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Focus on female expatriates: what are their motivations and their challenges?

Female expatriates are becoming more and more prominent today, as traditional roles are shifting, and the world is changing, allowing for new ways to live and work. While their number is growing, they are not a monolithic entity, and women who choose to expatriate are working either for multinationals who send them on international assignments, or self-employed entrepreneurs.

Also, they can be single, married, with or without children. The important question we can ask is why companies are now willing to choose a woman instead of her male counterparts. Paris Attitude decided to focus on the motivations that push women to choose expatriation, and the challenges they face.

  Who are the female expatriates ?

The profile of women in expatriation

The expatriate population can be rather eclectic, especially as more unconventional lifestyles and working conditions have been emerging in the past decades, but it is possible to distinguish common situations and characteristics.

First of all, it is important to know that around 10% of the women who expatriate are in marriages where traditional roles and status are reversed, as they are the primary income earner of the household.

This is quite a meaningful point that shows how expatriation, while becoming more widespread, is still something of an unusual choice or option for women who follow a rather common path in life and work.

Besides this element, four categories can be used to define a female expatriate. The " refugee ", as the name suggests, simply wants or needs to get out of her home country, usually because of the prevailing social, political or economic situation, while the " explorer " is more interested in traveling for culture, discovery and adventure, and enjoys the prestige of her status abroad.

On the other hand, the " mercenary " focuses solely on financial gain, looking for a way to increase her income. Finally, the " architect " sees this experience as an opportunity for career advancement, and she aims at climbing the ladder of professional success faster once she goes back home.

Having described those categories, we will now turn to the typical career choices and traits of women who choose to expatriate.

The career path

Most women opting for expatriation share qualities and traits that make them the ideal candidates for an international assignment or any other professional experience abroad.

These characteristics are also linked to the entrepreneurial spirit, that pushes women to create a business, work for themselves and stray from a more conventional career path. Indeed, those expats usually demonstrate great levels of creativity, strong determination, a certain dose of restlessness, and a taste for adventure.

Additionally, they have generally established a previous professional career, display self-confidence, and are skilled managers.

Expatriation, for these women, marks a transition in several ways. First, and quite clearly, it steers their career in a new direction, redefining their employment status and responsibilities.

Also, their roles when it comes to relationships and family are bound to change when moving to a new country for work, whether they do it by themselves or with their spouse and children.

This can change their perception of themselves and how they define their identity as a wife and mother. However, and not surprisingly, an impressive 89% of women in expatriation are single.

Unfortunately, stereotypes are still present in the corporate world, and discrimination based on gender is a reality many women have to face. This, in turn, undermines their confidence and makes them less likely to take the plunge, for fear of failure.

Now that we have a clearer picture of what characterizes those expats, let's examine the reasons why women choose this international experience.

Why do women expatriate?

Once again, there is not a single profile and reason for women to pack their bags and move to a new country for professional purposes, but certain triggers or causes are quite common among this population.

First, expatriation may be due to job redundancy. Having lost their job, women are more likely to consider alternative professional options and modify their perception of what a career can look like.

Then, in a similar way, hitting a proverbial glass ceiling is a good reason to try something new and expand your horizons.

More pragmatically, economic recession in their home country often pushes women to look for better opportunities in countries where the economy is more favorable.

Still relating to money but in a personal way, financial issues could also lead to choosing another place to live and work in, where the dollar goes further and the cost of life is lower, and/or wages are higher.

Another important factor is frustration, boredom, or general dissatisfaction with their current job, encouraging them to find a position that better matches their skills, education, and/or tastes.

Finally, as mentioned previously, women are likely to be discriminated against because of their gender, not to mention harassed, in their working environment or even in their daily life outside of the office.

In that case, expatriation becomes an open door to a better treatment as a woman, in all aspects of their life.

As we have seen, various traits define the expatriate population, and some common situations or causes for expatriation can be highlighted. We will now consider the selection process and the drivers for international assignments.

Motivations for women to do their expatriation

Selection criteria

The most crucial and common criterion used by companies selecting candidates for expatriation is technical competence .

The reason is simple: not only are technical skills the most obvious factor for success or failure, they are also the easiest to determine, since companies usually assess their employees as part of the application process.

Then, relational abilities are essential when it comes to a successful international experience , as they denote a capacity to communicate with and relate to locals in the host country, which constitutes a huge part of the expatriate experience.

Centered around psychological characteristics, they also include cultural awareness and emotional intelligence.

Another key criterion is the ability to adapt to new environments, especially in terms of corporate, legal, political, social and economic structures. Indeed, those could be extremely different from what the expatriate knows, and it's important to understand them clearly.

