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VOL. 6 / ISSUE [email protected]
Carol M. OlsbyGPHR, GRP
Director, Human Resources– Americas & AsiaGlobal Human Resources
TIETOENATOR CORPORATION
“We want ouremployees to have abalanced lifestylebetween workand family...and theyappreciate our philosophy.”
see page 8
Behavioral Interviews
Costa RicaExpedites Permits
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NEXT PRACTICES - the 360 Way
Global Megatrends
OECD is Watching
2 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
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Volume 6 / Issue 24
CONTENTSCOVER STORYCarol Olsby, TietoEnator Corporation 8
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENTHow Global Megatrends are Shaping Global
Talent Development Strategy, 6
Who's Bearing Risk?Currency Flux Impacts Expats, 22
International Medical Issues, 29
Behavioral Interviews in anIntercultural Context, 15
Strategy to Win Talent War, 34
NEWSMagellan Network, 32
COMPLIANCES: TAX & LEGALSocial Security Benefits
of International Assignees, 14
UK Immigration: New Tax?, 16
E-Treaty Visa, 17
Costa Rica, 17
The Writing On The Wall:OECD is Watching, 20
EDUCATION RESOURCESAt School: Safe Use of Internet, 24
HERE'S MY CARDWorldwide Networking, 38
ADVERTISERS
ACS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS LTD. . . . . . . . . 5
AIG INTERNATIONAL SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . C1
AIRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
AKA- KORMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3
APARTMENT SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
AWARD-SUPERSTARS RELOCATION . . . . . . . . 26
BAR PEREG GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
CANINE CARRIERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
CHESTNUT GLOBAL PARTNERS . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4
DDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
DMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
ENTERPRISE GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
EQUITY CORPORATE HOUSING . . . . . . . . . . . 33
EXECUTIVE MOBILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
FRAGOMEN DEL REY BERNSEN & LOEWY LLP . 3
FULL CIRCLE INT’L RELOCATIONS, INC. . . . . . 20
GROSPIRON INTERNATIONAL . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
HEWITT MOBILITY SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
HIFX, INC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
JACKSON LEWIS LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
LIVING ABROAD LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
NATIONAL EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE . . . . . . . . 38
OPTIONS RESOURCES COUNSELORS . . . . . . . 39
ORION MOBILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
PMI EXPATRIATE MAIL SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . 39
RELOCATION ESPAÑA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
RSB DEUTCHLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
SCHOOL CHOICE INTERNATIONAL . . . . . . . . 13
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6 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
The world is changing before our veryeyes. Increasingly we see that the
dynamics in the global marketplace are notthe same now as they were 20 years ago.The rate of change is astronomical and 10years from now, we will be in a completelydifferent world.
The issue is whether organizations willwatch change pass them by or will theyget on board and ahead of the changes sothey will be profitable in the near future.
In the global economy, companies need tofocus on recognizing and developing talentinternationally if they want to succeed intoday’s diverse marketplace and meetthose challenges.
So what are some of those megatrendsthat are impacting organizations?
For one the marketplace grows increasinglydiverse each year. Communication and tech-nology are causing connections across theglobe to be more frequent and dynamic, Aseconomies grow and income levels increasein many emerging markets, the desire forgoods and services will increase. Theappetites of consumers in every country forproducts outside of their country borderswill continue to increase. Global immigra-tion patterns are also changing the culturalframework of almost every country. It’smore than a matter of having McDonalds inRussia or Paris or Disney in China. Food,clothes and entertainment will be steadilyinfluenced in every country around theworld. Several years ago it was the influx ofthe West that initiated changes. We willsteadily see the influence of the East creepinto country habits in the same way. Thiswill bring about a new fusion of thoughtand behavior in many sectors.
While the global economy seemingly makesthe world a smaller and more homogenousplace, consumers continue to have very dif-ferent buying patterns from region toregion. In addition, customer needs varyalong generational lines as their lifestylesand expectations are very different todaythan they were in previous decades.
