Chapter 7 repatriation

Re-Entry and Career Issues
Prof. Preeti Bhaskar
Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, NOIDA

Re-entry/Expatriation
• Reasons of Repatriation
• Repatriation process
• Challenges of effective Repatriation
• Re-expatriation
• Repatriation Strategy
RE-ENTRY AND CAREER ISSUES

Repatriation
Repatriation generally refers to the
termination of the overseas assignment
and coming back to the home country or
to the country where the HQ is located or
to the home subsidiary from where
he/she was expatriated

• Expatriation process also includes repatriation:
the activity of bringing the expatriate back to the home
country
• Re-entry presents new challenges
– May experience re-entry shock
– Some exit the company
The multinational’s ability to retain current and attract future expatriates is affected by the
manner in which it handles repatriation.

Returnee offers several
advantages-:
• Increasingly hiring foreign returned Indian executives.
Reasons-:
• Returnees have imbibed global culture & also have understood local culture.
• Have extensive understanding of how the company is perceived in other countries.
• Repatriate understand both the operation of the country headquarters and overseas
operation
• Transfer of important technology or information from foreign subsidiary to home
country.
• Social networks help in Coordination between Home Country & Host country.
Coke , Cisco , Ford, Whirlpool, Britannia, Mc Kinsey , GM…..

Honda, the trend setter in handling Expatriates. It defines clearly , the
objective of the assignment before it starts. The objectives can range
from development of a new product to improvement in Vendor
Relation. The selected Executive prepares themselves for the
assignment by an analysis of their strength & weakness. Well before the
assignment is completed , all the expat is ready to return. Honda
identifies a suitable job for him or her and makes arrangements for a
debriefing session to capture the important lesson from the assignment

The readjustment challenge

UK Repatriate Study
• Surveyed 124 recently repatriated employees
• Indicated five predictors for repatriate maladjustment
• In ranked order:
– Length of time abroad
– Unrealistic expectations of job opportunities in the home country
– Downward job mobility
– Reduced work status
– Negative perceptions of employer’s support during and after repatriation

Global Relocation Trend Survey -:
shows that 60- 70% of Returnees did not know what their position would be before
they came home.
60% said that their firm were vague about repatriation , about their new roles & their
career Progression

“40% of repatriate leave their
company within the Year”
This is usually due to poor repatriation processes and policy.
Solution-:
• Consult on the design of proactive repatriation processes to help you hold on
to the employee on return.
• Run custom designed program to suit the expatriates specific needs.
• Personal development profiles on return

Employment
Expectations
Family
Expectations
Partner
Expectations
Your
Expectations Length of
Time Away
Age and
Stage
What can heighten re-
entry shock?

Individual reactions:
Job-related
• No post-assignment
guarantee of employment
• Loss of visibility and
isolation
• Changes in the home
workplace
Career
anxiety
• The employment
relationship and career
expectation
• Re-entry position
• Devaluing of international
experience
Work
adjustment
• Role behavior
• Role clarity
• Role discretion
• Role conflict
Coping
with new
role
demands
• Autonomy
• Responsibility
• Lower pay in absolute terms
• Drop in housing conditions
Loss of
status
and pay

Individual reactions:
social factors
• International experience can distance the repatriate (and
family) socially and psychologically
• Each family member undergoing readjustment
• Re-establishing social networks can be difficult
• Effect on partner’s career
Recent research indicates a decrease in spousal assistance upon re-entry
(e.g., job search, resume preparation and career counselling)

Multinational responses
• Staff availability
– How repatriation is handled is critical
• Return on investment (ROI)
– Defining ROI in terms of expatriation
– Gains accruing through repatriated staff
• Knowledge transfer
– A one-way activity?
– Tacit and person-bound?

The use of mentors
• Aims to alleviate the ‘out-of-sight, ‘out-of-mind’ feeling by
keeping expatriate informed
• Mentor should ensure that the expatriate is not forgotten
when important decisions are made re positions and
promotions
1. Maintaining contact with the expatriate throughout the assignment
2. Ensuring expatriates are kept up to date with developments in the home country
3. Ensuring expatriates are retained in existing management development programs
4. Mentors are responsible for assisting expatriates with the repatriation process,
including helping them with a repatriation position.
Repatriate mentor duties

Factors Affecting
Mentoring
• Size of expatriate workforce
Firms with over 250 expatriates are more likely to assign
mentors.
• Who is responsible for repatriates
Corporate HR or a separate international assignment unit is
more likely to provide mentors than the divisional level.
• Company nationality
European firms are more likely to use mentors than U.S. firms.

Repatriation activities and
practices

Predictors for repatriation
maladjustment
• Length of time abroad
• Unrealistic expectations of job opportunities in the home
company
• Downward job mobility
• Reduced work status
• Negative perceptions of the help and support provided by
employers during and after repatriation.