An element than can be significant in certain countries and regions of the world if the ability to build strong bonds and establish lasting friendships with locals, as it is ultimately a way to constitute a network in the host country.

Finally, women's family situation, while often neglected by employers, should be an essential part of the selection process . Ensuring the male trailing spouse approves the relocation and is likely to adapt to their new environment is a way to avoid failure and repatriation, an issue that is quite prevalent.

With that said, additional success factors make for a rewarding experience, as we will now see.

The secret to a successful selection

A number of Critical Success Factors characterize high-performing professionals, and they should be relied upon during the selection process. T

hey include high self-awareness, the ability to maintain motivation and focus, to balance your emotions, and to memorize past experiences, resilience, adaptability to new situations, and ongoing brain care.

All those elements are markers for success in individual careers but also in relationships, as they make for confident, balanced, driven individuals who use their skills to provide the highest level of performance in all areas of their lives.

Additionally, benchmarks for a successful professional experience overseas can be used to assess candidates prior to expatriation. They are technical and managerial skills, cultural adjustability, diplomacy, language skills, a positive attitude, and emotional stability.

Once again, people displaying these traits are likely to make the most of their international experience, both for themselves and for the company they work for.

Once the selection process is over and candidates have been chosen, success assessment should be based on three main criteria. First, employers must evaluate whether the mission abroad was completed satisfactorily.

Then, they should determine how well the employee has adapted to the local culture. Lastly, they can review the expatriate's actual performance throughout their assignment.

After examining the expatriation decision on the employer's side, let's consider what motivates female professionals to embark on this adventure.

The drivers to expatriation

Similarly to the causes and reasons, the motivations to relocate for work can be numerous and very personal. However, they usually fall into common categories.

The perspective of career advancement is a frequent motivation for women to take a chance abroad, when they may face a glass ceiling in their current position.

The opportunity to achieve a better financial situation is also a key driver to work in another country, where economic conditions are better.

On a more personal note, yearning for independence is a strong factor, as many women feel they are not free to live and work as they please.

Also, self-fulfillment is something they aspire to, and they may consider it is easier to reach their full potential outside of their home country.

Social status is another key driver for expatriation, since this kind of experience is usually seen as a way to be part of higher circles.

For women who have a family to take care of, relocation can mean employment opportunities for their spouse, as well as a way to provide for their family's needs.

Finally, the desire to discover new cultures and to learn foreign ways of life applies to the most adventurous women, who thrive in unfamiliar settings. Since they adapt more easily than their male partners, they are more likely to make the move.

With all this in mind, we will now take a look at the types of hardships women who expatriate may encounter.

The challenges women face before or during expatriation

While those challenges depend on the type of industry women work for, some of them are quite universal.

One of the main hurdles on the path to an international career is a limited access to opportunities abroad due to a lack of female networks in foreign countries.

Then, as we mentioned several times, family matters are most likely to create a barrier to expatriation, or to cause its failure.

Another personal challenge comes in the form of an inability or a struggle to achieve the sometimes elusive work-life balance that is so crucial to a fulfilling professional career.

Still touching upon individual issues, loneliness constitutes a great hindrance when living and working abroad, and could lead to an early return.

Lack of support, either from your own company at home or from the locals once you are in the new country is also very detrimental, as feeling isolated and left to your own devices will probably create anxiety and impact performance.

A lack of planning before relocating is most likely a recipe for failure, where women feel unprepared and not ready for whatever awaits them in their new environment.

Finally, in terms of repatriation, failing to devise a strategy is also likely to generate feelings of frustration when things don't work out once you are back in your home country.

All the aforementioned challenges are more or less prominent according to individual situations, but some of them can be tackled successfully, so that women are not only more inclined to try expatriation, but also to make it a great experience on a professional and personal level.

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Why Do Fewer Women Take up International Postings?

Across all areas of business, we read about gender equality, diversity, and inclusion on our newsfeeds. But are these just the latest buzzwords we hope will make our organizations sound dynamic and forward-thinking? Or does “gender equality” extend to all operations of a company? When it comes to Global Mobility , the widespread underrepresentation of women in international postings is discouraging to say the least.

According to the 2017 Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices , just 14% of the global expatriate workforce is made up of women. Of course, the percentage varies from continent to continent – figures range from approx. 10% in ASIAPAC to up to circa 20% in the US.

Does this mean that female talent continues to be overlooked when it comes to selecting the best employee for an international assignment? Or can we can conclude from these statistics that women are genuinely not as interested in the global opportunity as their male counterparts? Are they more averse to the risks involved?

