April 2000

Editorial

How you can improve your expatriation success rate

Nathalie Brotchi, Programme Director Europe, Net Expat    Gone are the days when expatriation was reserved for a few top managers who dragged their families around the world in order to scale the dizzy heights of the hierarchy. Nowadays, international mobility affects an increasing number of employees and involves the whole family, including an expat partner who increasingly has his/her own professional activity. These changes are profoundly altering the powers of decision-making and influence within the family faced with expatriation: it is becoming increasingly vital to understand the professional expectations of the expat partner in order to increase the chances of an expatriation's success. In our experience there are 3 main categories of needs experienced by expat partners who wish to pursue a professional activity. - the need for their own career : the partner is determined to fulfil his/her high professional ambitions. - the need for a professional identity : work is necessary to acquire a certain status within society. - the need for socio-professional integration : work is necessary for social contact and for feeling integrated into the new host country. In the first instance, when an expatriation opportunity arises, the family's choice comes down to going if the expat partner can be guaranteed the opportunity of pursuing his/her ambitions or ..... not going. In the other two cases, even if the partner's needs do not necessarily put a brake on the expatriation, not having a job will deeply affect the expat partner's morale and consequently the morale of the whole family. It is important that these needs are met in an appropriate manner. The possible solutions range from a position of responsibility obtained even before arriving in the new host country to working part time. What is our advice to the human resources department? Invest 10 minutes of your time meeting your expat partners. This will save you a lot of money! For our part, we would be happy to carry out an individual session free of charge to assess the true professional needs of each of your expat partners.

HR Practices

Can employers pay expatriates a local salary?

Anthony Stiff, Remuneration Manager, ECA International Services The question of whether an expatriate can be paid on local terms is arising more and more, especially if you're sending someone to work in a high wage economy such as the USA. Although it would appear to be a simple question, it can hide a myriad of complicated and emotive issues. Just because a country has high salaries, it doesn't follow automatically that an expatriate transferred there can be paid a local salary and maintain his standard of living: life is rarely so simple. Other factors such as tax, accommodation and cost of living need to be included in the equation to establish how the expatriate's buying power will be affected. ECA has developed the Inter-Country Executive Remuneration Comparison (ICC). It looks at gross and net salaries as well as buying power at fixed levels of seniority across a number of countries. This shows the effect of moving expatriates of more than one nationality to the same destination and the difficulties of consecutive appointments in different countries. Comparing expatriate spending power Consider the following scenario: a company wishes to move a senior manager from Denmark to Spain. The Danish gross salary is EUR 88468 whilst the Spanish salary is EUR 74094. Your conclusion, on this evidence alone, would be that it's not possible to pay the Dane a Spanish salary. But the graph also highlights the heavy burden of the Danish taxation system. At net level the two salaries compare far more favourably at EUR 45595 in Denmark and EUR 48630 in Spain, but how do spending powers look? If everything cost twice as much in Spain as it does in Denmark, this move would still be impractical on a local salary since the Dane would find his money wouldn't go as far as it would at home. However, by applying a cost of living index to show how much the net salary will actually buy, this case shows that Spanish salary buys a lot more in Spain than in would in Denmark with its relatively expensive goods and services. The final state of play is that a Danish expatriate going to Spain on a local salary actually gets a big increase in buying power to EUR 72281 as against EUR 45595 at home. It would then be possible to look at this move on a local salary basis and leave the expatriate no worse off than at home. ECA International (www.eca-international.com) ECA is a unique international human resources consultancy and information service. With a network of over 1500 member and client companies, ECA has access to the policies and practices of organisations operating in almost every country, and across all business sectors worldwide. For further information about the ICC and other services available from ECA, please contact Nelly Le Breton on +44 (0)20 7351 5000. The ICC also highlights the difficulty of applying a host country salary to other types of move. The survey shows that expatriates from the USA, for example, will always be moving into countries where local salaries have less buying power. The local salary therefore will provide no incentive to move. For this reason companies moving employees in such circumstances use mechanisms such as the balance sheet, which is designed to maintain home purchasing power by adjusting the relevant proportion of salary for cost of living differences. The advantage of this approach can be illustrated by comparing it with the local salary approach for a move from the USA to Spain for a middle manager. A standard balance sheet approach without any premia gives a net salary of EUR 73439. This compares very favourably with a local net salary of EUR 48652 which has buying power of EUR 50783, as established by the ICC. In this example the balance sheet approach provides the incentive necessary for mobility.

