January 1999

Editorial

Net Expat in London

Alain Verstandig, Managing Director, Net Expat   Net Expat has started its geographical expansion! We have crossed the channel and are now present in London to cover the whole of the U.K. I would be happy to welcome you with our two new British colleagues in our offices: Net Expat 81 Oxford Street london, W1R 1RB - United Kingdom Tel : ++44/8707300001 Fax : ++44/8707300002 We welcome our new sponsor, a member of ING Group which is a leading European financial institution. In this issue, a very interesting interview with DuPont de Nemours will give you the opportunity to benchmark your current practices, while the article on "Dual-Career Taboos" might reveal you little-known but major aspects of expatriation. The whole net Expat team is joining me to wish you and your family a happy New Year 1999!

Taboos

Dual-Career Taboos

The growing number of dual-career couples is a recent phenomenon that calls for a new Human Resources approach to the issue of expatriation i.e. Family Management. But several barriers still exist: some of the preconceptions about mobility are well entrenched and encourage stereotyped attitudes. Together, the complexity of the dual-career issue and, until recently, the absence of real solutions have created genuine taboos. Even the most demanding candidates might not express their need for spouse assistance in order to preserve their image and their career opportunities. The inevitable consequence is a dangerous lack of communication which can have a dramatic impact on both the expatriates concerned and their companies. 1. Before expatriation: When a young and ambitious manager is asked, "Are you prepared to move?", the obvious answer to preserve his or her chances of getting to the top is, inevitably, "Yes". As a result, the manager is not giving voice to the problems he or she foresees and the company is not in a position to identify them without a fuller discussion in-depth. This dialog of the deaf can pose a real threat to the project: - from the expatriate candidate's point of view, the perspective of being excluded from the "best in class" can freeze the discussion with his or her partner to avoid any personal problem. This can also lead to the active resistance from the trailing spouse to sacrify his or her career when an expatriation proposal will be made. At that stage, the pressure is on the trailing spouse shoulders. -from the company point of view, the perceived pool of mobile managers won't be in line with reality. This will lead to additional reiterations and scenarios when developing careers or restructuring plans. Loss of time, efforts and money for the expatriating Human Resources Department. 2. During the expatriation : Once the expatriation is accepted and provided that the dual-career issue has not been addressed, another danger is threatening the couple and the company: the non-integration of the trailing spouse. Indeed, this can bring inevitable tensions and conflicts amongst the couple which can burst suddenly and lead to separation or desire to shorten the expatriation experience. The young and mobile manager will talk too late about these personal problems to his or her employer in order to keep his or her image high and to be consistent with his or her expatriation commitment towards the company. The stress is now on the transferee's shoulders. This will have an impact on his or her performance, the viability of the expatriation and might even compromise later his or her future within the company. This is clearly showing the benefit to address properly family issues when considering an expatriation. In order to get more mobile and performing managers, the classical approach to expatriation is now outdated and family mobility assessment criteria should be included in the interview of candidates to expatriation (*). There is a need for a paradigm shift but the return on investment is guaranteed. (*) : in order to help you, we will be happy to provide you a free copy of Net Expat mobility assessment form.

Culture

My Invisible Friend

Mr. J. Carbonez, psychologist and Managing Director of Equations.   It is hard to talk about oneself. It is even more difficult to talk about what hurts when we get angry or about what moves us into tears when an image comes back from our childhood memories. To become an expatriate means to look for new adventures: sometimes intrepid, often unexpected, always involving inner experiences. To be confronted to a new culture means to be exposed to new sensations. We often encounter difficulties while talking about our culture to foreigners. This is due to the fact that we are blind to our own culture, our "invisible friend". Expatriation offers the opportunity to get out of the dark. Contacts with other people allow us to grasp our limits, our sensitive areas and our real sources of satisfaction. Here are some tips for expatriates: -Be open to new experiences even if you don't always perceive the exact sense. - To pull-out, let yourself be drawn into your culture of reference : a restaurant, a movie, visit with some friends … - From time to time, let a native guide you in your spare time activities. To discover how other people relax is as important as understanding how they work. - Try to be balanced in your efforts to be integrated. Don't forget that your "invisible friend" must get adapted to free up some space to new sensations.

