Re-Entry and Career IssuesDony Eko Prasetyo, S.IP.

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Re-entry

• 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

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Expatriation includes repatriation

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The repatriation process

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Repatriation phases

• Preparation - developing plans for the future; gathering information about the new position

• Physical relocation• Transition• Readjustment - coping with change

Use of relocationconsultants and removal firms

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Individual reactions: job-related

• 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 international experience

• Coping with new role demands• Loss of status and pay

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The repatriate’s role

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UK repatriate study • Survey of 124 recently repatriated employees• Data analysis indicated five predictors for

repatriate maladjustment (in ranked order):– Length of time abroad– Unrealistic expectations– Downward job mobility– Reduced work status– Negative perceptions of employer’s support

N. Forster (1994) The Forgotten Employees? The Experience of Expatriate Staff Returning to the UK, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5 (2): 408

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The readjustment challenge

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Individual reactions: social factors

• International experience can distance the repatriate (and family) socially and psychologically (eg. Kingpin syndrome)

• Each family member undergoing readjustment • Re-establishing social networks can be difficult• Effect on partner’s career

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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?

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Difficulties in measuring ROI

• Receiving feedback from the business unit concerned

• Tracking international assignments in a systematic way

• No formal planning• Lack of objective measures• Too many decisions made without cost

considerations

From responses to GMAC-GRS 2002 survey

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Topics covered by a repatriation program

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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

• Effective mentoring needs managing