Support

Mission impossible?

Alain Verstandig, Managing Director, Net Expat   Despite the fact that we aim to help expat partners throughout the world, there are some countries nowadays where it is almost impossible for the partner of an expat to be integrated professionally for cultural or legal reasons. So how can we help expat families in countries such as these? For this kind of difficult destination the partner is increasingly becoming the main obstacle even if the potential expatriate does not necessarily say so in as many words. This is where the strategy, known here at Net Expat as "Repatriation insurance", really can help. This program provides full assistance in three stages : - before departure, the expat partner undertakes a full professional check-up with the Net Expat team and together they draw up a career strategy which aims to make the most of the forthcoming expatriation whilst at the same time "accepting" the fact that there is no possibility of a job in that particular country. Some choose to follow a training course either in the country itself or through a distance learning package, others choose to learn or brush up on a language or quite simply to start a family. - the full analysis is carried out in close co-operation with Net Expat who act as a real "umbilical cord" for the expat and his/her partner in order to ensure good professional development during the expatriation period. - when the expatriation period is over the family returns to their home country and Net Expat takes full charge of the partner in order to integrate him/her into the employment market by making the expatriation period count. We already have the first results to show that it does work!

Testimony

Raiders of the lost job

Lori Jensen, accompanying spouse    It is a few minutes before 7 p.m. as my husband and I exit the elevator. There are only a few people remaining in the office on this evening and we have arrived for my first meeting with Alain Verstandig of Net Expat. Over the weeks leading up to the meeting, I have had thousands of thoughts racing through my head about the opportunities and realities of expatriation. However, in the moments leading up to this initial meeting, two thoughts were predominate: 1)this guy works late 2)what will the future hold for our life in Belgium. I came into this meeting with much anxiety focused on the prospect of leaving family, friends and a productive career behind. I left the meeting with Mr. Verstandig sure of two things: 1)confident that my future opportunities for a productive career were in the professional hands of Net Expat 2)hoping that I would not be their most challenging client yet. When I was first offered the opportunity to work with Net Expat utilizing their Career Program, I was not sure what to expect. My only reference for this type of service was with colleagues who had either worked with "headhunters" or through personnel placement agencies. I knew the services of Net Expat would exceed those offered to my previous colleagues and I was proven correct in the first meeting with the team assigned to assist me. What was most impressive to me in that first meeting is that their team was very interested to get acquainted with me. In some cases, someone would take a look at your curriculum vitae and determine where they feel your experience is best suited. However, the team looked not only at the areas of my professional experience, but also was interested to hear that I had other interests outside of the area of my most recent experience. This extensive interview was very helpful in the development of both a professional plan and my curriculum vitae My most recent meetings have offered an opportunity that I truly did not expect. Previously, I never had the opportunity to learn how to present myself as a candidate. Of course, I received advice from friends and family on how I should answer questions in a interview, but never any formal training. Over the past few meetings, I have learned a great deal about how the specifics of written communications and personal meetings with potential employers can make a difference. This portion of the training has become as valuable, if not more, than the assistance offered in locating available positions. There are still several more steps in the process for me to complete, but the training I have received thus far is valuable not only for my preparation for professional life in Belgium, but across many cultures.

