Human Resources Expatriation and Repatriation
Human Resources deals with people and this is, basically, why expatriation policies fail, because they are intrinsically connected to human condition.
Nothing is sure when dealing with people; this is why the companies must be aware of every factor potentially capable of creating a problem. These factors mainly concern the enterprise itself; the country to which it is sending the expatriate and its peculiarities; and the candidate and his circumstances.
No expatriation policy is perfect because no human person is, either. However, a conscientious preparation of the assignment, a continuous communication and exchange of feedback during its execution and a good reintegration of the worker in its natural environment once the assignment has been finished, will help preventing the worst problems which may arise when expatriating an employee. Therefore, the enterprise has the biggest proportion of responsibility in the success or the failure of the project.
These three stages are the ones that I have used in this essay to identify and define the concrete problems which enterprises encounter with their expatriation policies. These stages are overlapped and confused in real life.
PREPARATION
a. Scan of the country of expatriation:
Before starting making business in other countries, the companies study them very deeply, in order to be sure that the adventure will be profitable. However, too often, the enterprises fail to do this scan in relation to the person who will be sent there to work. This creates many problems, being some of the more important:
- Employment and immigration laws of the host country. The company has to be familiarized with the legal environment of the host country and help the expatriate understanding it, because the legal jungle can discourage him, get him lost in bureaucratic proceedings, and even have problems with justice.
Just as an example, some workers have found themselves refused of re-entering the host country after a weekend
Nothing is sure when dealing with people; this is why the companies must be aware of every factor potentially capable of creating a problem. These factors mainly concern the enterprise itself; the country to which it is sending the expatriate and its peculiarities; and the candidate and his circumstances.
No expatriation policy is perfect because no human person is, either. However, a conscientious preparation of the assignment, a continuous communication and exchange of feedback during its execution and a good reintegration of the worker in its natural environment once the assignment has been finished, will help preventing the worst problems which may arise when expatriating an employee. Therefore, the enterprise has the biggest proportion of responsibility in the success or the failure of the project.
These three stages are the ones that I have used in this essay to identify and define the concrete problems which enterprises encounter with their expatriation policies. These stages are overlapped and confused in real life.
PREPARATION
a. Scan of the country of expatriation:
Before starting making business in other countries, the companies study them very deeply, in order to be sure that the adventure will be profitable. However, too often, the enterprises fail to do this scan in relation to the person who will be sent there to work. This creates many problems, being some of the more important:
- Employment and immigration laws of the host country. The company has to be familiarized with the legal environment of the host country and help the expatriate understanding it, because the legal jungle can discourage him, get him lost in bureaucratic proceedings, and even have problems with justice.
Just as an example, some workers have found themselves refused of re-entering the host country after a weekend