adjust to living and working in an international, inter-cultural context. However, selection practices have often been criticised for emphasising “hard” technical skills and neglecting “soft” and tactical success factors. * Soft: The crucial role played by such competencies in adjusting to and succeeding in overseas posting. * EI involves a set of emotional and social attributes that influence our general ability to face and successfully manage pressures and demands in both personal and social spheres and to deal with environmental change. Given that international assignees needs to cope with the special challenges and complexity posed by new cross-cultural encounters, having social and emotional skills is an essential prerequisite.
SECOND SLIDE:
Individualized Learning Agreements: The learning agreement should include the following:
a. What will be learned?
b. How will it be learned?
c. How will the learning be documented?
d. How will the learning be evaluated?
Pre-Departure Training/Orientation: At a minimum, this should include general awareness of the culture and basic language skills. It is important to include spouses and dependents, as well as the expatriate managers, in this phase.

FIRST SLIDE
Multinational companies continue to rely on international assignment (LA) practices in implementing their international business strategies. One of the main challenges in finding staff for these international postings is to cut the rising failure rate of those sent abroad. Why? In order to minimize the very high direct and indirect costs incurred when international assignees fail. The assessment factors for overseas postings should include 2 main areas: * Hard competences: technical and post requirements, technical and tactical knowledge, bio data-type factors such as: language skills, and international experience. * Soft Competences: personality traits, knowledge skills and abilities to adjust to living and working in an international, inter-cultural context. However, selection practices have often been criticised for emphasising “hard” technical skills and neglecting “soft” and tactical success factors. * Soft: The crucial role played by such competencies in adjusting to and succeeding in overseas posting. * EI involves a set of emotional and social attributes that influence our general ability to face and successfully manage pressures and demands in both personal and social spheres and to deal with environmental change. Given that international assignees needs to cope with the special challenges and complexity posed by new cross-cultural encounters, having social and emotional skills is an essential prerequisite.
SECOND SLIDE:
Individualized Learning Agreements: The learning agreement should include the following:
a. What will be learned?
b. How will it be learned?
c. How will the learning be documented?
d. How will the learning be evaluated?
Pre-Departure Training/Orientation: At a minimum, this should include general awareness of the culture and basic language skills. It is important to include spouses and dependents, as well as the expatriate managers, in this phase.