As companies adapt to manufacture andmarket products and services in very differ-ent parts of the world, a major challenge ismanaging human capital to meet thesechanging needs. Organizations must havea talent management strategy in place thatcontinually assesses whether employeeshave the ability to address the particularneeds of a diverse customer base.
Companies must have a strategy of hav-ing people in place that can produceproducts and services to meet this newstream of thought and expectation. Ifcompanies are not providing goods andservices which meet and delight theexpectations of the new consumer, thenthey risk profitability and survival. Newsolutions must be found to present prob-lems. New goods must be produced tomeet new needs that will be prevalent.
You can’t meet these new challenges withyesterday’s thinking, programs, processesand competencies. Innovative thinking isrequired. Companies must renew their tal-ent development efforts to incorporate thecapability to meet these new challenges.To meet these challenges, companies mustensure that employees have new capabili-ties and competencies which must beincreasingly cross-cultural in terms of com-munication and teamwork.
CONTINUED — PAGE 27
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENT
How Global MegatrendsAre Shaping Global TalentDevelopment Strategiesby PHILIP BERRY, Managing PrincipalBERRY BLOCK & BERNSTEIN LLC • [email protected]
Americas & Asia. I am responsible for pro-viding human resources support to theTietoEnator operations in these regions. Asa person who manages cross-borders mywork day is not typical of someone that isonly focused on supporting the US. I gen-erally start my day early so I that I check-inwith our European operations and thenthroughout my workday I am supportingmy North American managers and employ-ees. In order to provide timely support tomy Asian human resources team and sen-ior managers I normally work during theevening too.
I believe that in order to be successful in aglobal role you really need to be adaptableand flexible. In addition to email and voiceinteractions with my manager, humanresources team, customers, and peers, it isalso very important to meet them in-per-son periodically. When you are managingcross-borders it really requires you to bewell-organized because priorities maychange quickly and you need to make surethat you and your team are always work-ing on the “greatest priorities” to insureHR is aligned with the business strategy.
In addition to these responsibilities, I amalso involved in “global HR projects”. Forexample, I recently lead a team that wasresponsible for creating a global employeehandbook template. This template is usedto create country employee handbooks foreach TietoEnator country where we arecurrently operating in today and in thefuture. The goal is by the end of this yearall TietoEnator country locations will havean employee handbook posted on ourcompany intranet. Many of the TietoEnatorcountry locations have already completedthis process and have posted their coun-try’s handbook on the company’s intranet. Iam also involved in a variety of other glob-al human resources initiatives.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: When did you cometo the firm? What was happening at thetime?
CO: I joined the company in June of 2002shortly after TietoEnator purchased theRedmond, Washington (USA) location. Thisparticular organization was one ofTietoEnator’s targeted acquisitions as theywere the leading software company in
North America for the pulp and paperindustry. This acquisition combined withTietoEnator’s forest business resulted in thecompany becoming the world leader in thepulp and paper software business.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: As a follow-up, at thebeginning, what was your position andresponsibility at the firm and what hasdeveloped since? And, could you pleasegive us a brief overview and some personalinsight to the company?
CO: I was originally hired to be in chargeof human resources for the localRedmond office. My responsibilitiesincreased with the company’s growth,which has expanded in North Americathrough both acquisition and organicgrowth. We expanded into Asia where Iam now supporting China, Indonesia andMalaysia. Since joining the company, ithas been an incredible journey that hasbeen very exciting and challenging.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Going back in time,what was your very first job in HRM?
CO: My first human resources position wasin recruitment with Tracor that subsequent-ly became part of BAE Systems.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Did you enjoy it?
CO: It was a great job! The humanresources team was small given all thework that needed to be done. It was agreat company to work for as they had avery high regard for people, great products& services, and was able to attract andretain quality employees. It definitely wasone of the best companies that I haveworked for.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Coming back to now,please talk about your biggest challenges?
CO: The biggest challenges that I facetoday are insuring that the humanresources activities are always aligned withthe business, managing cross-borders, andinsuring that we have the needed employ-ee competencies now and in the future.
