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Expatriates International

As someone who spent years living, studying and working abroad, it was frustrating to watch the video at first. I think the employee and HR department didn’t communicate properly. The employee “was aware” there was an employee assistance program but, as the name would suggest, he felt that it was only for him as an employee and didn’t really take part in it except for attending language classes.
It would have been much better to re-name the program “family-relocation assistance” and include the family in the process from the beginning. Not only that, I think it should be a program that is required for all family members. In addition, it seems that the employee just put all of his trust into the HR department and didn’t really take the initiative to research the area (other schools, other expatriates living there). Perhaps that research aspect could be part of the “new” program – empowering families to research and find the best school for their children and anything they might need. If that is something the family is not able or willing to do, then perhaps it is not the right move for them. I think pairing the family up with someone who has had an experience living and working abroad would be great, having someone “on the ground” to help the family get used to the huge change would be great as well.
The video mentions using a third party for this training and I have to say that I agree. In fact, I recall having been contacted by a company a few years ago with a request to meet with a family that was scheduled to relocate to Switzerland. I was being hired to help them understand the differences between the USA and Switzerland and the process would take place over a few months. Once the family moved, they would be greeted by other expatriates in that country. That would ease the new family into the new culture and give them a sense of belonging. The HR department should have thought about pairing up pre- and during the stay.
I do think that since the family sold their home and moved, it would have been good if HR could have helped them assimilate (even if late) and deal with the issues there. I am not sure if that would work but given how much effort both the HR dept. and the family put into this, it may have been good to try and solve the issues before moving back. It also seems to me that HR did quite well in offering him the same salary even if the job back in the USA would be lower level. There was also the option of moving to L.A. or Chicago. The employee was reluctant, but I think they should have discussed that option further. The fact that the move would be within the USA was a huge plus and would likely work out much better. The employee should have been given a bit of time to "recover" and the HR department should have made more suggestions now that he was back and go over his options more into detail. I think the lack of communication showed in that video. It was very superficial and didn't help HR learn enough to make changes in the future and it didn't seem to work for the employee either. 
I recall moving to the USA five years ago and while I lived in several countries (USA being one of them) in the past, I found this time very challenging. I had been living in Switzerland for 12 years, was over 30 years old and the move just didn’t sit well with me. I was getting upset over the smallest things i.e. not being able to take out 1 dollar out of the ATM, having to tell someone what I want on my sandwich rather than just ordering one made. These things seem ridiculous but for me, suddenly, they mattered. I found it very difficult to deal with which only shows how important relocation assistance is – especially for an entire family.

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.

SHRM Foundation (2015). Challenges for human resource management and global business strategy. In Engaging and Integrating a Global Workforce, 40-44.
Video:
Piercy, D. (2014, Nov 4).  Global Human Resource Management. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQgJyCpU4A


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