Expatriate Management of Multinational Companies - Term Paper Example

Introduction The global labour market dynamics largely affect human resources in multinational organizations. Dual-career couples are partners who occupy positions that require high commitment for the success of the organization. The two partners pursue employment while maintaining a family unit together. They have responsibilities that demand a great deal of their time even though they are exposed to opportunities for a stable economic welfare. Greater responsibilities and time spent apart is especially when the two partners work for multinational companies in different countries. Contemporary organizations are offering job opportunities for women than it were before and hence there are an increasing number of dual-career couples. Apart from accomplishing their career goals, they have to attend to family demands. Failure to accomplish a work-life balance can be a cause of stress that may affect their performance. Multinationals can improve the performance of dual-career couples by assisting them repatriate. This paper presents a critique of the manner in which the multinational companies can help couples to come back to their original workplace. Challenges facing Repatriates Couples in the global labour force opting to return home may not be adequately prepared to face the challenges associated with repatriation. One of the issues that repatriate couples face up to is the failure of former employers to recognize their global experiences. The encounter similar challenges as immigrants seeking to make their foreign skills and qualifications recognized abroad (Forster, 2000). Their qualifications and experiences may not match the current standards especially if they have worked abroad for long. In other words, they may discover that they are no longer qualified for the position that they held prior to their departure. Repatriates may also be faced with the problem of restoring a previous professional association. It is usually difficult to establish a relationship even with colleagues who remained in touch even when the repatriate was undertaking the assignment abroad. This usually happens especially when colleagues are unable figure out what the repatriates’ day to day activities were (Harvey, 1998). Culture shock is also a major challenge especially when the repatriates have been away from home for long. Dual career couples may have had different experiences in regard to the cultures of the different countries that they were based. Adjusting to weather conditions, local regulations, foodstuffs, standard of living, and driving may also be a challenge. The repatriates become disoriented and may be filled with uncertainty because of the fretfulness resulting from the loss of all their recognizable symbols of social interactions. Such reminders comprise the many ways in which people acquaint themselves with the day to day life. Disorientation is entrenched in the loss of the capability to understand the existing cultural background while frustration generates stress and despair (Neault, 2005). Multinational Organization’s Assistance to Dual-Career Couples Organizations need to help repatriates to cope with the ambiguity of situations such as the ones they encounter while returning to their home country. They are supposed to understand their roles in the new environment, workmates as well as the home organization. Such knowledge helps them to readjust to the workplace. They can accomplish the process of readjustment through developing a mental map of the original organization and local standards that might have changed while they were away. The management needs to make the repatriate couples to derive meaning from the local environment. They can get acquainted with the past experiences and individual temperament (Arthur and Macdonald, 2003). Generally, the information that emanates from different organizational sources in the repatriation period is significant in assisting couples to deal with the sense of shock and the vagueness they might experience (Solomon, 2001). According to Glanz (2005), mobilizing the assistance of work teams is a strong coping strategy for repatriates. Communicating and regular interactions with others in the workplace has psychological benefits for the repatriates. Failure of such interactions may make dual career couples to maintain their experiences abroad and they may never adjust to the new environment. Organizations can provide mentorship to facilitate familiarization of dual career couples to the new environment. The immediate supervisors are significant in the re-entry process and have a significant role to play in helping the individuals to get oriented to the current roles. Matters concerning the role of the repatriates in the home organization and identifying a suitable position for them need to be discussed ahead of their return to avoid confusion and to minimize chances of disorientation. The repatriate should be briefed on the various changes that have occurred as well as what to expect in the home organization (Yan et al. 2002). Multinational organizations need to incorporate dual-couple repatriate career management strategies and social support apparatus that can have a positive impact on the couple’s sense making development (Sussman, 2001). Apart from reorientation upon returning to the home organization, potential repatriates can be trained and motivated to be positive regarding their career as they prepare to return. They can be informed on resume update as well as communication regarding the situation in the home organization. They can be briefed on the changes that might have occurred in the organization as well as the emerging opportunities at their disposal upon their return. It is not only the repatriates’ role to develop realistic expectations. Rather, the management should also engage in the development of strategies for deliberate creation of rational expectations for its employees ahead of their return from foreign missions (Harold and Frank, 2009). Suutari and Tornikoski (2001) argue that confusion develops due to repatriates being deficient in understanding of the suitable actions and demeanor ahead of their return to the unusual home organizational environment. Self-efficacy and practical temperament to look for the suitable information and the desired actions are some of the characteristics and attributes that the organization should promote among the repatriate couples. These are likely to enhance their readjustment to the unusual environment. It is common for individuals to experience varying anxiety that becomes prominent at different times in the course of a changeover such as cultural repositioning (Marschan-Piekkari et al. 1999). Scullion and Starkey (2000) observed that repatriates are usually troubled by the possibility of successfully fitting in socially as well as future adjustments to the organization and accomplishing their target. Organizations therefore have to ensure that the individual needs of repatriates are addressed to ensure that they acquire the capability of adjusting to the new environment and that they are able to reach their maximum potential. The organization should promote personal mastery among the repatriates. They need to possess a clear vision and a sense of purpose in life to accomplish their ambitions. It is important to maintain a balance between the prevailing reality and creativity and also to be capable of lessening the negative aspects of conservative beliefs that hinder progress (Short & Callahan, 2005). In essence, the repatriates should be able to accept changes that occurred during their absence rather than holding on to obsolete practices. The management needs to ensure that the repatriates are open-minded through targeted orientation and mentorship procedures. Mentorship is a practice that leads to the development of a