8 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Please tell us aboutyour company.
CO: TietoEnator Corporation (www.tietoe-nator.com) is headquartered in Helsinki,Finland, and was formed in 1999 by thecombination of Tieto Corporation inFinland (founded 1968) and Enator ABSweden (founded 1995).
The company is one of the largest IT servicesand software companies in Europe, support-ing customers in selected vertical marketsmainly in the telecom, forest, energy, health-care, and banking industries. TietoEnator isgrowing and currently employs over 17,000people in nearly 30 countries. The companymade a strategic decision to “go global”through well-chosen acquisitions in selectedvertical areas. TietoEnator’s shares are listedon OMX Nordic Helsinki and StockholmStock Exchanges.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What is your currentposition and responsibilities?
CO: I am the Director, Human Resources –
COVER STORYCarol M. Olsby, GPHR, GRP
Director, Human Resources– Americas & Asia
Global Human ResourcesTIETOENATOR CORPORATION
9Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What percentage ofassignments are "short-term"?
CO: Most of our international assign-ments are typically two years in length.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Where are they typi-cally sent?
CO: We have locations in nearly 30 coun-tries, so we have expatriates in most, if notall of these countries.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Are internationalassignments valued by “the company”?
CO: Indeed, yes. International assignmentsare highly encouraged in our company.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Regarding "short-term" assignments, do you send families?
CO: Yes, we know that our employeeswould be much happier and more effectiveif their families join them on their expatri-ate assignments. We encourage employeesto have their families relocate to their newdestination, and this, in fact, generally iswhat occurs.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Regarding Diversity,what percentage of your global Assigneesare female?
CO: We are a very diverse company andour expatriate program reflects this philoso-phy. We have many females that have beenor are on expatriate assignments.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Have you personallyhad an International Assignment?
CO: No, however, I would like to in thefuture. My husband and I both havecareers that lend themselves to expatriateassignments. My husband’s employer,Microsoft, also encourages their employeesto consider expatriate assignments.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Please describe yourstaff organization…their responsibilities?
CO: Yes, I have employees in the US and
China. Our team is responsible for provid-ing the human resources support for theseregions to include recruitment, develop-ment, compensation, benefits, etc. Wework very closely with our corporate officewhich is located in Helsinki, Finland. Ourcompany has a global approach; however,we act “locally” insuring that our humanresources policies, programs, etc. areappropriate for the countries we are oper-ating in. Asia is growing significantly in ourcompany, especially China, where we haveoffices in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Let’s step aside for amoment and look back for the benefit ofmany of our readers across the world whoare now going global and faced with asteep learning curve. Looking back to the"early days" in your HR career, did youhave a Mentor/Coach?
CO: Yes, I have had many mentors overthe years and continue to have them. Itreally is hard to identify one or two peoplewho stand out as I have worked with somegreat CEO’s, bosses, colleagues andemployees. However, there were two peo-ple that have significantly influenced myapproach to people and business in gener-al. The first one was my initial boss, JackHix. He was an incredible leader and I feelvery fortunate to have worked for him. Hehad a phenomenal vision and was able tofocus his team on the most important HRinitiatives. When I worked for him I knewimmediately that I was going to make acareer out of human resources.
The second most influential person that Ihave worked with was an external organi-zational development consultant andcoach, Bob Burgess. At one of my earliercompanies, the senior team and I hiredhim to help us to create a successful busi-ness. He is extremely knowledgable and agifted organizational development consult-ant. He partnered with our leadership teamto create a company where all employeeswere taught to act and think like “own-ers”. The Company became a leader in ourindustry. The company created very innova-tive products and was able to attract andmaintain employees that were highly indemand. Since then, I have hired himnumerous times and have recommendedhim to countless companies and the resultshave always been exceptionally good.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: RegardingCoaching/Mentoring, what were some ofthe things that you recall to this day asbeing “key”?