Let’s take a closer look at these potential explanations.

Global Mobility in the Age of Diversity

Gender imbalance in global organizations.

The low proportion of women on international assignments is shocking, but what’s even more sobering is that it’s far from the only area of business where women remain gravely underrepresented.

There are many organizational and cultural barriers to be challenged before more women can achieve their full potential in terms of advancement, engagement and development. This is true throughout the hierarchy but especially true at senior levels where decisions about international assignments would be made.

Women who embark on international assignments are actually more likely to remain abroad whereas men more typically return home at the end of the stipulated period.

According to Global Mobility Professional Helen Cole , these decision makers may hold unconscious prejudices, fearing that women are more likely to be lonely or face workplace challenges in other work locations affecting the ultimate success of the assignment.

Such views, however, are easily debunked with research. In fact, women who embark on international postings are actually more likely to remain abroad whereas men more typically return home at the end of the stipulated period.

The ultimate challenge here is to create an inclusive culture where all your employees acknowledge the value of diversity, and achieving this goal means starting at the top.

Further reading

Family issues

Family ties are often the main barriers to mobility for expatriates and this is even more the case for women. Family does not just mean children. Women often think about the impact of relocating on their partner and partner’s career.

In short, some women are not willing to relocate because they are reluctant to cause upheaval in their partner’s life. In addition, they foresee the culture shock that their partner will experience and see that as another hurdle in already challenging times. In contrast, men tend to think about this later once the impact of culture shock has set in.

To facilitate true gender equality, global mobility policies need to accommodate not only the issues of female expatriates but also those of new family constellations.

Women’s seemingly less optimistic view however may be informed by their organizational culture. Looking at international postings to date, many family support policies have originally been developed for male assignees with children and a trailing spouse .

To facilitate true gender equality, these policies need to accommodate not only the issues of female expatriates but also those of new family constellations. The needs of single parents, for example, are often overlooked – and the majority of single parents are women.

For this to work, companies should proactively recruit high potential female talent and give them plenty of time to mull over the idea of an international assignment. Then employers can work with candidates to overcome any concerns through initiatives such as intercultural training for the whole family. There will also be time to organize a support network, such as a buddy system. It is a matter of talent pipeline management .

Cultural barriers – facts versus myth

Rationales for choosing men over women for international postings have included:

• In some cultures, women are still not seen as equal as their male counterparts. Companies who research the country well know that it will be easier for a man to carry out the job. This is not great for the company but it may be easier to implement.
• Men have more of the resilience that international postings require

Such beliefs reflect a business culture that makes decisions for women based on an ingrained perception. While these unconscious biases are easily debunked on our social media feeds, they still inform the system in which we all operate.

To update the system will require proactive decision makers. Rather than assuming women are not resilient enough, why not search internally for resilient women ? If the assignment is in a country where women have different rights, then you have the opportunity to identify a woman with the confidence, courage and commitment to accept this challenge – all great qualities which are likely to make her successful in the role.

Hélène Ratte, EMEA HR Partner who initiated Deloitte’s ’Women in the workforce’ program, understands this. When appointing an international assignee, she says that “ First and foremost, we find the person qualified to fit the clients’ needs and then HR ensures that qualified women are part of those short-listed for the assignment .”

Ratte is aware that when she sends someone to the Middle East they have to be able to cope with the cultural complexity . When she feels a woman candidate is suitable for the job, Ratte builds up the case to make sure the candidate is accepted.

Thanks to key players like Ratte who actively question cultural barriers, Deloitte is a company that actively encourages the development of women’s careers.

Lack of female role models

It’s much easier to commit to something when you’ve seen it work for someone else. And sure enough, the scarcity of female international assignees in organizations contributes to itself.

Global Mobility professional Helen Cole observes:

“Men see their peers going off on assignment all the time and it is almost the expected path to career progression in this global workplace. Women, however, are not seeing their peers, fellow female colleagues, going on assignment and any that do are still seen as trailblazers rather than the norm. This culture, no doubt, contributes to decisions on who is offered assignments and who is not .”

To escape this Catch-22 again requires decision makers to swim against the grain. Instead of assuming that female staff will not leave for some countries with their families , ask and see what the response is. This would then encourage more women to go out there and write success for the organization as well as be a role model for female colleagues.

Women – the international assignees of the future

What companies also need to realize is that gender and global mobility is beyond just a social issue — it is highly problematic with financial, legislative, risk management, and staff retention implications. Understanding the full extent of lack of diversity, the consequences it has and truly recognizing the need for diversity will lead to the thinking that is required to harmonize the disparity.

