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Expatriate Workers

This is so close to my situation. I moved to Paris from the US as an expat spouse. I would like to share the experience. The company did give us the relocation agent, vacation allowance, international schools and many other benefits. We were sent for three years. First off, life was hell. Despite people telling you what a romantic city it is to live, my experience matches what the employee in the video says. I believe the HR in the video wasn’t very sympathetic to his situation because she might not have experienced first-hand ground realities (Piercy, 2014).
In a period of globalization unmistakably there are an expanding number of difficulties confronting organizations. Along these lines, it is necessary for organizations to make and keep up open correspondence channels with their chosen ones to guarantee the desires for the two gatherings are managed (Harrison, 2016). This is a key motivation behind why assignments fall flat or don't work just as arranged.
My experience – I went as an expat spouse. Relocation helped a lot with the paperwork in the initial days. They were not bothered about our urgency to find us a house. They were inefficient and we had to find a house ourselves. Coming from a big house in Texas to a small apartment of 800 sq ft with kids was not a small adjustment. However, it did not bother us. The international schools were far away which was not told to us. We had to choose a location equidistant from the office and school, which was one hour away for both. I initially chose a French school for a year, to avoid this commute. The teachers at the school refused to talk to me when they knew I did not know French. Seeing this, I had to put them in the international schools. Also, working there was out of the question without French. The French classes, which was mentioned in the video is extremely and painfully slow. The HR lady in the video says that 6 months is enough for assimilation, which is completely misplaced and unimaginable. I took all the French classes. Extremely high taxation in the host country could mean financial strain as well for some expats.
Next, Spouse’s work suffered too. He lost touch with the parent company. Meetings were conducted in French (the official language for company communication is English for all countries), the employees refused to change their language. The suppliers spoke French, so he had to take an interpreter every time he had a meeting with them, till he learnt fluent French. The emails came in French too despite what was told to him about company policy for English as the first language for communication.  It was a struggle to translate each and every email to English to just get work done. He is a A performer, so he took it in his stride for his career. We were promised that we would be back after 3 years. After finishing the contract of 3 years, he asked to move back. We were told we had to either go for another expat assignment in Saudi Arabia or stay in France. We were extremely disappointed. We did not want to move to Saudi Arabia, so we had to stay back for another 3 years. We were isolated as the expat community is always moving and assimilation was extremely difficult even though we could speak French by now. He was extremely disappointed with the HR. The last straw was when one of the kids had a medical issue and the only English-speaking specialist doctor (did not want miscommunication in medical issues even though we spoke some French) gave us an appointment on a 4 months later date. 6 years after we moved to Paris and completed not one but two contracts, we finally moved back. Persistence has paid off. It has been 6 months since we moved back, and it has been a relief.  
Was the employee being unreasonable in his requests?  
I believe the employee was not at all being unreasonable. I say this on the basis on personal experience, similar to the case here. The employee believed that he was misinformed and regretted taking up the assignment.
How did the HR team handle the situation?
I believe the HR was unsympathetic to his situation saying we did everything for you. If the HR communicated this better in a sympathetic way, the employee might have taken it better. Also, sending an expat is a lot of expense for the company, so I also understand why the HR felt that the employee should have completed his contract. Global emergencies experienced by worldwide enterprises incorporate both the untimely return of expats due to fizzled assignments and the poor maintenance of returned expats due to fizzled repatriation. To lessen the immediate and aberrant costs characteristic with expatriate disappointment, global partnerships are endeavoring to improve their capacity to deal with their expats earlier, amid and after international assignments (Chew, 2004).The employee had not finished his contract due to reasons that was very difficult for him to manage. His personal life suffered. However, if the employee was so good that he was chosen for the expat assignment, he should be retained. Judging by the employee’s reaction to the HR person, he was clearly disappointed and would leave whenever he got a chance. I believe communication is a big factor here while informing the employee about a lower position. The tone of the HR was more negative than positive.
 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?
Yes, I believe that the company should have made these changes for the employee and his family.
·         Communication should be clear on the challenges at the expat location, so before accepting and going to the location the employee is clear as what to expect.
·         The company can ensure that the relocation agency actually is proactive and helps the employee. There needs to be a grievance addressal in the HR department itself at the expat location to address these issues.
·         The company could have looked for a recruit from the host country itself to replace this employee which bringing him back if the employee was struggling so much.
·         The company could have made up for the loss of income for the spouse in the expat location.
 Who is ultimately responsible for making sure the expatriate experience is a successful one?
To make an expatriate experience a successful one is up to both the company and the employee. In this particular case, despite what the HR tone was, and the contract being broken, communication should have been bette. If communication was better between the employee and company, many issues could have been avoided or at least handled better. The employee should have negotiated with the company saying that the he would persist with the assignment, but his grievances need to be addressed.
Sending workers to another country can give noteworthy chances to organizations just as for representatives. For expatriate to be a success for both the company as well as the expat, both should cautiously consider the accompanying angles while choosing an area (Maclachlan, 2016):
·         Current market circumstance and openings
·         Added value of the nation and its learning in a particular field
·         Nearby savoir-faire and encounters that can be imparted to different pieces of the business
·         Expat desires and specializations. For instance, employees in the oil and gas industry are perfect for assignments in the Middle East or Africa
·         Expat profile and circumstance (sex, family, and so forth.) which decides the dimension of living conditions required
Attitudes towards expats can be extremely blended. While a few workers see the advantages, others are regularly progressively stressed over the numerous difficulties worldwide assignments can exhibit. From putting some distance between the parent organization to not accepting sufficient cultural awareness   and relocation support, workers can once in a while neglect to see the numerous advantages a global task can bring both the company and the employee (Maclachlan, 2016).

References-
Chew, J. (2004). Managing MNC Expatriates through Crises: A Challenge for International Human Resource Management, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 12(2), 1-30.
Harrison, M. (2016, September 26). Managing international assignments for the modern expat. Retrieved from https://www.eca-international.com/insights/articles/september-2016/managing-international-assignments
Maclachlan, M. (2016, November 9). The Best (and Worst) Things About an Expat Assignment. Retrieved from https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/living-and-working-abroad-the-expatriate-experience/
Piercy, D. (2014, Nov 4).  Global Human Resource Management. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQgJyCpU4A

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