CO: I believe one of the primary character-istics of a good coach/mentor is for him/herto sincerely care about the person or thecompany he/she is coaching. A coach is likea guide who works with you to achieveyour best both professionally and personal-ly. From my perspective, a good coach andmentor must have a passion for his/herwork, very knowledgeable about your busi-ness and people in general, who will be anadvocate for you and your company, andmost importantly he/she will always behonest with you. All of this is priceless.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What was pivotal inyour career in those earlier days that "told"you to make a career of HR? And, knowingyou have been in an IT environment, couldyou please provide us with some insight?
CO: I have enjoyed working in technologybusinesses my entire career. I began mycareer working for a large company and wasrecruited into a human resources position.
I believe that in order to be a successfultechnology company you must have a veryhigh regard for people and take care ofthem. Your employees are your businessand they are responsible for creating inno-vative products and services and providingquality customer service.
In order to attract and maintain talentedemployees you must create a clear businessmission & strategy, an environment whichthrives and values employee participation,provide employee development learningopportunties, quick and good decisionmaking, execution is key, and finally andvery importantly a total rewards programwhich is focused on rewarding and recog-nizing your employees . I have been fortu-nate to be given opportunities to grow andexpand my business and human resourcesskills throughout my career. Working as ahuman resources professional with a tech-nology companies has been very excitingand challenging. For me, the combinationof working in the human resources
CONTINUED — PAGE 10
• CAROL OLSBY – CONTINUED
profession within a fast-paced technologycompany has been and remains the perfectsituation for me.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: OK thanks, now let’sget back to today and managing. Howmany expats do you manage across yourterritory… and company-wide across theworld?
CO: We have over 100 expatriates locatedat TietoEnator locations throughout theworld. Since I am responsible for support-ing the Americas and Asia the number ofexpatriates are growing in these regions.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Can you pleasedescribe what types of work these peoplewill be doing?
CO: Our expatriates are at various levelsof management and are also technicalexperts. Since we need to ensure that wehave the necessary competencies through-out the world, expatriates often takeassignments to lead organizations, estab-lish new offices, transfer expert knowl-edge, and to expand their competencies byliving in another country and working in adifferent business envirnoment.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Let’s focus onLeadership Development and the role of aninternational assignment in the company.Does having an International Assignmenthelp progress a career?
CO: Most definitely. As mentioned earlier,our company is operating in nearly 30countries and this number is growing. Inorder to continuously provide our customerswith innovative products and excellent cus-tomer service we are developing employeecompetencies throughout the world.Employees are highly encouraged to consid-er international assignment and it is com-municated through a variety of our humanresources programs to include our perform-ance development & management pro-gram, and leadership & training programs.No matter where you are located in theworld or the position you have within theorganization this topic will be addressed
with you during your performance develop-ment and management discussion. It is veryexciting to work for a company that recog-nizes the phenomenal benefits of having asegment of the workforce working in inter-national assignment roles.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Now lets think aboutinternational assignments and succession-planning; making use of the newly devel-oped skill-sets and global mindset that aninternational assignment can bring to theemployee (and family). Could you pleasedescribe how your company views this“process” and what is being done to uti-lize "human capital assets"?
CO: The company views employees whohave been on expatriate assignments verywell. When the employee completeshis/her expatriate assignment he/she movesinto a new job that will benefit them andthe company from obtaining these newinternational, business and technical skills.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Let’s discuss Chinaand Asia. Could you please tell us aboutsome of the challenges facing Westernersrelocating into China?
CO: About China, as with all countries,the expatriates must have a passion for thecountry destination. Our expatriates whoare located in Asia have generally travelledon business and/or vacationed to theselocations prior to accepting their expatriateassignments. I believe in order to be suc-cessful in Asia, you need to appreciate therich Asian culture and history, their busi-ness environment, and be flexible andadaptable. As with any expatriate assign-ment the Assignee will need to makeadjustments and one’s attitude will greatlyinfluence all aspects of the assignment. Ifan employee goes into the system with anopen mind and a desire to learn it will defi-nitely better enable a successful transition.When you go into a country like Chinafrom an English-speaking country, it ishelpful to know or learn their native lan-guage at least at a basic level. YourChinese colleagues and employees willappreciate your efforts. It is also beneficialto understand the Chinese culture and thelanguage as this knowledge is needed inwhen interacting with the general popula-tion and for shopping, etc.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Could you pleasesuggest some things Westerners should dofor themselves before they think aboutactually moving into China in order tobecome better prepared. Can you pleasename some characteristics for "success"?
