Cultural, social, and family issues in expatriate training

Expatriate Training

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Expatriate training

Expatriates face many challenges when they move to a foreign country. They need to be prepared both psychologically and mentally to ensure they will manage to handle the challenges they will encounter on their foreign assignment. Many employers nowadays will provide some form of training to their expatriates to inform and prepare them on what to expect in regards to culture, social, and environment.

Research conducted on expatriates has shown that cultural issues affect expatriates the most. Some cultural issues discussed in the paper include male dominated societies for female expatriates, media restrictions, social life restrictions and language barriers. These issues are dependent on the country an expatriate is posted.

There are also social issues that expatriates are faced with like how employees address each other, colleagues socializing after work (may not be acceptable in other countries), loneliness, and lateness. These social issues may impact the expatriate's ability to perform their assignment. Loneliness comes about because the expatriate will not have any friends and they will start to miss their home country.

Migrating with family members will allow an expatriate to avoid loneliness, but this move might take its toll on the family members. The spouse who will most likely be left at home during the day will get lonely, and they might not adjust to the foreign country.

There are different ways that expatriates are impacted by cultural issues. The paper discusses the cultural differences between German managers and American managers. German managers are not concerned with the financial figures as much as the American managers. A German manager will know all the processes of their production lines and will have a cordial relationship with their production workers. This relationship ensures that the product developed is of high quality.

To overcome these issues the expatriate needs to have training to prepare them for the foreign country's culture. This training provides the expatriate with knowledge regarding the foreign country and how to handle themselves. Training or preparing the expatriate for the foreign assignment gives them an opportunity to adapt and understand the foreign environment. This training should be extended to the expatriate's family in case they will be moving with the expatriate to the foreign country.

Introduction

The world has become increasingly international. It is a reality and no longer a perception that we all live in one global village. Supply chains have extended, there has been growth of corporate networks, and channels for distribution have spread across national borders. To ensure commercial success in today's business world, one needs to understand and possess cross-cultural skills. Global managers working for multinational corporations are interested in intercultural and cross-cultural management.

There is need for an organization to have effective expatriate managers and workers. The success of the organization will be dependent on the competence and cultural adaptability of these managers and workers. There are many benefits a company can gain from having expatriate workers and managers. For example, expatriates who are running foreign companies are more likely to understand and be familiar with the organization's culture, and control systems than the manager from the host country. This results in effective communication and better coordination within the organization. Using expatriates in developing countries where the local talent is limited provides managerial talent within the organization, and the global mind-set of the organization is enhanced. Having short-term international visits may be insufficient for growing the organization in the target country. Using expatriates instead of local managers will be a better option for this scenario. Expatriate workers are always prepared for unknown situations and they easily adjust to these situations. This makes them highly productive and successful. Motivation for expatriate workers comes from learning a new culture, travelling to a new country, and discovering new things while they are working. These factors keep the expatriate motivated and productive.

However, using expatriates has its downside. The rate of failure (this is the rate of expatriates returning from foreign assignments prematurely) for expatriates has been arguably noted to be high. The resulting turnover is noted to be expensive financially. Some of the negative organizational outcomes that come with a failed expatriate effort include poor relations, delayed productivity, ineffective repatriation, negative perceptions of the organization, and there is difficulty for the expatriate successors. These negative outcomes are in addition to the monetary costs the organization has already incurred. Important client, local business, and local government relationships are adversely affected by a failed expatriate effort. The major cause for expatriate failure is considered to be the lack of training and cultural preparedness, yet there are few companies with adequate processes for training and selecting their expatriates. Interestingly, research has shown there are companies that believe training cannot resolve the issues associated with expatriate assignments. Failure to provide training to the spouse is also a contributor to failed expatriate efforts. If the spouse does not adapt well to the foreign culture, this will affect the other partner and leads to a premature return.

Lately, majority of the organizations are providing some form of training or workshop to their expatriates. For employees going for expatriate assignments, 70% of organizations have reported they provide training, even though the training might be for one day. This training has had positive effects on the expatriate's performance and it has been widely accepted. Having cross-cultural training, allows the expatriates to become more sensitive to the cultural differences of the foreign country, and how people socialize. This knowledge will ensure the expatriate understands and adapts to the foreign country. The training will tackle any challenges that the expatriate will be faced with in their new assignment.

Cultural issues

Expatriates face various cultural challenges. These challenges are dependent on the country the expatriate is posted, the expatriate's gender and age. In male dominated countries, female expatriates will be faced with cultural differences, especially if they come from a non-male dominated country. This cultural difference will have a negative impact on their performance in international assignments. For the female expatriates to overcome this cultural challenge, they will need to understand the cross-cultural setting difference and apply it in their assignment role as an expatriate. Understanding and applying this difference will assist in better expatriate adjustment and they will gain acceptance from the local employees. According to the study performed by Tung (1998)

on 409 expatriates who were on assignments in 51 countries across the world, it took majority of the expatriates six to twelve months for them to get comfortable living in the foreign setting.

During cross-cultural transitions, the changes expatriates encounter are stressful. Adjustments consume money, time and effort. The expatriates will have to be patient, and interested in making the required adjustments. Some expatriates have been influenced to reconsider their decision leading them to return home sooner than expected because of the challenges they faced. Expatriation literature shows that individuals may not be able to comprehend another individual's culture, especially if the individual comes from a different culture. This might lead to a cultural clash between the individuals. A major challenge for expatriates is workplace cultural clashes. Expatriates to Malaysia commented that some of the common challenges they faced include cleanliness, local media restrictions, issues with local public services, and environmental awareness.

