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Reintegrating Exceptional Expatriate Talent
How to repatriate rising leaders, capitalize on their experience in emerging markets, and build a strong global people strategy
8 Reintegrating Exceptional Expatriate Talent
Reintegrating Exceptional Expatriate Talent
How to repatriate rising leaders, capitalize on their experience in emerging markets, and build a strong global people strategy
It’s no secret that many companies have done a poor
job of reintegrating returning expatriates – failing to
put their expanded knowledge to work and achieve
a return commensurate with the investment in
assignments abroad. Despite a business environment
and critical emerging markets that demand more
executive mobility than ever, organizations and
individuals continue to under estimate the challenges
of repatriation, needlessly underusing talent and, in
many cases, watching it walk out the door. Fixing
the problem isn’t rocket science, but it does require
a comprehensive repatriation program grounded in
common sense and a mutual commitment to success.
A rising star in a UK-based multinational was tapped for
what appeared to be a plum assignment: overseeing
the company’s expansion in the emerging markets of
Southeast Asia. The company was eager to give him
international experience and to put his exceptional talent
to work in locales projected to provide more growth than
mature Western markets. So he uprooted his family and
moved from London to Singapore for a three-year tour of
duty there. Over the course of his stay, he exceeded the
company’s market share goals in the four target countries,
groomed a local successor, and established relationships
with key influencers in the region. He returned from
the assignment with intimate first-hand knowledge of
multiple emerging markets, sharply honed cross-border
and cross-cultural leadership skills, and greatly enhanced
competencies in both operations and strategy.
Re-entry, however, proved difficult. The company
assumed that as British nationals he and his family would
have no trouble repatriating, so he was offered little in the
way of personal assistance. His colleagues greeted him
lukewarmly, with little appreciation of his quantum leap in
skills and knowledge. Further, leadership changes while
he was away had left him with new superiors who had
been uninvolved in the decision to post him to Singapore.
Undervalued by them, he chafed in a new role that simply
couldn’t compare to the extensive responsibility he had
enjoyed abroad. Just eight months after his return, he left
the company for a competitor who was glad to acquire
his global experience. Thus he joined the approximately
40 percent of returning expatriate executives who leave
their companies within one year of repatriation – a
figure that has changed little over the past 30 years.
Those losses of talent are costly. Supporting expatriate
executives and helping accommodate their families
in unfamiliar surroundings can require as much as
three to four times their salary. As an investment in
talent development, that expenditure is utterly wasted
if the executive leaves almost immediately upon
returning. The company loses the future value that
a supremely talented executive, with experience in
critical international markets, could have created – in
effect restricting the return on investment to whatever
gains the executive made during the assignment. The
personal and professional cost to an executive who
has been sidelined or derailed can also be high.
While many companies have reduced the amount of
extensive lower-level staffing they do abroad, they
continue to fill many top-level posts with expatriates,
especially in emerging markets. Further, they can expect
to do so more over the next several years, as Western
domestic markets remain stagnant and emerging markets
become more critical for growth. The competition for
already scarce local senior-level talent will intensify,
leaving many companies with little choice but to send
an expatriate. That competition has driven up the price
for local talent, making the considerable investment in
an expat well worth it. Further, the longstanding reasons
for sending expatriates won’t change: problems that only
someone from home can solve, unexpected vacancies
in key positions, and the need to develop executives
who can meet the challenges of global commerce.
Given the perennial need for expatriates and the
war for talent in increasingly important emerging
markets, companies will have more reason than ever
to get repatriation right. Based on our experience
assisting leading companies in all aspects of talent
management and a series of recent interviews with
Heidrick & Struggles 9
repatriated executives and senior human resources
leaders, getting it right requires that the organization:
• Understand the root cause of failure
• Establish best practices in managing expatriate talent
• Engage the executive in all phases of the process
By taking this approach, your company can capitalize
on the full value a successfully repatriated leader offers,
create a win-win situation for the company and the
executive, and make sure that you do not lose ground
in the intense competition for genuinely global talent.
Where Repatriation Goes WrongWhile each executive’s experience of repatriation may
involve nuances and individual differences, in cases
where it goes badly we see the same root causes
over and over again. Sometimes found in isolation
and sometimes in combination, they include:
• Mismatch of expectations. Far away from
headquarters, in fast developing and fluid market
situations, expatriate executives often enjoy great
autonomy in decision-making and wide latitude in
pursuing the objectives of the business. Already
considered top performers before they leave, they
feel themselves growing in leadership stature during
the expatriate assignment, gain confidence in their
skills, and expect to be rewarded with a challenging
role when they return. Often those expectations are
not met. They find themselves in a role they believe
they have outgrown, or the company simply does not
have the right stretch opportunity for them. To the
returning executive, the new role feels like a demotion
– and disenchantment and dissatisfaction soon follow.