Repatriate knowledge
categories
• Market specific knowledge
• Personal skills
• Job-related management skills
• Network knowledge
• General management capacity

Readjustment
Physical
Relocation
Preparation
Transition
Repatriation
Process

Repatriation Phases
Readjustment
Coping with changes
(e.g., company changes, reverse culture shock, career demands, etc.)
Transition
Settling into temporary accommodation where necessary, making arrangements for housing and schooling, and
carrying out other administrative tasks
(e.g., renew driver’s license, applying for new health insurance, banking, etc.)
Physical relocation
(Removing personal effects, breaking ties with colleagues and friends, and traveling to the next posting, usually
the home country)
Preparation
( Developing plans for the future, and gathering information about the new position)

Challenges of effective
Repatriation
• Organizational Factors:
• Individual Factors:
• Social- cultural Factors:

Organizational Factors:
• Recent research indicates that the majority of organizations have no formal repatriation
programme to help expatriates readjust on return to the home country
• Only a small proportion of the repatriation programmes have consideration for the spouse
• Typical reasons given by organizations for not having a repatriation programme include:
 Lack of the requisite expertise
 Programme cost
 Lack of a perceived need by top management
• Some organizations provide a form of repatriation assistance in the form of a “mentor”
• The mentor is usually a superior to the expatriate and provides assistance in the form of
information, by maintaining regular contact with the expatriate, and by taking the expatriates
interests regarding promotion and job placement on return etc. into account
• Research indicates that the likelihood of an organization using mentors depends on the size
of the expatriate workforce, the organizational unit responsible for handling expatriates and
the nationality of the organization.

Individual relations – Job
Related factors
• Career anxiety
– No post-assignment guarantee of employment
– Loss of visibility and isolation
– Changes in the home workplace
• Work adjustment
– The employment relationship and career expectation
– Re-entry position
– Devaluing of the international experience
• Coping with new role demands
– Role behavior
– Role clarity
– Role discretion
– Role conflict
• Loss of status and pay
– Autonomy
– Responsibility
– Lower pay in absolute terms

Social – cultural factors
• If an expatriate served in a foreign assignment in a high-profile position
where he or she enjoyed considerable and sustained interaction with the social,
economic and political elites of the host country, a feeling of disappointment
may emerge after return to the home country.
• In addition to the expatriate’s social readjustment problems, the social
readjustment problems of his or her accompanying family members must also
be taken into consideration as well.
• Reestablishment of social networks in the home country may be difficult if,
for e.g., the expatriate and family are repatriated to another locality in the home
country. It may be that friends have moved away while the expatriate was on
assignment and that other friends may have joined the workforce and have no
time for social activities
• Children may encounter social readjustment problems in school because they
are not update on latest trends, and may have problems adjusting to their home
country educational system

Managing Repatriation
Successful repatriation requires proper
management or action on at least three
areas:
1. Re – expatriation
2. Repatriation programme and
3. Repatriation strategies

Re expatriation offers
several benefits to MNC:
1. Contributes to Skill of expatriates whose skill and abilities
can be used as and when the need arises.
2. Relocation of competent people in international
assignment
3. The normal difficulties and challenges of managing
expatriation and repatriation are few as the MNC has a pool
of international managers who are ready to fly to any part of
the globe at any time.

Designing a Repatriate
Program
Repatriation, physical relocation and transition information that the company will help with
Financial and tax assistance, e.g., benefit and tax changes, loss of overseas allowances, etc.
Re-entry position and career-path assistance
Reverse cultural shock, including family disorientation
School systems and children’s education and adaptation
Workplace changes, e.g., corporate culture, structure, decentralization, etc.
Stress management and communication-related training
Establishing networking opportunities
Help in forming new social contracts
Topics covered by a Repatriation Program

Repatriation Strategy:
Pre-expatriation
During the assignment
Preceding Repatriation
After repatriation

Stage Strategies
Pre-
expatriation
• Agreement outlining the type of position expatriates will be placed in
upon repatriation
• Agreement about the duration of stay overseas
• Keeping the post back at home vacant till the assignee comes back
During the
assignment
• Continuous communication with expatriate
• Visit to headquarter when on vacation to maintain visibility
Preceding
Repatriation
• Career guidance between 6-12 months before the end of
assignment.
Ensure that all elements of the repatriation process are transparent.
Such elements to include company policies with regard to travel
reimbursement leave period, shipping of household goods, and
contact information about the mentor.
After
repatriation
• Training seminars to help returnees cope with reverse culture shock
• Financial counselling and financial / tax assistance
• Reorientation programme about the changes in the company
policies, practices, personnel and strategies.
• Reassurance that the company values international experience

Inpatriation
• In-patriation is a process of identifying a potential
candidate in host country , and moving him or her to
parent country .
• Indian & Chinese have acquired prominent position in the
Globalized world.
In-patriation is also known as Reverse Diffusion

Chapter 7 repatriation

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