Alongside this, it is time to start gathering more statistical data on this topic in companies so that changes in global mobility can be monitored. There is a real lack of data being collected by international companies on international assignees. The decision making as to who embarks on an international assignment needs to be addressed by men and women alike. Looking at the assignment in terms of the intercultural competences required and assessing applicants as individuals would be a step in the right direction.

By recognizing female assignees who have achieved international success, a company shows the value it assigns to women, and advertises its commitment to developing the best global mobility talent, regardless of gender.

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Managing International Assignments

International assignment management is one of the hardest areas for HR professionals to master—and one of the most costly. The expense of a three-year international assignment can cost millions, yet many organizations fail to get it right. Despite their significant investments in international assignments, companies still report a 42 percent failure rate in these assignments. 1

With so much at risk, global organizations must invest in upfront and ongoing programs that will make international assignments successful. Selecting the right person, preparing the expatriate (expat) and the family, measuring the employee's performance from afar, and repatriating the individual at the end of an assignment require a well-planned, well-managed program. Knowing what to expect from start to finish as well as having some tools to work with can help minimize the risk.

Business Case

As more companies expand globally, they are also increasing international assignments and relying on expatriates to manage their global operations. According to KPMG's 2021 Global Assignment Policies and Practices Survey, all responding multinational organizations offered long-term assignments (typically one to five years), 88 percent offered short-term assignments (typically defined as less than 12 months), and 69 percent offered permanent transfer/indefinite length.

Managing tax and tax compliance, cost containment and managing exceptions remain the three principal challenges in long-term assignment management according to a 2020 Mercer report. 2

Identifying the Need for International Assignment

Typical reasons for an international assignment include the following:

• Filling a need in an existing operation.
• Transferring technology or knowledge to a worksite (or to a client's worksite).
• Developing an individual's career through challenging tasks in an international setting.
• Analyzing the market to see whether the company's products or services will attract clients and users.
• Launching a new product or service.

The goal of the international assignment will determine the assignment's length and help identify potential candidates. See Structuring Expatriate Assignments and the Value of Secondment and Develop Future Leaders with Rotational Programs .

Selection Process

Determining the purpose and goals for an international assignment will help guide the selection process. A technical person may be best suited for transferring technology, whereas a sales executive may be most effective launching a new product or service.

Traditionally, organizations have relied on technical, job-related skills as the main criteria for selecting candidates for overseas assignments, but assessing global mindset is equally, if not more, important for successful assignments. This is especially true given that international assignments are increasingly key components of leadership and employee development.

To a great extent, the success of every expatriate in achieving the company's goals in the host country hinges on that person's ability to influence individuals, groups and organizations that have a different cultural perspective.

Interviews with senior executives from various industries, sponsored by the Worldwide ERC Foundation, reveal that in the compressed time frame of an international assignment, expatriates have little opportunity to learn as they go, so they must be prepared before they arrive. Therefore, employers must ensure that the screening process for potential expatriates includes an assessment of their global mindset.

The research points to three major attributes of successful expatriates:

• Intellectual capital. Knowledge, skills, understanding and cognitive complexity.
• Psychological capital. The ability to function successfully in the host country through internal acceptance of different cultures and a strong desire to learn from new experiences.
• Social capital. The ability to build trusting relationships with local stakeholders, whether they are employees, supply chain partners or customers.

According to Global HR Consultant Caroline Kersten, it is generally understood that global leadership differs significantly from domestic leadership and that, as a result, expatriates need to be equipped with competencies that will help them succeed in an international environment. Commonly accepted global leadership competencies, for both male and female global leaders, include cultural awareness, open-mindedness and flexibility.

In particular, expatriates need to possess a number of vital characteristics to perform successfully on assignment. Among the necessary traits are the following:

• Confidence and self-reliance: independence; perseverance; work ethic.
• Flexibility and problem-solving skills: resilience; adaptability; ability to deal with ambiguity.
• Tolerance and interpersonal skills: social sensitivity; observational capability; listening skills; communication skills.
• Skill at handling and initiating change: personal drivers and anchors; willingness to take risks.

Trends in international assignment show an increase in the younger generation's interest and placement in global assignments. Experts also call for a need to increase female expatriates due to the expected leadership shortage and the value employers find in mixed gender leadership teams. See Viewpoint: How to Break Through the 'Mobility Ceiling' .

