We don't always realize who is traveling the world along with our employees
When it comes to preparing an employee to move to another country, one of the biggest concerns is whether that employee will continue to be happy and productive in the new location. However, what's often overlooked is a major source of that employee's happiness: his children. Children are far likelier to experience culture shock, depression over lost friends, and the sensation of being strangers in an unfamiliar world. However, this doesn't have to be the case. Here are a few simple ways you can prepare your employees' children for expatriation.
Clear communication with the family to anticipate potentials challenges
Most HR departments are understandably reluctant to get involved in their assignees’ family issues. However, the key to a successful assignment for the whole family is to anticipate potential challenges that could affect the success of the assignment. Prior to the relocation, many companies interview only the candidate who is going on assignment. Unfortunately, potential assignees underestimate the challenges that the family will face in the host location or failed to provide important pieces of information about the family. Furthermore, employees selected for an assignment – potentially a significant boost for the career of these employees – find it difficult to turn assignment down even or tell their boss about family issues. Striking a balance between relocating a family without having all the facts and invading the privacy of the family is not easy for HR department but involving the spouse in the pre-assignment discussion and inviting the whole family to share potential concerns is critical for the success of the assignment. After the initial interview, providing a formal orientation programme to the entire family – and not just to the assignee like many companies do – can also help.
Do you provide formal orientation programme (e.g. communication about the package, assignment terms and conditions and support services)?
| Yes, for the assignee only |
48.1% |
| Yes, for the expatriate and spouse only |
21.6% |
| Yes, for the expatriate, spouse and family |
10.4% |
| No |
19.8% |
Source: Mercer 2015 Worldwide International Assignment Policies & Practices Survey
The Power of Preview Trips
One of the most essential features your company should offer the expatriate family is a preview trip to the new country.
While a majority of companies provide pre-assignee trips, the children are not always included.
Do you provide a pre-assignment visit?
| Yes, in some cases |
34.4% |
| Yes, in all cases |
48.7% |
| No |
16.9% |
Who is eligible for the pre-assignment visit?
| Assignee Only |
9.3% |
| Assignee & spouse |
67.2% |
| Assignee, spouse & children |
23.5% |
Source: Mercer 2015 Worldwide International Assignment Policies & Practices survey
The culture shock of moving to somewhere potentially very different from their current location may be especially difficult for the children of the employee. However, including the children in the preview trip helps them to better imagine what day-to-day life will be like in the new country. Doing so provides a powerful opportunity to replace the understandable "fear of the unknown" that children experience along with the anticipation of the new experiences that lie ahead of them. Including preview trips for the entire family should be given serious consideration as standard relocation procedure in order to remove those fears and begin acclimating the children to their new environment.
How many days do you typically allocate for the pre-assignment trip?
| 1-3 Days |
20.50% |
| 4-6 Days |
62% |
| 7-9 Days |
15.1% |
| 10+ Days |
2.4% |
Bringing Some of the Old World
One of the reasons that children fear moving to a new country is that they imagine it will be a completely alien experience. Understandably, they transfer this fear to anxiety about being taken away from the comforts of their old world. One of the best ways to remove some of that anxiety is to encourage the children to bring their favorite parts of their old world with them. The parents should involve the children and encourage them to pack up things like favorite movies, books, and video games. This has multiple advantages. One is that the children feel an increased sense of their own agency by helping to pack. In doing so, it also helps them re-contextualize the move as a fun adventure. And, it reassures them that some of their favorite activities will still be available to them long after the last bag is unpacked.
You'll have a better shot of seeing these smiles if you have their parents on your side!
Get the Parents On Your Side
When it comes to helping children overcome anxiety about moving to another country, the most powerful allies on your company's side are their parents. Make sure your relocation specialist has conversations in which he recommends proven ideas the parents can do to reduce their children's anxiety. Encourage the kids to be proactive about packing and planning activities in the new country as well as having open dialogue with the parents about how they really feel. Encourage the parents to make the move and the changes appealing and exciting. Spending time with the entire family during this process helps to reduce familial tension and insecurity and also to lend a helping hand with any lingering worries.
Global Mobility: Friends vs. Opportunities
A major source of the anxiety that children face regarding the move to another country is that their anxiety has a face, and that face is their best friend. Children cannot help but imagine that they will never see their best friend and other friends for a long time - possibly the rest of their lives. And that may well be true. While there is no easy way to make that anxiety go away entirely, an expatriation specialist and the child's parents can remind them that, in a world of Skype, Facetime, and social media, they are really no further than a click or two from speaking with anyone they miss.
Additionally, offering cultural awareness courses as part of their expatriate training and information about features of the new country can help build actual excitement about the move. This helps children to re-frame the situation. Rather than losing old friends, the children have the potential to gain more friends and experience numerous one-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
The Importance of Visa and Immigration Assistance
Your company's Human Resources department should verify that the relocation company is going to provide visa and immigration help for the employee's work permit. Obviously, these are global mobility factors that affect the entire family, but issues with these can lead to additional stress for the children. For instance, this may impact the ability to locate a home or register for school.
For children who are already anxious, this is, effectively, the worst of both worlds. It makes them feel like their new home and their new life is full of uncertainties, which may augment existing fears that they happen to have. Fortunately, though, the pendulum swings both ways. The company that is able to seamlessly help the family move is not only helping this individual family, but helping to establish their own reputation.
Providing effective family support can be a competitive advantage
Assignee retention is not just how much the company pay. It is also how much the company care and more precisely how it demonstrates that it is looking after the assignee and the whole family from a practical perspective. Having a robust programme that delivering this kind of practical and visible help for the family members not only foster assignee retention but increase the competitiveness of the company. It sends a powerful signal to employees and future candidates.
Additional resources to assist your international assignees and their family:
Cultural training passport: country-specific, online courses for global leaders and mobile employees and their families. https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/cultural-training
International school tuitions fees: find out information about international school costs in over 370 cities around the globe. https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/education