CO: Sure, I believe that in order to besuccessful in an expatriate assignment youreally should “love” the country you arebeing relocated to. If you have not trav-elled there on business or pleasure, youshould do your homework to make surethat it is a good fit for you and your fami-ly. This will mean visiting China, establish-ing a dialog with your propestive col-leagues, talking to others who have hadprevious assignments in China in order toobtain “intelligence” and practical infor-mation and feedback on the many posi-tive opportunities, as well as, the real-lifechallenges with this location. Again, ifpossible, you should some conversationalMandarin Chinese. As with any expatriateassignment, you should research thecountry’s business, social and culturalenvironments to insure that it is a good fitfor you.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Can you describe thecompany's expatriate policy a success? Inwhat ways would like it to evolve, if any?
CO: Sure I can. I believe that we have avery good expatriate program and it is get-ting better all the time. Initially, the compa-ny had certain business areas which typical-ly sent expatriates overseas. Over the years,this has grown to include all of our busi-ness areas and with that we have becomemore organized and process oriented. Ourhuman resources programs have alsobecome more sophisticated and the inter-national assignment program is integratedinto our other employee programs, e.g.,our performance development and man-agement program, leadership develop-ment, leadership and management train-ing, management planning, mentor-shipprogram, and others.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: How would youdescribe "assignment failure" knowing thatthe failure of an assignment will drive-upthe company's cost of operating an inter-national assignment program?
10 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
CO: As a company we invest time withour people who are considering expatriateassignments in order to ensure this is reallywhat they want to do. We also work withthe local business to ensure that the expa-triate has the support they need to have asuccessful integration into their business.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: In China, does man-agement style differ? And what does thissay about your company?
CO: We have a participative managementstyle which is welcomed in China. We are avery focused company with a culture thatvalues people and innovation. We want ouremployees to have a balanced lifestylebetween work and family and they appreci-ate our philosophy. Many other technologycompanies require their employees to worka great deal of extra hours which likelyimpacts their personal life. We are a largecompany with a proven track record of suc-cessfully treating employees well and thiscontinuous policy and practice has allowedus to attract and retain top-quality people.We experience lower turnover than ourpeople competitors in China.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: About families relo-cating into China, what services are includ-ed in your policy designed to help theAssignee and Family get settled duringtheir first 30 days or so?
CO: We allow our employees to visit thelocation before they commit to an expatri-ate assignment. We also provide ouremployees with assistance in locating tem-porary housing, international school(s) fortheir children, etc.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What are some ofthe unique challenges Westerners mayexperience while living day-to-day (every-day lifestyle kind of things) in China?
CO: One of the challenges for peoplewho are “English” language speakers isthat the English language is generally spo-ken within the business envirnoment, how-ever, not always the case when shopping,etc. So it would be important for the expa-triate and her/his family to have some lan-guage training. When you shop most
everything that you will need to purchasewill require you to negotiate, so you wouldneed to know the language, proper pric-ing, and include extra time for this process.There are significantly more people on thestreets, subways, etc. than what most peo-ple are use to in their home countries.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What is your experi-ence in a 2nd-tier city?
CO: My experience with a second-tiercity is Chengdu. They have created abeautiful large business park targeted fortechnology companies. Chengdu is abeautiful semi-tropical place and has largeopen spaces and incredible natural beau-ty. This city is not crowded like Beijing. Inthis case, many people who are from thefirst-tier cities may be interested in thesecond-tier cities as they are offeringsteady employment in a more natural set-ting – many trees, fields, streams.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: In Asia, regardinggenerational differences and how they areviewed locally, how does this impact theworkplace for expats? Interacting withpeople?