Employers can elicit relevant information on assignment successes and challenges by means of targeted interview questions with career expatriates, such as the following:

• How many expatriate assignments have you completed?
• What are the main reasons why you chose to accept your previous expatriate assignments?
• What difficulties did you experience adjusting to previous international assignments? How did you overcome them?
• On your last assignment, what factors made your adjustment to the new environment easier?
• What experiences made interacting with the locals easier?
• Please describe what success or failure means to you when referring to an expatriate assignment.
• Was the success or failure of your assignments measured by your employers? If so, how did they measure it?
• During your last international assignment, do you recall when you realized your situation was a success or a failure? How did you come to that determination?
• Why do you wish to be assigned an international position?

Securing Visas

Once an individual is chosen for an assignment, the organization needs to move quickly to secure the necessary visas. Requirements and processing times vary by country. Employers should start by contacting the host country's consulate or embassy for information on visa requirements. See Websites of U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions .

Following is a list of generic visa types that may be required depending on the nature of business to be conducted in a particular country:

• A work permit authorizes paid employment in a country.
• A work visa authorizes entry into a country to take up paid employment.
• A dependent visa permits family members to accompany or join employees in the country of assignment.
• A multiple-entry visa permits multiple entries into a country.

Preparing for the Assignment

An international assignment agreement that outlines the specifics of the assignment and documents agreement by the employer and the expatriate is necessary. Topics typically covered include:

• Location of the assignment.
• Length of the assignment, including renewal and trial periods, if offered.
• Costs paid by the company (e.g., assignment preparation costs, moving costs for household goods, airfare, housing, school costs, transportation costs while in country, home country visits and security).
• Base salary and any incentives or allowances offered.
• Employee's responsibilities and goals.
• Employment taxes.
• Steps to take in the event the assignment is not working for either the employee or the employer.
• Repatriation.
• Safety and security measures (e.g., emergency evacuation procedures, hazards).

Expatriates may find the reality of foreign housing very different from expectations, particularly in host locations considered to be hardship assignments. Expats will find—depending on the degree of difficulty, hardship or danger—that housing options can range from spacious accommodations in a luxury apartment building to company compounds with dogs and armed guards. See Workers Deal with Affordable Housing Shortages in Dubai and Cairo .

Expats may also have to contend with more mundane housing challenges, such as shortages of suitable housing, faulty structures and unreliable utility services. Analyses of local conditions are available from a variety of sources. For example, Mercer produces Location Evaluation Reports, available for a fee, that evaluate levels of hardship for 14 factors, including housing, in more than 135 locations.

Although many employers acknowledge the necessity for thorough preparation, they often associate this element solely with the assignee, forgetting the other key parties involved in an assignment such as the employee's family, work team and manager.

The expatriate

Consider these points in relation to the assignee:

• Does the employee have a solid grasp of the job to be done and the goals established for that position?
• Does the employee understand the compensation and benefits package?
• Has the employee had access to cultural training and language instruction, no matter how similar the host culture may be?
• Is the employee receiving relocation assistance in connection with the physical move?
• Is there a contact person to whom the employee can go not only in an emergency but also to avoid becoming "out of sight, out of mind"?
• If necessary to accomplish the assigned job duties, has the employee undergone training to get up to speed?
• Has the assignee undergone an assessment of readiness?

To help the expatriate succeed, organizations are advised to invest in cross-cultural training before the relocation. The benefits of receiving such training are that it: 3

• Prepares the individual/family mentally for the move.
• Removes some of the unknown.
• Increases self-awareness and cross-cultural understanding.
• Provides the opportunity to address questions and anxieties in a supportive environment.
• Motivates and excites.
• Reduces stress and provides coping strategies.
• Eases the settling-in process.
• Reduces the chances of relocation failure.

See Helping Expatriate Employees Deal with Culture Shock .

As society has shifted from single- to dual-income households, the priorities of potential expatriates have evolved, as have the policies organizations use to entice employees to assignment locations. In the past, from the candidate's point of view, compensation was the most significant component of the expatriate package. Today more emphasis is on enabling an expatriate's spouse to work. Partner dissatisfaction is a significant contributor to assignment failure. See UAE: Expat Husbands Get New Work Opportunities .

When it comes to international relocation, most organizations deal with children as an afterthought. Factoring employees' children into the relocation equation is key to a successful assignment. Studies show that transferee children who have a difficult time adjusting to the assignment contribute to early returns and unsuccessful completion of international assignments, just as maladjusted spouses do. From school selection to training to repatriation, HR can do a number of things to smooth the transition for children.

Both partners and children must be prepared for relocation abroad. Employers should consider the following:

• Have they been included in discussions about the host location and what they can expect? Foreign context and culture may be more difficult for accompanying family because they will not be participating in the "more secure" environment of the worksite. Does the family have suitable personal characteristics to successfully address the rigors of an international life?
• In addition to dual-career issues, other common concerns include aging parents left behind in the home country and special needs for a child's education. Has the company allowed a forum for the family to discuss these concerns?