relationship between the mentor and the mentee. The mentor is usually an experienced worker in the organization who understands the organizational processes well and is competent in problem solving. The success of a repatriate highly depends on the induction and guidance offered immediately after returning to the home organization. Workplace mentoring involves helping the mentee to discover his/her potential and apply talent to the fullest (Shen, 2005). The mentor helps the repatriates to reconstruct their identities in the home country through promotion of teamwork and informal networking outside the workplace. Teamwork leads to the understanding by all members regarding each other’s tasks and responsibilities to avoid duplication of roles. As a result, members of a team assist each other in identifying the possible failures. Harold & Frank (2009) argue that since each team member is focused on the accomplishment of a particular organizational goal, they attach much importance to working together, which makes them more productive. They have to adhere to the structures of the team to avoid divisive actions. The repatriates learn quickly and are able to adjust to his new roles fast while they are engaged in teamwork (Caligiuri and Tung, 1999). Informal networks help the repatriate to acquire friends that may be useful in narrating the events that occurred in his absence. Organizations need to employ the services of career counselors who have the capacity to normalize the repatriates’ readjustment. In many situations, the counselor assists in determining whether the repatriates are required to consider undertaking internal adjustments or the entire work environment. During the reorientation, the repatriates evaluate their capacity to cope with the unusual environment; they learn and also develop new skills (Caligiuri and Phillips, 2003). Once the couples leave for foreign assignments, they may not continue owning their houses especially if they were rental. Returning to the country may present challenges of acquiring a suitable home. The management should organize for the housing of repatriate couples upon return. This helps to avoid the distress of looking for accommodation, which may be difficult to come by. Davison and Ward (2000) observe that employees should be allowed to own real estates even when they are undertaking assignments abroad to enhance repatriation and also to escape the costs of inflation upon return. Dual career couples may be affected by loss of social status especially if they are away from home for a long time and may be unable to adjust quickly to the new workplace. Social connections, responsibility and influence in the society are lost. The management needs to help the repatriates to regain independence and the moribund status at work (Chew, 2004). Status is mainly lost due to the fact that when the repatriates are undertaking an international assignment, they are usually the key representatives of the company abroad and therefore are held in high regard in the home organization. Upon return, they are regarded as any other employee in their rank. Worse still is the situation whereby they might find some staff previously occupying junior positions having attained status and the organizational structure having changed completely, which makes them to feel at a loss (Adler, 2002). Financial challenges are normally encountered by repatriates whenever they try to settle in their home country. There is usually a problem associated with figuring out the value of money in relation to what they have been used to. There are times when they may over spend as a result of misunderstanding of the local currency. People get confused when using different currencies and more so when they move from between countries using different exchange rates. Even though the repatriates have had experience in using the currencies before, it is important to ensure that they receive sufficient orientation to avoid errors. Taxation is different in different countries and therefore the management needs to provide assistance in financial planning and management (Caligiuri and Phillips, 2003). Repatriate couples need to accomplish a work-life balance like all other employees. They need enough time to meet with family members whom they have not seen for the period they were away. It is usually challenging when the repatriates take up employment immediately after returning to the home organization. They may work due to pressure but their performance may be affected by the failure to accomplish social needs (Bird and Osland, 2005). Arrangements need to be made for dual career couples to work in their comfort zones to facilitate the establishment of a home. The comfort zone is a combination of surroundings and occurrences that a person usually feels contented without fears of imminent dangers. An individual is usually at peace without risks in his/her environment. The zone is a major determinant of personality and accomplishments. The impacts of comfort zones on performance are wide ranging. People tend to perform differently in varied conditions in the workplace. When an employee is working in a comfort zone, performance is usually high. The managers need to ensure that there is flexibility in the workplace to allow dual career couples to maintain their comfort zone (Gilley and Maybunich, 2000). Re-entry counseling is significant for the repatriate couples to influence rational expectations. The effectiveness of repatriation adjustment can be accomplished through the expansion of precise expectations connected to the move of coming back to the home country. Strong expectations are associated with awareness that is necessary for predicting an event and generating solid strategies to deal with the experience (Chew, 2004). The repatriates develop survival strategies when they are aware of the possible occurrences in their home country. These enhance the real adjustment to the work environment thereby increasing performance. Repatriate satisfaction is a significant aspect that organizations need to put in to consideration. The greater the level of satisfaction the better the performance and ability to adjust to the existing tasks. Satisfaction can be accomplished by ensuring that the repatriates are offered jobs that perfectly match their skills and expectations (Bird and Osland, 2005). Conclusion Dual-career couples undertaking foreign missions need preparedness as regards coping with challenges of repatriation. They are likely to be affected by culture shock. They may become disoriented thereby lacking the capacity to readjust to the home organization’s work environment. Multinational organizations have a responsibility of ensuring that repatriates are able to familiarize and cope with the new environment. They can develop career management strategies as well as social support apparatus. Mentorship is one of the strong human resource management strategies that can enhance repatriation. The couples can be encouraged to join teams and informal networks that can help them adjust to the new environment. Housing plans should be made before the repatriates return to the home organization. They also need to be allowed the desired flexibility to enhance work-life balance. The repatriates need career and financial counseling to help them cope with the new environment. The management should promote the development of realistic expectations to enhance performance among the repatriates. References Adler, N. 2002. International dimensions of organizational behavior. Cincinnati, OH: South Western. Arthur, N. and Macdonald S. 2003. “Employees' Perception of Repatriation”. Canadian Journal of Career Development 2, 3-11 Bird, A. and Osland J. 2005. “Making sense of intercultural collaboration” International Studies of Management and Organization, 35(4), 115-132 Caligiuri, P. 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