CO: Asian people have a great deal ofrespect for senior people. They expect sen-ior people to be very knowledgeable, com-petent, respectful and caring. If you werean expatriate located in China you wouldneed to understand this mindset.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: For youngerAssignees to China today, what kind offormal indoctrination or better said, train-ing, does your company policy provide for?In general and also, specifically, what kindof training do you provide regarding thepolitics, the religious aspects?
CO: It’s important to know that we recog-nize the value and the importance ofpreparation for an expatriate assignmentoften times our employees to visit the loca-tion before they commit to an expatriateassignment. We also provide employeeswith destination services to assist them inlocating temporary housing, cultural inte-gration, school(s) for their children, etc. Aswas mentioned before, most if not all
employees who consider expatriate assign-ments in China are familiar with the politi-cal and social environment as they havetravelled there on business and personalvacations. They would understand thesocial and political environment before theywould accept an assignment in China.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Can you pleasedescribe how China, as a destination forwork, has changed over the past fewyears? And can you follow-up by chattingabout how it will be/could be in say...3years from now?
CO: China is an incredible country and it isreally great to be with a company who ispart of this growth. China is encouraginggrowth and business development and it isa good country to conduct business in. Thebusiness environment is changing at a rapidpace. For a technology company, there is alarge well-trained workforce who is attract-ed to working for international companies.The employees appreciate working for acompany with a participative managementstyle that values them. We also have anenvironment where people can grow anddevelop. We are growing rapidly, soemployees have an opportunity to acceptnew assignments and learn additional skills.It is really exciting to think about China inthe next three years. There will be manymore multi-national and local technologycompanies which will be located in China inthe future. There will be greater competi-tion for good technology workers. The busi-ness employment requirements will contin-ue to develop and change. For example,this year China implemented new employ-ment contract requirements. I believe thatwe will see more employee and businesspolicies that represent this changing busi-ness environment.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Regarding in-compa-ny on-the-job managerial decision-making,how can Westerners better prepare forworking within a Chinese system thatfavors relationships and reciprocity?
CO: This is not an uncommon approachfor many countries. Managers need tounderstand that external relationships areimportant and that they will need to
CONTINUED — PAGE 12
11Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
Volume 6 / Issue 2
• CAROL OLSBY – CONTINUED
dedicate time to maintaining good rela-tionships with business and governmentcolleagues.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Tell us about"younger adults" in China, in the work-place. Are they friendly to Westerners? Arethey different from higher ranks, usuallypeople who are older?
CO: We are in the technology sector, andgenerally speaking the workforce tends tobe younger. The average employee in ourChinese operations tends to be in their20’s. Our participative management style isquite welcomed in China. We are muchfocused company with a culture that valuespeople and innovation. Let me again bevery clear that our policy is good and oneof our strengths: We want our employeesto have a balanced lifestyle between workand family and they appreciate our philoso-phy. Many technological companies requireemployees to work a great deal of overtimehours which impacts their personal life. Weare also a large company with a proventrack record of success and treatingemployees well. This has allowed us toattract and retain quality people. We expe-rience lower turnover than our peoplecompetitors in China.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: How do you coachWesterners who are on Assignment to dealwith "isolation" feelings?
CO: This isolation feeling will occur nomatter where you accept an expatriateassignment if you do not create an inter-vention plans to address this issue. Thissame situation also occurs when peoplemove within the same country.
Understanding this challenge, expatriatesneed to find ways to connect with people.Invite co-workers to dinner at your homeor a local restaurant. If you have childrenin school make a point to get to know theother parents. Research where people fromyour home country meet and periodicallyget together with them. The key is tounderstand that this will happen and youneed to take active steps to get involvedwith others. If you have a family, it isimportant that your family members also
become connected with local people and ifpossible people from your home country,so they will not feel isolated too.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: When looking at theconcept of "building global leaders" forthe company and "developing a globalmindset" internally, what competencies...how do you assess for the "right" man-agement style? What are globally success-ful traits that you look for in people?
