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Expat Package

Using the video discuss the issues you found most compelling. Was the employee being unreasonable in his requests? How did the HR team handle the situation? Given what you know about the challenges of expatriates, was there anything that the company should have done for this employee and/ or his family? Who is ultimately responsible for making sure the expatriate experience is a successful one?
This case study is about an employee of Focus Pointe company, Paul Lafayette, who got a three-year contract to go to France and establish a new business for his company. However, when he arrived in a foreign assignment, he and his family found it hard to adjust. He did not complete his contract and moved back to his country. He met with the human resource management of his company to voice his dissatisfaction with how his transfer to France was handled. They told him that he did not make use of the six-month relocation program that was available for he and his family. Human resource management also demoted him although he would be paid the same salary he had before he left. Mr. Lafayette was not pleased with the new offer and human resource personnel response to him.
The issues I found most compelling in this case are; Mr. Lafayette’s total lack of responsibility for his adjustment to his foreign assignment and human resource management’s refusal to take some responsibility for the employee adjustment to the new culture.
How did the HR team handle the situation?
The HR team was not very cognizant of Mr. Lafayette’s concern. At the beginning, when he voiced his concern, human resource believed that they did the right thing, by providing a six-month relocation program for his wife and family. Mr. Lafayette hinted that it was mediocre and was not enough preparation for his successful adjustment to the new culture. Later when speaking with Meg Allen and Paul Fiolek, Cheryl Brie a member of the human resource management of Focus Pointe admitted that they could have been more proactive in selecting a worker who was ready, wanted to live in a new culture and had the necessary technical and cultural skills to assimilate successfully into the new culture.
Given what you know about the challenges of expatriates, was there anything that the company should have done for this employee and/ or his family?
Babin Pokharell (2016) in the article, “Triumph over Failure of Expatriate in an International Assignment” gave a list of challenges that expatriates face. They include but are not limited to; poor performance of spouse, family related problems, expatriate personality, lack of emotional and cultural intelligence. Also lack of technical skills, motivation, inferior quality of life in foreign country and insufficient compensation benefits. The same article lists several areas that human resource personnel should address before sending an employee to a foreign country. They are job analysis, recruitment, expatriate selection, predeparture training, international relocation, expatriate development, network amongst employees and job expectation. For this case, human resource personnel should carefully asses their organizational needs then recruit and make their selection. After that they needed to put in place the proper training and support for the employee to succeed in his foreign post.

Who is ultimately responsible for making sure the expatriate experience is a successful one?
Stewart Black and Hal Gregersen (1999) in the article, “The Right Way to Manage Expats” states that expats fail because the expatriate and the company do not invest enough resources in the relocation. They stated that to be successful in foreign assignments three things must be in place. The first is clearly established goals that defines the purpose for the relocation. Relocation should be to develop leadership skills and acquire knowledge. The second factor should be technical and cultural skills which are important for successful transition into the new culture and finally a repatriation process should be in place to help returning employee’s readjust to their role upon returning to their home country.
Conclusion
It is very important that the company in sending an employee on assignments to foreign country makes sure that the employee is the right fit for the position. The employee should want to do it and be ready for such a transition. Also, clearly established goals should be ascertained between both parties so that the employee can focus on what is important. Human resource must be proactive in figuring out what are the necessary aspects that will determine the employee success in the foreign assignment and have those systems in place. Finally, human resource personnel must also have a process to repatriate the employee back to his home country and company where the organization can benefit from the new knowledge acquired.
References:
Black, S & Gregersen, H. (1999). The Right Way to Manage Expats. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1999/03/the-right-way-to-manage-expats

Piercy, D. (2014, November 4).  Global Human Resource Management. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQgJyCpU4A

Pokharell, B. (2016, April 18). Triumph over Failure of Expatriate in an International Assignments from the International Human Resource Management Perspective. Retrieved from https://docplayer.net/31494925-Triumph-over-failure-of-expatriate-in-an-international-assignments-from-the-international-human-resource-management-perspective.html


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