October 2003

Editorial

Homo "Expatriabilis"

Alain Verstandig, Managing Director, Net Expat  I suffer from the same syndrome as many of you: I travel way too much. But the good part of it is that I get to meet a lot of people.  Over the past 4 months, I had the idea of systematically questioning the Human Resources Directors I encountered on one particular point: what has changed in your International Human Resources Department since the beginning of the current economic crisis? Although my survey doesn't have any genuine statistical value, being based on only 21 meetings, the other HRD's with whom I've spoken since then concur pretty well with the results, especially on two things:  Firstly, the uncomfortable position in which the International HRD find themselves: caught between a top management which (for more than 60% of them) are calling for cost cuts ranging between 5 and 15%, and on the other side a group of distinctly unhappy expats, the HRD's find this tightrope act to be a delicate one. The short-term savings they are obliged to achieve (reduction of the packages, increase in the number of commuters, " forced " localizations …) leave them powerless when faced with their international workforce, which remains, in their eyes, a strategic subgroup among their employees. The second major point: the need for a better knowledge of their own expats and their families. More and more reflection is being devoted to understanding this specific population. "Open" sessions are organized to which expats and spouses are invited in order to tell their stories. The analysis of "homo expatriabilis", his segmentation, his classification as a function of his role, his country of origin, his real needs, seems to be emerging in a growing number of companies which no longer necessarily form part of the top 50 of international mobility. And so, HRD's, to your dissecting tables: homo expatriabilis awaits to reveal to you the keys for an optimized mobility.

Welcome

Aberdeen and North East Scotland

Anne Jackson, Net Expat UK Blue skies, sunshine, stunning rural scenery, beautiful unspoiled sandy beaches, all just minutes from the vibrant bustling city of Aberdeen, the oil capital of Europe, also known as the silver city by the sea (the city is built with granite, which sparkles in the sun). That's Aberdeen … on a good day J I grew up near Aberdeen, but made a new life for myself in London. I returned here complete with my own family and career to be met with a very different post-oil city. I'm happy to be back close to my family roots going back generations, and to many old friends still in the area. But for real newcomers, Aberdeen has changed: gone are the easy days and the generous job market. Instead, the welcoming might be cold and hostile, like the weather most of the time. Aberdeen has partially become a city of suspicion when expats are coming, governed by not what you know, but whom you know. What a challenging experience for expats moving to a different culture and climate with no ready-made friends, family or history. The expat of course already has acceptance within the organization that relocated him or her. But the family, spouse, children - what of them? How can expats settle fully and enthusiastically into their new position when they go home to an unhappy household? Luckily with Net Expat opening in Aberdeen, this should never happen. Experienced Program Managers with an established and extensive network of contacts are ready with open arms to guide and coach expat families through the maze and into a warm welcome, introducing them to the North East business, educational and social communities, discovering the warm hearts, ready smiles and hospitality hidden behind the cold and hostile façade.

Asia

Do you shake, bow or nod?