The work team

Whether the new expatriate will supervise the existing work team, be a peer, replace a local national or fill a newly created position, has the existing work team been briefed? Plans for a formal introduction of the new expatriate should reflect local culture and may require more research and planning as well as input from the local work team.

The manager/team leader

Questions organization need to consider include the following: Does the manager have the employee's file on hand (e.g., regarding increases, performance evaluations, promotions and problems)? Have the manager and employee engaged in in-depth conversations about the job, the manager's expectations and the employee's expectations?

Mentors play an important role in enhancing a high-performing employee's productivity and in guiding his or her career. In a traditional mentoring relationship, a junior executive has ongoing face-to-face meetings with a senior executive at the corporation to learn the ropes, set goals and gain advice on how to better perform his or her job.

Before technological advances, mentoring programs were limited to those leaders who had the time and experience within the organization's walls to impart advice to a few select people worth that investment. Technology has eliminated those constraints. Today, maintaining a long-distance mentoring relationship through e-mail, telephone and videoconferencing is much easier. And that technology means an employer is not confined to its corporate halls when considering mentor-mentee matches.

The organization

If the company is starting to send more employees abroad, it has to reassess its administrative capabilities. Can existing systems handle complicated tasks, such as currency exchanges and split payrolls, not to mention the additional financial burden of paying allowances, incentives and so on? Often, international assignment leads to outsourcing for global expertise. Payroll, tax, employment law, contractual obligations, among others, warrant an investment in sound professional advice.

Employment Laws

Four major U.S. employment laws have some application abroad for U.S. citizens working in U.S.-based multinationals:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA are the more far-reaching among these, covering all U.S. citizens who are either:

• Employed outside the United States by a U.S. firm.
• Employed outside the United States by a company under the control of a U.S. firm.

USERRA's extraterritoriality applies to veterans and reservists working overseas for the federal government or a firm under U.S. control. See Do laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act apply to U.S. citizens working in several other countries?

Employers must also be certain to comply with both local employment law in the countries in which they manage assignments and requirements for corporate presence in those countries. See Where can I find international employment law and culture information?

Compensation

Companies take one of the following approaches to establish base salaries for expatriates:

• The home-country-based approach. The objective of a home-based compensation program is to equalize the employee to a standard of living enjoyed in his or her home country. Under this commonly used approach, the employee's base salary is broken down into four general categories: taxes, housing, goods and services, and discretionary income.
• The host-country-based approach. With this approach, the expatriate employee's compensation is based on local national rates. Many companies continue to cover the employee in its defined contribution or defined benefit pension schemes and provide housing allowances.
• The headquarters-based approach. This approach assumes that all assignees, regardless of location, are in one country (i.e., a U.S. company pays all assignees a U.S.-based salary, regardless of geography).
• Balance sheet approach. In this scenario, the compensation is calculated using the home-country-based approach with all allowances, deductions and reimbursements. After the net salary has been determined, it is then converted to the host country's currency. Since one of the primary goals of an international compensation management program is to maintain the expatriate's current standard of living, developing an equitable and functional compensation plan that combines balance and flexibility is extremely challenging for multinational companies. To this end, many companies adopt a balance sheet approach. This approach guarantees that employees in international assignments maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in their home country. A worksheet lists the costs of major expenses in the home and host countries, and any differences are used to increase or decrease the compensation to keep it in balance.

Some companies also allow expatriates to split payment of their salaries between the host country's and the home country's currencies. The expatriate receives money in the host country's currency for expenses but keeps a percentage of it in the home country currency to safeguard against wild currency fluctuations in either country.

As for handling expatriates taxes, organizations usually take one of four approaches:

• The employee is responsible for his or her own taxes.
• The employer determines tax reimbursement on a case-by-case basis.
• The employer pays the difference between taxes paid in the United States and the host country.
• The employer withholds U.S. taxes and pays foreign taxes.

To prevent an expatriate employee from suffering excess taxation of income by both the U.S. and host countries, many multinational companies implement either a tax equalization or a tax reduction policy for employees on international assignments. Additionally, the United States has entered into  bilateral international social security agreements  with numerous countries, referred to as "totalization agreements," which allow for an exemption of the social security tax in either the home or host country for defined periods of time.

A more thorough discussion of compensation and tax practices for employees on international assignment can be found in SHRM's Designing Global Compensation Systems toolkit.

How do we handle taxes for expatriates?

