Expatriation and Repatriation Plan

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Please see response attached (also presented below). I hope this helps and take care.

RESPONSE:

Scenario Three:

One of your plant managers will be sent to your sister company in Bulgaria for a period of three years. Write an expatriation and repatriation plan for this employee.

I located two excellent sources, from which this response is drawn - information that you can easily tweak for the final copy of the expatriation and repatriation plan for this employee in this scenario:

Repatriation ? returning an expatriate to their home country and usually the headquarters' office ? is more often done badly than well, mainly because companies don't plan for the expatriate's next career move until the person comes back. Taking adequate pre-departure measures will significantly improve the chance of assignment success as well as successful repatriation. So what will an effective plan look like?
First, it is important to involve the spouse from the start if/when the expatriate is married. "If the spouse is not brought on board from the beginning, the assignment is at risk," states Robin Pascoe, expatriate expert, who has written books and created a website that focuses entirely on the expatriate's family and spouse. The 2001 Global Relocation Trends survey reveals that 92 percent of failed assignments are due to partner dissatisfaction. Pascoe's advice to HR managers is to first ask the question: "Have you discussed the assignment with your spouse and family?" Following this, ask the spouse if they would like to come in and discuss the posting. Then ask if you can communicate directly with them about any concerns.

Here is a list of pre-departure measures that will make the expatriate's eventual return to the home country more successful.

1. Use a formal assessment process

Before you think about repatriating an employee, you should first be sure you are sending the right person. In fact, Dee Ryan, Cendant Mobility's director of intercultural services for Europe Middle East and Africa, advises using an assessment programme. Assessment is an ongoing tool that can bridge any gaps in knowledge or skills ? it's not just a way of informing the employee and family that they can or cannot go on assignment. Not every employee can go on an assignment and, at the time of consideration, a candidate's personal circumstances may prohibit a successful outcome. Brinkmann looks at the different stages of the process (pre-assignment, assignment, return, and up to 5 years after return) and then coaches the ...