CO: We are a global company. All of ouremployees need to have a “global mind-set”. This global mindset begins with ourCEO and this message is shared continual-ly with all of our employees. It is notunusual in our company for employees tobe communicating with other employeeswho are located across the globe. It is alsocommon for many of our managers to bemanaging cross-borders and/or workingwith other groups who are located in dif-ferent countries.
In order to be a successful global leader inour company you must have a passion forour business and be committed to creatingan environment that will attract and retainhighly-skilled professionals. Global leadersmust be flexible, adaptable, participative,focused, execution oriented, good commu-nicators, proven track records, strong lead-ership skills, and also effective business andtechnical skills. We assist managers to growtheir global skills through an integratedprocess which has been incorporated in avariety of our management programs toinclude: our performance development &management system, leadership and man-agement training programs, internationaltraining, management planning program,mentorship programs, expatriate assign-ments, international business travel, etc.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What is the mostrecent book you have read?
CO: Since I often travel internationally, Ihave plenty of dedicated time to read. I ama veracious reader and really enjoy readinggood business books which are focused onglobal issues to include: effective leader-ship, managing cross-borders, changemanagement, innovative businessapproaches, etc. In respect to global busi-ness books, I have also read books which
are specifically focused on the countrieswhere we are currently doing business in orplan to in the future. Most recently, I fin-ished reading “China CEO” and also,“Global Leadership, The Next Generation”.Since I support Asia, both of these bookswere very relevant. ”China CEO” comprisesof a selection of senior executives whohave been in China who provide their rec-ommendations on how best to establishand manage your business in this country.The second book, “Global Leadership, TheNext Generation” is a very easy read thatprovides the reader with the step-by-stepprocess on how to effectively lead today’sbusiness envirnoment.
I am firm believer that you have to be a“lifetime learner” in order to be effective inour global economy. In addition to reading,I often participate in global business classesand programs. I have been very fortunateto attend global business programs both inthe US and abroad. Recently I attended aEuropean international management pro-gram which my company sponsored. Thiseducation program was excellent as it pro-vided an opportunity to attend classes withmanagers who represent different businessareas which were located in countriesthroughout the world.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Please tell us aboutyour family-life?
CO: My husband and I have been togetherfor 25 years. He is the one that reallyexposed me to global business as he hasmultiple international business degrees andhas worked in internationals roles toinclude his current position at Microsoft.We have three teenage children, Joshua(19), Julia (15), and Jacob (15), who havebeen very fortunate to grow up in a familythat has always looked at things from aworld perspective. My oldest son begancollege this fall and we wanted to makesure he selected a school that has an inter-national exchange program. In the future,Julia and Jacob will also attend a schoolwith an overseas program or attend collegeabroad. We think that is important thatyoung people have a global perspective.Our family likes to travel abroad for ourvacations which have been a great educa-tional opportunity for our children.Recently, our family vacationed in Italy.
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What do you like todo when you are away from the office?
CO: Since I travel often, it is always niceto be home with my family. Living in theSeattle area it is a wonderful place to liveas you have all the advantages of a big citywith museums, etc. and it is located in abeautiful setting. Seattle is surrounded bymountains and is located on the water. It isa great place to live no matter what yourinterests. I have a very active family thatkeeps me busy. I am very active person sothis suits me perfectly.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: What are yourfavorite foods?
CO: Since I travel, I am open to mosttypes of foods. I am more interested inpeople then I am with food, per se. I seethat food is one of the best ways to bringpeople together. I really enjoy people, sosharing a nice meals with others is a given.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Summarizing, what isthe most important advice that you cangive to our global readership, of which60% are HR professionals?
CO: Our businesses success depends onhaving the necessary competencies to exe-cute on our business strategies. In today’sbusiness these competencies are beingobtained in locations throughout theworld. Talent Management is the corner-stone to this success and human resourcesprofessionals with global experience are ingreat demand. Human resources profes-sionals must be fully integrated into thebusiness to insure that the humanresources strategy remains fully alignedwith the business. Because the businessenvironment is dynamic and changing HRprofessionals must embrace diversity, beincredibly flexible, adaptable, effectiveteam players, “servant leaders”, and com-mitted to their own self-development, aswell as others.