Can employers pay employees in other countries on the corporate home-country payroll?

Measuring Expatriates' Performance

Failed international assignments can be extremely costly to an organization. There is no universal approach to measuring an expatriate's performance given that specifics related to the job, country, culture and other variables will need to be considered. Employers must identify and communicate clear job expectations and performance indicators very early on in the assignment. A consistent and detailed assessment of an expatriate employee's performance, as well as appraisal of the operation as a whole, is critical to the success of an international assignment. Issues such as the criteria for and timing of performance reviews, raises and bonuses should be discussed and agreed on before the employees are selected and placed on international assignments.

Employees on foreign assignments face a number of issues that domestic employees do not. According to a 2020 Mercer report 4 , difficulty adjusting to the host country, poor candidate selection and spouse or partner's unhappiness are the top three reasons international assignments fail. Obviously, retention of international assignees poses a significant challenge to employers.

Upon completion of an international assignment, retaining the employee in the home country workplace is also challenging. Unfortunately, many employers fail to track retention data of repatriated employees and could benefit from collecting this information and making adjustments to reduce the turnover of employees returning to their home country.

Safety and Security

When faced with accident, injury, sudden illness, a disease outbreak or politically unstable conditions in which personal safety is at risk, expatriate employees and their dependents may require evacuation to the home country or to a third location. To be prepared, HR should have an evacuation plan in place that the expatriate can share with friends, extended family and colleagues both at home and abroad. See Viewpoint: Optimizing Global Mobility's Emergency Response Plans .

Many companies ban travel outside the country in the following circumstances:

• When a travel advisory is issued by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, International SOS or a government agency.
• When a widespread outbreak of a specific disease occurs or if the risk is deemed too high for employees and their well-being is in jeopardy.
• If the country is undergoing civil unrest or war or if an act of terrorism has occurred.
• If local management makes the decision.
• If the employee makes the decision.

Once employees are in place, the decision to evacuate assignees and dependents from a host location is contingent on local conditions and input from either internal sources (local managers, headquarters staff, HR and the assignee) or external sources (an external security or medical firm) or both. In some cases, each host country has its own set of evacuation procedures.

Decision-makers should consider all available and credible advice and initially transport dependents and nonessential personnel out of the host country by the most expeditious form of travel.

Navigating International Crises

How can an organization ensure the safety and security of expatriates and other employees in high-risk areas?

The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program (DAIP)

Repatriation

Ideally, the repatriation process begins before the expatriate leaves his or her home country and continues throughout the international assignment by addressing the following issues.

Career planning. Many managers are responsible for resolving difficult problems abroad and expect that a well-done job will result in promotion on return, regardless of whether the employer had made such a promise. This possibly unfounded assumption can be avoided by straightforward career planning that should occur in advance of the employee's accepting the international assignment. Employees need to know what impact the expatriate assignment will have on their overall advancement in the home office and that the international assignment fits in their career path.

Mentoring. The expatriate should be assigned a home-office mentor. Mentors are responsible for keeping expatriates informed on developments within the company, for keeping the expatriates' names in circulation in the office (to help avoid the out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon) and for seeing to it that expatriates are included in important meetings. Mentors can also assist the expatriate in identifying how the overseas experience can best be used on return. Optimum results are achieved when the mentor role is part of the mentor's formal job duties.

Communication. An effective global communication plan will help expatriates feel connected to the home office and will alert them to changes that occur while they are away. The Internet, e-mail and intranets are inexpensive and easy ways to bring expatriates into the loop and virtual meeting software is readily available for all employers to engage with global employees. In addition, organizations should encourage home-office employees to keep in touch with peers on overseas assignments. Employee newsletters that feature global news and expatriate assignments are also encouraged.

Home visits. Most companies provide expatriates with trips home. Although such trips are intended primarily for personal visits, scheduling time for the expatriate to visit the home office is an effective method of increasing the expatriate's visibility. Having expatriates attend a few important meetings or make a presentation on their international assignment is also a good way to keep them informed and connected.

Preparation to return home. The expatriate should receive plenty of advance notice (some experts recommend up to one year) of when the international assignment will end. This notice will allow the employee time to prepare the family and to prepare for a new position in the home office. Once the employee is notified of the assignment's end, the HR department should begin working with the expatriate to identify suitable positions in the home office. The expatriate should provide the HR department with an updated resume that reflects the duties of the overseas assignment. The employee's overall career plan should be included in discussions with the HR professional.