Anne Dean, Editorial Director, Living Abroad LLC  Just when you thought you understood the basic protocol of meeting and greeting people in business or social situations, someone comes along and takes a closer look some of the most popular Asian destinations for expatriates and business travelers. You may need a scorecard, so stay with me! First, let me provide some background information. In the Oriental philosophy, bowing is a method of saying hello as well as for showing respect. In some Asian countries (such as Korea), traditionally men never shake hands with women, they bow and the women nod in return. This is done so there is no close contact with the woman. In Japan, the lower you bow the more respect you show. The reason for bowing originated in the ancient dynasties. You knelt down and bowed to the leader to show your respect, you would never shake his hand. In current business situations, of course, the Asian business people shake hands as they follow the west. However, it is wise to be aware of the customs that preceded these situations, and be respectful of them. Let's talk about the background of a handshake for a moment. Given that the right hand was customarily the stronger one and if your right hand was busy greeting someone, it could not be holding a weapon. So the gesture was meant to say, "I trust you," or "Look, I'm not carrying a threatening weapon." Shaking hands is also a gesture of equality. We shake hands to signify making a deal. It can mean "We agree, and we trust each other." Traditional greetings in Asian countries do not involve touching the other person, but they do involve the hands. The traditional Chinese greeting is done by putting the right hand over the left and bowing slightly. Muslims give a 'salaam,' where they touch their heart, mouth and forehead. Hindus join their hands and bow their heads in respect. In all of these examples, the hands are busy with the greeting and, therefore, cannot hold a weapon. By the 21st century, we find that the handshake is quickly becoming the universal greeting in business situations, but in some Asian countries even that had to be modified. In places like Korea and Japan, people had been taught as children that handshakes should be gentle but firm and that direct eye contact should be avoided as a sign of respect. Now to conform to Western standards, they learn a "firm handshake, direct eye contact" approach! Singaporeans always use a firm handshake; in Taiwan, handshakes had formerly only been reserved for friends; and in China, although shaking hands has become increasingly more popular, they may still nod or bow (by the way, the Chinese bow from the shoulders rather than the waist as the Japanese do). We haven't touched on women in business. Another completely different set of rules, perhaps! In many Asian countries, Western men will not find women in positions that will require their presence at business meetings or functions. The answers here lie in whether the woman is Asian or Western as to what the protocol is. Safest thing to do: Western men, wait for an Asian woman to extend her hand; Western women, smile and nod at Asian men and women! The bottom line is, as much as we think Asian countries should have many customs in common, each has its own unique and special way of communicating a greeting.

Testimonial

Working in Germany

Wieniek, Expat at P&G and Beata, his wife interviewed by Kirsten Net Expat, Germany Kirsten: Wieniek, Beata, you both moved from Poland to Germany, but the phasing of your expatriation was not the conventional one. Wieniek: You're right! About 3 years ago, I was offered a position at Procter & Gamble in Germany. Beata and I took the time to consider all the implications. We finally decided to split the move in order to increase the chances of our both enjoying the opportunity. I therefore moved first with our kids, and Beata stayed in Poland on her own. Beata: I'm a physician, with nearly 10 years experience in Poland, and I really enjoy my job. Not working wasn't an option for me. Working as a physician in Germany when you're Polish is far from easy. Besides the job market limitations, you have to face the incredible work permit and diploma recognition issues. Because of this, Wieniek and our children moved first to Germany, and helped me to prepare my 'soft landing'. We lived as a split family for 18 months, and I finally joined them at the end of 2002. You can imagine that this was a challenging experience for our family. Kirsten: So Wieniek, you basically prepared the ground for Beata here in Germany. How did it go? Wieniek: Even if we had great support from our parents, who helped us take care of the children, it was a real challenge for the family. With a bit of distance now, I would not recommend the idea to future expat families. But we are back together now, and we are really enjoying every single day! I tried to help Beata, as I was already based in Germany: I searched for job opportunities on the web, and tried to understand how to tackle the work permit process. Left to my own devices, I quickly came to a 'dead end', going crazy in classical 'Catch 22' situations: in order to have a work permit, Beata needed a job, and in order to get this job, she needed to have a residency permit, and to get this residency permit, she needed to have a work permit! Besides this, the medical job market is not easy in Germany. This is where you came in: thanks to Procter & Gamble's people-oriented policies, we have benefited from Net Expat support and have welcomed it. You have helped us believe in what we wanted, and greatly supported the whole process by opening doors and facilitating contacts. Beata's coaching with Net Expat started last May, and everything went quite quickly as she started working in August. Kirsten: Retrospectively, what were the greatest challenges in the whole process of finding your new employment? Beata: my first challenge was to improve my German: the more German you master, the bigger chance you have of finding employment, as you increase the number of companies you could work in. So I started with an intensive German course of five months. Our second challenge was to understand where to start from and how to do it. The job search is totally different here in Germany from what we know in Poland. The CV, the interviews, the way you negotiate, the whole process is so specific to Germany. We learned a lot from Net Expat. It is true that the bookstores are full of guides tackling these subjects in one way or another. But to find the right answers, you need to buy at least ten of these books and spend a whole year reading and digesting them! Instead of that, you made the process smooth and efficient, and prepared me in a couple of coaching sessions, focusing on my specific needs. The complexity of the administration is another nightmare: even for German people, all the legal and administrative procedures you have to respect are a discouraging experience. Administrations are unfortunately like everywhere else, and communication is very difficult. You are restricted to phone contacts, and have to find your way through standardized and totally impersonal documents, which are often not appropriate in your case. Hopefully, all this is behind us, and I'm happy today, practicing as a doctor in Germany. But people who have not been through this process do not understand how lonely one can feel when you have to look for a job in a country you're not familiar with. So special thanks for your psychological support throughout this whole adventure!