• Reverse culture shock. Executives who absorb the
experience of another country may be personally
transformed by the experience – with widened cultural
horizons and a greater appreciation for alternative
ways of approaching business challenges. As a
result, they can find themselves somewhat alienated
when they return home. They may have acquired
new skills that are not fully appreciated or cannot
be applied. They may have developed somewhat
different values and motivations, and their colleagues
may not be interested in their experiences. The shock
of re-entry can also involve practical matters, like
the abrupt change from the comfort of expatriate
life or the logistical issues of housing and schooling
– all of which the executive and the company may
have wrongly assumed will not be problematic.
• Organizational change. With ever shorter cycles
of innovation and disruption in many industries,
companies can change dramatically during an
expatriate’s time away. Seemingly overnight, new
leaders, new organizational structures, new strategies
or even a new company following an acquisition or
divestiture can arise. Expatriate executives may be
lost in the shuffle – or even feel entirely forgotten.
When they return, they find that their internal
network has been dispersed and they may feel
that the company’s abrupt change of direction has
left them with little future in the organization.
Any of these common pitfalls can turn the initial
excitement of returning home into frustration for the
individual and create disruption in your organization.
Yet with some forethought and some structure, you
can minimize the risk of their occurring and maximize
return on the investment in the executive.
Rethinking Repatriation If your repatriation program kicks into gear only when an
expatriate is about to return, then it is likely too little too
late. Many of the problems that plague repatriation take
root before the executive departs for the new assignment
and can continue to grow throughout the foreign tour.
You can avoid these missteps by creating a comprehensive
program and end-to-end process that begins before
a candidate is selected and continues well after he or
she has returned. It includes these best practices:
10 Reintegrating Exceptional Expatriate Talent
Before making an expatriate appointment• Identify the right people. One of the best ways
to avoid mutual disappointment in expatriate
assignments is to make sure you are sending the
right person in the first place. Through rigorous
assessment you can identify candidates who have
the potential, agility, commitment and culture
fit to navigate the move and the return.
• Manage expectations up front. From the outset,
you should have candid discussions with the executive
about opportunities after repatriation. Be realistic. Says
Helen Maye, Chief Human Resources Officer at Smith
& Nephew: “It is very important to manage career
expectations and have pre-assignment conversations.
Tell them how it is going to be when they return,
because most executives do not think about life after
their expat assignment.” Make it clear that it is unlikely
that a role will have been pre-planned for their return.
And if, on returning, the executive must temporarily
settle for what feels like a lateral rather than an
upward move, it does not mean failure, especially
since having completed the expat assignment will
allow him or her to progress much faster subsequently
and get in the succession for a senior position.
• Ensure commitment from key stakeholders in
advance. In setting up the reintegration program,
HR should secure buy-in from leaders for a re-entry
process that is much like onboarding and includes
coaching, mentoring, ongoing support, and progress
reviews. Says Elisabeth Capmarty, HR Director
Emerging Markets at Janssen, “Before sending an
executive abroad, we try to get commitment from
senior leadership. We ask them whether they would
be ready to reintegrate the executive with their
teams. If the answer is no, we seriously reconsider
sending the executive abroad, because we know that
reintegration is going to be difficult to manage.”
While the executive is away • Communicate. Maintain regular contact with
expatriate executives. Check their progress in adjusting
to the new environment. Encourage them to talk
frankly about any problems they are encountering,
and find out what additional support they or their
families might need. Update them on any changes in
personnel, structure, or strategy at home. In short,
do everything possible to make them feel valued
and in touch. Wolf Kupatt, President Latin America at
Baxter, who has experienced several assignments in
emerging markets, knows first-hand about expatriate
communication challenges. Today, as a leader sending
people abroad, he observes: “Most companies do
not pay enough attention to the executive once the
person and family are out of sight. They know little
about what is going on in the environment and the
challenges the manager faces apart from business.
Each time I go into a country where there is an
expatriate, I take time to talk to the family or at least
catch up on the latest from the home front. Now,
for example, with the massive strikes and protests
creating a very uncomfortable security situation in
Brazil, I stay very close to our ex-pat managers there.
This might seem like overdoing it, but the fact that
someone is interested is very important to them.”
• Plan ahead. Initiate discussion of the move back home
a year in advance with the executive. Begin preparing
the executive, the family and the home environment
to reduce the shock of re-entry for all involved.
Include in those discussions not only the relevant HR
personnel and outside advisors but also the leader and
the team to which the colleague will be returning.