Interviews. In addition to home leave, organizations may need to provide trips for the employee to interview with prospective managers. The face-to-face interview will allow the expatriate to elaborate on skills and responsibilities obtained while overseas and will help the prospective manager determine if the employee is a good fit. Finding the right position for the expatriate is crucial to retaining the employee. Repatriates who feel that their new skills and knowledge are underutilized may grow frustrated and leave the employer.

Ongoing recognition of contributions. An employer can recognize and appreciate the repatriates' efforts in several ways, including the following:

• Hosting a reception for repatriates to help them reconnect and meet new personnel.
• Soliciting repatriates' help in preparing other employees for expatriation.
• Asking repatriates to deliver a presentation or prepare a report on their overseas assignment.
• Including repatriates on a global task force and asking them for a global perspective on business issues.

Measuring ROI on expatriate assignments can be cumbersome and imprecise. The investment costs of international assignments can vary dramatically and can be difficult to determine. The largest expatriate costs include overall remuneration, housing, cost-of-living allowances (which sometimes include private schooling costs for children) and physical relocation (the movement to the host country of the employee, the employee's possessions and, often, the employee's family).

But wide variations exist in housing expenses. For example, housing costs are sky-high in Tokyo and London, whereas Australia's housing costs are moderate. Another significant cost of expatriate assignments involves smoothing out differences in pay and benefits between one country and another. Such cost differences can be steep and can vary based on factors such as exchange rates (which can be quite volatile) and international tax concerns (which can be extremely complex).

Once an organization has determined the costs of a particular assignment, the second part of the ROI challenge is calculating the return. Although it is relatively straightforward to quantify the value of fixing a production line in Puerto Rico or of implementing an enterprise software application in Asia, the challenge of quantifying the value of providing future executives with cross-cultural perspectives and international leadership experience can be intimidating.

Once an organization determines the key drivers of its expatriate program, HR can begin to define objectives and assess return that can be useful in guiding employees and in making decisions about the costs they incur as expatriates. Different objectives require different levels and lengths of tracking. Leadership development involves a much longer-term value proposition and should include a thorough repatriation plan. By contrast, the ROI of an international assignment that plugs a skills gap is not negatively affected if the expatriate bolts after successfully completing the engagement.

Additional Resources

International Assignment Management: Expatriate Policy and Procedure

Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline

1Mulkeen, D. (2017, February 20). How to reduce the risk of international assignment failure. Communicaid. Retrieved from https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/reducing-risk-international-assignment-failure/

2Mercer. (2020). Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices. Retrieved from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/international-assignments-survey .

3Dickmann, M., & Baruch, Y. (2011). Global careers. New York: Routledge.

4Mercer. (2020). Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices. Retrieved from https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/international-assignments-survey

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, international adjustment of female vs male business expatriates. a replication study in switzerland.

Journal of Global Mobility

ISSN : 2049-8799

Article publication date: 8 June 2015

Reasons for women’s underrepresentation in international assignments include stereotypical assumptions within organizations about their ability to adjust abroad and more broadly a lack of trust from the corporate headquarters. Female expatriates’ adjustment may strongly vary depending on the host country and on host-country nationals’ attitudes toward them. Yet up until today, very few studies have examined female expatriate adjustment in a single and non-Asian host country. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by comparing the cross-cultural adjustment of male and female expatriates in Switzerland.

Design/methodology/approach

This study replicates Selmer and Leung’s (2003a) study design in order to compare adjustment of male and female expatriates working in multinational companies in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Based on 152 valid questionnaires collected, the authors performed a multivariate analysis of covariance and further analyses of covariance to compare male and female expatriate adjustment.

The authors find that female expatriates have significantly higher interaction and work adjustment levels than their male counterparts, while no significant differences between men and women were observed in terms of general adjustment. These findings in a European context are consistent with those of Selmer and Leung in an Asian context.

Originality/value

Very few studies to date have examined the adjustment of female expatriates in a western host-country context, despite the fact that host-country cultural norms might strongly influence women’s experiences. The research brings new empirical evidence about cross-cultural adjustment of female and male expatriates in a western location. Contrary to persistent stereotypical assumptions, results emphasize again that women are able to adjust better or at least as well as their male counterparts.

• Switzerland
• Cross-cultural adjustment
• Female expatriates
• Gender expatriation
• Male expatriates

Acknowledgements

This publication benefited from the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES – Overcoming vulnerability: life course perspectives, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The authors are grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation for its financial assistance, and to IP6 colleagues, in particular, Professor Nicky Le Feuvre (University of Lausanne) for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Salamin, X. and Davoine, E. (2015), "International adjustment of female vs male business expatriates. A replication study in Switzerland", Journal of Global Mobility , Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 183-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-12-2014-0055

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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