Expat pensions

Smooth and right!

Dave Deruytter, Expatriates & Non-Residents, ING South West Europe  Since 10 to 20 years now, there are more and more expats active in the global economy. In some years time they will want to take their pension. What was once an exception for a very small number of employees, now has become an issue for an important part of the workforce of global companies: expat pensions. For many countries totalisation agreements exist, permitting the expat employee continue participating in the home country social security for up to 5 years. This is a simple solution to avoid pension issues later for expats that do not stay abroad for a long period of time. But, indeed recently there are more and more expats that go from one expat position to another, or stay in their host country for longer periods than those 5 years. For them the risk is greater that bits and pieces of the pension-scheme are being built-up in many different countries, making the claiming of the pension a nightmare. Quite some companies have prepared for that through guaranteeing the expat that he/she will receive at least as much pension as a person with a similar career in the home country. Although agreeable for the expat, it could prove to be a lengthy and expensive process for the company to do that in a cost effective way. A mitigating factor is, putting all pieces together, that the legal pension part becomes ever smaller in the total build up of a pension-plan. However, it is still not always easy to incorporate expats in the home or host country "company pension plan", at least in a tax efficient manner. To add to the complexity of the issue, an important part of the expatriates does not consume their pension in the home nor host country, but tends to enjoy the silver age in a country with a better climate, more leisure possibilities, ... creating issues about the way the pension will be taxed in the chosen country. Even if you put that responsibility in the hands of the expat, when issues arise, they will still turn to the company for help. A recent Pension Directive of the EU might, at least for Europe, initiate a framework in order to tackle intra-EU expat pension issues. Pension services providers, will be allowed to operate EU-wide, and expats will be able to build their pension rights in an EU country of their choice: the home country, Luxembourg, ... However, few companies tried this out in practice.

Work Permits

As from April 1st 2003, a relaxation of employment conditions for foreign executives was introduced into Belgian legislation. The key points are: § The list of categories of non-Belgian nationals exempt from needing a work permit has been considerably extended; § The conditions for issuing types A and B work permits have been changed; § A type B work permit may be issued under certain circumstances to spouses and children of non-EEA subjects without the 'labor market criterion' having to be met; § A type C work permit has been introduced: a non-Belgian married to an EEA national can obtain a type C work permit if his spouse has been employed in Belgium under an open-ended employment contract for at least one year; § Work may be performed in one region of Belgium under a type A, B or C work permit that has been issued by the authorities of another region in Belgium. Don't miss "Work Permits in China" in the next issue of the Net Expat 2004 Newsletter!

Join us at ERC in Atlanta

We are happy to tell you that Net Expat will be speaking at the ERC International Symposium in Atlanta on October 29-31. So mark your agenda for the session 'The European Union - Myths vs. Reality' on October 30th from 1.30 pm to 3.00 pm. Nathalie Brotchi from Net Expat will address "Mobility of the workforce in the EU" and, of course, "Spouse Career options" Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mark your agenda!

Relocation seminar on Friday October 24th from 10.00 to13.00 hrs at the Rockoxhuis (a 17th century patrician residence) in Antwerp, Belgium - organized by Gosselin Worldwide Moving. Presentations by GlaxoSmithkline, Deloitte & Touche and … Net Expat. The seminar will be followed by a stand-up dinner and a guided tour of the Van Dyck museum. For more information, Caroline Moens at +32(0)3 360 55 00