To ensure that the expatriate is not shocked when they get to the foreign country, they need to conduct some research regarding the country. This research will provide them with knowledge of how the country is governed, its laws, its mode of dressing for the different genders, and any other information the expatriate might deem necessary.

Adjusting to the foreign country's culture will be difficult for the expatriate. This is because they have been used to their culture and making adjustments night not come naturally or as fast. The expatriate will need to be patient and learn from his/her own mistakes. This will be the only way to adapt and make the necessary adjustments.

Social issues

Every culture has its own social principles. Expatriates going for foreign assignments need to learn the social principles of the foreign country and apply them. The social issue that expatriates face includes how colleagues address each other in the workplace, the differentiation between work life and social life, and proper office etiquette. There are countries like Germany where colleagues do not use first names when addressing an individual and they believe that the workplace is for working and a person's private life is not for colleagues but for friends Rabotin, 2011()

If the expatriate is coming from America, this will be a huge culture shock, considering that employees can hang out with each other after work or even over the weekends, and they can address each other using the first names. An expatriate will need to understand and apply the social principles of the foreign country to avoid looking arrogant.

Language though has not been mentioned as a major issue, may also cause social problems. If an expatriate is not able to speak the foreign language, they might not be able to communicate with the locals and this would make their life quite lonesome. Receiving training on the local language and practicing before relocating will assist the expatriate to be more comfortable speaking the language and communicate fluently. This will also remove any language barriers the expatriate might face.

Another example to demonstrate German social culture is team members will expect each other to keep meeting times, and if a member is late they will expect him/her to apologize before the meeting can continue. Though this would seem quite normal for any person, the strictness the Germans have towards this would seem like a culture shock to an expatriate. Without prior training regarding social ways the expatriate would be faced with major problems which could have been resolved quite easily.

Research has shown that there are countries where it is acceptable for departmental members to hang out together including their boss. But, in other countries, employees cannot go out with their bosses. The employees have attitudes towards equality, hierarchy, and public and private spheres. This behavior is based purely on beliefs and assumptions which have been accepted and never questioned.

Loneliness might affect some expatriates, because they do not have any friends and they are in a foreign country. There is a likelihood of the expatriate to engage in behaviors that might lead to other problems and issues. Therefore, with socializing the expatriate will need to know what is too little and what is too much. To counter loneliness the expatriate will need to build a social life, which might be difficult in the foreign country.

Family issues

Expatriates who have families will have to move with their family. This move will have benefit the family financially, because there will be prominent employment opportunities for one individual. Consideration for the whole family will need to be looked into. Some of the issues that will face the family include loneliness, relationship problems for both children and adults. The children might adapt much faster than the adult, but this only happens with young children, teenagers have a hard time adapting to the new country and they will miss their social circles and friends. One of the adults will have to be left behind as the other goes to work to look and care for the children. This adult will start experiencing loneliness and sufferings.

The move overseas will place much pressure on the relationship, and if there were any cracks then issues will start to arise. Before moving with the family the expatriate will need to ensure that everyone is 110% certain and willing to make this move. This will ensure that the decision to move is not forced and it is acceptable by everyone. The other issue faced with moving family overseas is education for the children. The foreign country may be using a different education system. This would force the children to change their curriculum and this might put a strain on the children.

To ensure a successful transition for the whole family, the expatriate should include the family members in the cultural trainings. This will ensure that all members are prepared, understand and will adapt to the foreign country. This training will also ensure that the relationship will withstand the tests of the new country and the couple will be able to handle any issues that will arise.

Cultural differences that impact expatriates differently

German managers do not participate in price wars, but rather they compete on product quality. The managers endeavor to make their companies the best, and have the best product. They understand all their production lines German Culture, n.d ()

. They are more motivated with customer satisfaction than making sales. They believe that if they develop a good product like the BMW they will make the sales easily.

In comparison the American managers are more interested in the financial figures and statements. American managers will not inspect their plant's production processes, while the German managers will monitor closely their production methods to ensure there is no inefficiency. This management method ensures that productions costs are reduced and the organization will perform better financially.

An expatriate manager from either America going to Germany or Germany going to America will face serious cultural problems. This is because when the German expatriate arrives in America they will want to visit the production plants, and learn the production processes of the organization. This will not be readily accepted by the American workers who are not used to their managers in the production plants. The German expatriate will face resistance and this would create a culture shock. German managers will also maintain a good relationship with their workers. This is because they believe that everyone is working together in order to develop a great product. American managers do not associate with their plant workers.

The same would happen to the American expatriate, while they would demand for the financial statements instead of visiting the production plants and familiarizing themselves with the processes. The workers will perceive the manager to be lazy, and they might look down on them.

Germans will always address each other in a formal manner in the office, even if they are best friends. Americans are used to addressing their colleagues informally and they use the first names. Germans will not use the first name principle in the work environment. Americans see this formality as been reserved, cold, and palpable. Americans assume that because they work with each other some informal attitudes are acceptable and they can help build the team.

While Americans will remain social both at work and outside work, Germans will keep their lives very separate. They do not believe that colleagues can be friends and they strictly adhere to this principle.

These cultural and social differences make it necessary for an expatriate to undergo training to prepare them for the foreign assignment. Without training the managers would fail in their assignments, and this would not be because of lack of knowledge but rather because of cultural issues. Getting well acquainted with the culture and social norms of the foreign country would allow the manager to better understand how to manage the workers in the foreign country and how to address them.