Heidrick & Struggles 11
When the executive returns• Undertake career planning. Expatriate assignments
can be both personally and professionally
transformative, requiring a fresh look at the
development and career plans of returnees. Explore
with them any changes in motivation and career
objectives they may have undergone. Identify the
leadership and business skills they have acquired.
Reassess their potential and determine what support
they will need to implement their development
plan and realize that potential – and be clear about
where they stand in the succession pipeline.
• Address the issue of an appropriate role. Ideally,
you will have set realistic expectations with executives
before they depart. But, as we have noted, conditions
change, and sufficiently challenging roles may be in
short supply when an expatriate returns. Conversely,
as a result of the expatriate experience, a returning
executive may be ready for a much bigger role than
initially anticipated – a readiness that the exercise in
career planning and development should uncover. If
the organization and the executive have remained
in close contact and the executive has effectively
networked while away, they should be able to identify
or even co-create a suitable role. Further, other highly
desirable international assignments will inevitably
open up in the future, with much greater scope and
responsibility – roles that are likely to be entrusted only
to people who have proven international experience.
• Offer support. Have dedicated professional
teams ready to help the repatriate and the family
relocate, readjust, and navigate often cumbersome
administrative systems inside and outside the
company. Identify a mentor or coach to advise the
returnee, making sure to match the right people and
create a rich network on which the returnee can draw.
Be sure, also, to track the impact of the program at
every stage. Through surveys, debriefings, and ongoing
dialogue with the executives, find out what is working
and not working and continuously improve the process.
In addition, measure the return on investment in
the program by tracking retention rates, conducting
satisfaction surveys, and assessing promotion readiness.
Increasingly positive results will not only help ensure
leadership buy-in but also assure executives that they
can accept expatriate assignments with confidence.
Keeping the Expatriate EngagedExpatriate executives, too, bear a large part of the
responsibility for making repatriation work smoothly.
You should therefore encourage them to:
• Maintain personal and professional networks.
In a wired world with ubiquitous social media
as well as the humble telephone, maintaining
such networks has never been easier. Expatriate
executives can not only remain engaged with their
networks back home, but expand them during and
after expatriation. This will enable them to keep
abreast of trends, maintain industry and market
knowledge, and cultivate the all-important personal
relationships that are essential in any career.
• Communicate with internal stakeholders. In
addition to maintaining informal networks, the
executive should establish regular contact with
the boss, peers, and HR – sharing knowledge and
experience, communicating results, and pinpointing
achievements. During and after expatriation, such
communication can help build the individual’s brand
and maximize his or her value to the organization.
Says Nico Reynders, Vice-President Human Resources,
Asia-Pacific region at UCB Pharma, “I would advise
expatriates to communicate their results regularly
while they are abroad, and to spend 10 to 15 percent
of their time maintaining their internal networks.”
• Share lessons learned. The returning executive
should review with the organization what each
party could have done better to make the
assignment more successful and capture that
knowledge so others can learn from it. Repatriated
executives should also share the new perspectives
they have gained and look for ways to use that
knowledge to improve business performance.
• Proactively pursue development plans.
Having revisited career planning upon returning,
repatriated executives should genuinely own
their action plans. They should regularly review
their progress with HR and their superiors
to ensure support for their goals and, most
importantly, they should actively seek development
opportunities that will accelerate that progress.
12 Reintegrating Exceptional Expatriate Talent
Heidrick & Struggles is the premier provider of senior-
level Executive Search, Culture Shaping and Leadership
Consulting services. For 60 years, we have focused
on quality service and built strong leadership teams
through our relationships with clients and individuals
worldwide. Today, Heidrick & Struggles’ leadership
experts operate from principal business centers globally.
www.heidrick.com
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Marie Flament
Vicki Hickson
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Caroline Vanovermeire
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ConclusionIt is relatively easy to quantify the value of achieving
specific business goals during an expatriate assignment
– increasing market share, establishing new production
facilities, gaining a foothold in new markets, and the
like. The value and benefits of consistent successful
repatriation, although more difficult to calculate, are
nonetheless real and substantial. They include:
• Engaged and motivated repatriates
• Reduced turnover of highly skilled executives
• Executives who embrace expatriate assignments
• Improved international connectivity
and knowledge transfer
• An employer brand known for exceptional
professional development
Moreover, in our work assisting leading companies with
all of the elements of a comprehensive program, we
repeatedly encounter the same refrain: with growth
in emerging markets making executive mobility a
strategic necessity, successful repatriation is no longer
a nice-to-have; it is an essential. Those companies
that get it right will not only better execute that
strategy, but also develop and retain a deep bench of
genuinely global talent prepared for the next twists
and turns in the ongoing story of globalization. n