Quality

The more human face of ISO

Michaël Wijns, Quality Manager, Net Expat  I can remember our first internal ISO meeting which took place almost a year ago in April 99. We all had bags of energy and were completely unaware of what we would be going through for the next 9 months ! Finally after months of hard work and endless internal meetings Net Expat was awarded ISO 9002 certification at the end of December 99. Now that we have been using our new Quality system for a few months and with the benefit of distance, I am really beginning to get the measure of ISO and see it as a very fine quality management tool both internally and externally. Our quality manual has taken shape and is now helping us to grow and to guarantee that a customer in France assisted by Chantal will be treated with the same attention to quality as a customer in England assisted by Beverley. Now we all speak the same language, we can understand each other using the same procedure descriptions and we are assessed according to identical quality indicators. ISO is one of our best tools for growth! In the beginning some external consultants expressed their doubts about the added value that a certification process like ISO could bring to a firm in the service industry like Net Expat. Today, with the hindsight of a few months, I am increasingly convinced that a certification tool is just as important for the service sector as for the production sector. Working with men and women, each of whom have their own hopes and fears, the concept of non-compliance is not the same, it is probably more relative, more subtle. However, it forces us to constantly question ourselves. After all, that's what a Quality policy is for!

Family Management

The Voice of Expat-Children

Cinthia Lévy, Attorney at Law   As a child, my family moved on average every three years between France, Belgium and the United States. My father worked for an international company and his expatriation, coupled with a promotion, was considered each time as a successful achievement. Was it fun? Yes. It meant to change school, make new friends, having a new home, nicer and bigger every time, a new room (even if my sister always picked the best one). It also meant getting closer as a family because for a while at least there was only the five of us. Was it difficult? Yes. It is not always easy as a child or as a teenager to be confronted with a new world, a different culture, a new language and make new friends. Having siblings helped in this regard because you were not the only one facing these difficulties. However, the last time we moved, my brother who had been admitted to University in Paris stayed behind while we moved to the U.S. so that the family was split for the first time. Overall was it a good experience? Yes. I believe that moving around at such frequency during your childhood forces you to acquire special skills, you learn to adapt fast to new settings - new people. You discover new cultures, new ways and acquire language skills - not the type you learn in school but real language skills, the language you learn in the streets when ordering a sandwich on the upper East side of New York city, the English you learn while chatting with a friend in class when you are not supposed to, and hopefully, but that always comes last, the local humour. Professionally today? The expatriation experience is clearly an asset. If you have been faced with obstacles as a child and that you have managed, one way or another, you get a sense of achievement which helps as a professional.

Did you Know?

The tip of the iceberg  Before considering any expatriation only 30% of potential expatriates faced with the Dual Career problem admit to having spoken to their line manager or personnel department about it. When the Dual Career problem arises during the expatriation period only 10% of expatriates admit to having spoken to their line manager or personal department about it. Although we do not have the statistics to prove it, our concern is that only a minority of expatriates who returned to their home country prematurely because of the Dual Career issue, agree to talk openly about it.

Job hunt

Looking for someone ? Here are some of our available candidates who are actively looking to pursue their career. Don't hesitate to contact us if you are interested, it's completely FREE OF CHARGE ! American Sales & Marketing - 10 years of experience in various fields - Strong interest for IT and Telecommunications. Ref. WSM German Communication / PR - 11 years experience in Marketing & PR in FMCG goods and B-to-B. Ref. RKL British Civil Engineer + MBA - 10 years experience in international project management. Ref. HED Greek Merchandising & Marketing - 10 years experience in the FMCG sector - Strong interest for Internet, market analyses and training. Ref. KHE American Clinical Research Associate - 4 years experience in the monitoring of clinical studies for various indications. Ref. LJE American Senior IT Project Manager - Over 20 years experience from analysis to roll-out of technical solutions in client-server environment - Finance, Banking, HR, Transportation, Engineering applications, Pharmaceutical … Ref. HBA French Commercial Talent - 10 years of international experience in developing new and existing markets. Ref. DSP French Marketing - 5 years experience in leading a marketing department, developing strategies, corporate communication, global marketing co-ordination. Ref. CDO German Ergotherapist - 8 years experience - BOBATH specialist. Ref. AME Indian Office Manager - 4 years experience - also knowledgeable in Computer Teaching. Ref. PBH British HR - 8 years experience in various HR fields. Ref. EWR German Procurement - 9 years experience with knowledge of SAP - Ref. SVC British Junior Office Assistant. Ref SLU American Geologist - 6 years experience - specialised in GIS and environmental issues. Ref. SHE Italian Lawyer - 6 years experience in European Law. Ref. PSA …