Best Practices

DuPont de Nemours Views on HR Issues

Mrs. Ausloos, who is Transfer Administrator for DuPont de Nemours, gives us her views on mobility problems, and the way DuPont de Nemours addresses them :  How sensitive is DuPont de Nemours to the dual-career issue? Mrs. Ausloos : The issue of dual-career has become increasingly important over the years. One of the reasons is the change in the expat's profile. Ten or fifteen years ago, the expats were mostly senior managers whose partner had in general no specific career objective. The expats of today are young managers with a partner having a career of his/her own, who is not willing to stop or even interrupt this career in order to follow the expatriated partner abroad. Moreover, the "classic" pattern of the male expatriate with the female trailing spouse is changing drastically: more and more we have female expatriates where the man then plays the role of the "trailing spouse". What kind of solutions did DuPont find to solve these problems? - We first tried ourselves to help the trailing spouses finding a job on the Belgian labor market. Despite our efforts, in many cases we failed to reach our aims. This problem being increasingly frequent, our company developed early 1997 a "Dual-Career Policy" within our "International Transfer Policy". Finding a job for the partner of a foreign expatriate is not easy: there might be problems such as difference in culture, language problems, work permit, … It also depends upon the level of education and the field of activity. Sometimes the incumbent has to completely re-orientate his/her career because some jobs or specific skills are not transferable as such. In May 1998, we started collaborating with Net Expat. They offered us the proper assistance we were in need of to help and support our partners' quest for seeking an interesting job. In general, what is the reaction of the expats and their spouse when you tell them that the trailing spouse can get assistance? - Very positive. It is essential for the partner who had a career in his/her home country to stay professionally active in his/her new host country. Upon arrival the expatriate is integrated within his/her company's local subsidiary, the children start to go to school, but for the trailing spouse the well known "honeymoon" period goes quickly to an end and is then replaced by the hard facts of reality: not "being active". Therefore an ad hoc support is essential. Do you see an evolution in the way expatriates regard assignment proposals? - Yes I do. Major multinational companies clearly feel their young managers are less ready to accept an assignment abroad because of the dual-career problem. The financial aspect is often also very important: the expats do have certain expectations about an adequate package when accepting an assignment. A competitive transfer policy is therefore essential!

Did you know?

Mrs Veronique Barras, Expatriates Manager Net Expat   · The recent "Bulletin Readership Survey 1998" conducted by Ackroyd Publications reveals that expatriates stay on average 3.7 years in Belgium, the average net monthly income is 151,235 BEF per person, and that 50% of them are senior or middle managers. · The 1998 Global Relocation Survey mentions that 44% of the respondent companies identify spouse's career as a major hurdle for their company. In the same survey, only 26% of companies establish criteria in order to measure the success of an expatriation assignment. · A recent survey conducted in the USA reports that 74% of the expatriates are married · There are about 250 expatriates clubs and associations active in Belgium

Trailing Spouse

The Male Perspective

You came to Belgium because your wife had been offered a career opportunity. What were the arguments that made you become a trailing spouse? Mr. Lurie: This was a decision we made together. When my wife had been offered the assignment, we first came for a pre-assignment visit, and we were both excited. Our decision was based on the fact that I would have a job in Belgium. Everything was prepared and organized to give me the opportunity to work: we found day care for the children, and I started applying for my professional card 4 months before leaving the U.S. If you compare it with the American standards, what were your first impressions about the country and the "Belgian way of life"? - The first few months were difficult for me; my wife was working as an expat and had little contact with Belgian daily life. In the beginning, the most difficult things for me were details like how much does it cost to send a letter, where to buy petrol for the car. The opening hours of the shops have also been a kind of cultural shock for us. I should also point out that Belgians are "crazy" when driving. They are aggressive and dangerous compared to our American standards. How did you find your current job? - I can say that I've somehow been lucky. I started doing some free work for my children's school, by collaborating on its newsletter. My first paid job was to redesign the AmCham magazine. I also did several free-lance jobs. One day, my wife received an E-Mail from Belgacom. They were looking for an expat specialized in marketing for their expat department. I applied, and got the job. One of my advantages was my knowledge of the expat community in Belgium. In fact, my unpaid Belgian experience contributed to my professional success. If you had to give some advice to trailing spouses what would they be? - Be ready to catch every opportunity. Have a strategic approach in your search for a job, and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and work for free. There's no "bad" experience, there is only experience. Remember that you are the visitor. - When you're coming, don't think that you and your culture are superior. - Finally, I would say that the best way to cope with Belgium (or any other culture) is to listen and think before you speak!

Interview with Mr. J. Lurie Marketing Manager with Belgacom

Support

 

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail…

Mrs. L. Gossot Head of the "Mission Femmes françaises à l'Etranger" at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry   Expatriation can be a wonderful experience, full of enrichments provided that the company and the expatriated family put sufficient emphasis upon preparing the assignment. It is essential to have a good knowledge of the local customs and habits including the women status, residence permit, visas, authorizations to leave the country, children education and the possibilities for the trailing spouse to pursue her career. In this later case, it is especially important to inquire about the administrative formalities that are in place in the home country before leaving. For instance, in France, if the wife is employed, she should warn her employer that she is resigning from her position in order to follow her husband abroad and fill the proper documents. This will enable her to benefit from the UNEDIC (French social security) upon return. Some companies and expatriates associations are playing an active role to secure the insertion of the trailing spouse, conscious of the important role that the spouse plays during an expatriation. The trailing spouse can be considered as an Ambassador of her country of origin who is listening to the welcoming population and respect the host country customs and rules. Thanks to dialog and insertion in the host country, the complaints and biased views will disappear like dew in the sun.