There are many opportunities in theemerging countries and HR professionalstoday have an opportunity to help shapehow business will be conducted in theselocations now and in the future. Withrespect to self-development, global HR
professionals must make a commitmentto continually learn effective internationalbusiness strategies and tactics. This meansattending global conferences where “bestpractices” are shared, reading a variety ofinternational business articles and books,network with other global HR & businessprofessionals, obtain global certificationsfor mobility (GMS), human resources(GPHR), total rewards (GRP), etc.
Businesses are relying on us to be at the
table to advise them on how best toaddress the variety of global humanresources issues they are experiencing cur-rently and in the future to include: talentmanagement, total rewards, development,learning, and much more.
GLOBAL HR NEWS: Carol, thank you foryour time, energy, insight, and wisdom. ■
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Maintaining social security benefits ofemployees on international assign-
ment can be an administrative challenge.Furthermore, obtaining an exception frommaking social security contributions in thehost country under an InternationalTotalization Agreement and failing to keepthe Certificate of Coverage current couldlead to potential liability in the U.S. underthe Sarbarnes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX).This article explains the connectionbetween an American company’s potentialliability under SOX and issues related tothe social security benefits of an employeeon international assignment and offerssome risk-prevention tips.
INTERNATIONALTOTALIZATION AGREEMENTS: The United States government has enteredinto bilateral Social Security Agreementswith 21 countries (as of August 2008).The participating countries are mostly inEurope and also include Australia, Canada,Chile, Japan and South Korea. (For a fulllist of the participating countries and thetext of the agreements, seewww.ssa.gov/international/agreement_overview.html). Under these InternationalSocial Security Agreements or also calledTotalization Agreements, Americanemployees on international assignment willbe exempt from making social securitycontributions in the host (participating)country. Accordingly, the internationalassignee is not subject to double taxationwith respect to social security contributionsin the host country.
However, the exemption does not applyautomatically. The American employermust obtain a Certificate of Coveragefrom the U.S. Social SecurityAdministration (SSA). The application for a
Certificate of Coverage is a simple form orletter and can be submitted online. (Seewww.socialsecurity.gov/coc). Furthermore,the Certificate of Coverage has a limitedinitial duration. The validity period is speci-fied in each Totalization Agreement andgenerally is for a period of up to five (5)years. The initial validity period of theCertificate of Coverage can be extended;the extension request, however, is typicallysubmitted not to the SSA in the U.S., butto the local government authority in thehost country. If the validity period of aCertificate Coverage has expired, by lawthe employer and employee must makesocial security contributions in the hostcountry pursuant to local law.
Failure to extend the validity period of aninternational assignee’s Certificate ofCoverage is risky. First, upon expiration ofthe Certificate of Coverage, the employerand employee must start making contribu-tions to the host country’s social securitysystem, even if FICA taxes are paid in theU.S. Failure to do so could constitute aviolation of local law in the host country.Second, if the assignee complains aboutthe employer’s failure to abide by local law(making social security contributions), suchinternal complaint could reverberate in theU.S. with potential legal liability for theemployer under SOX.
EXPIRED CERTIFICATE OF COVERAGEAND POTENTIAL SOX LIABILITY: In a recent federal lawsuit, the court per-mitted a former employee working inFrance to proceed with a SOX whistleblow-ing claim in the U.S. against the Americanemployer. In O'Mahony v. Accenture Ltdand Accenture LLP, 07 Civ. 7916 (S.D.N.Y.Feb. 5, 2008), plaintiff RosemaryO'Mahony had been a partner in the com-
pany's U.S. subsidiary from 1984 throughAugust 2004. She worked for the companyin France since 1992. The U.S. subsidiaryhad obtained a Certificate of Coverageexempting it from making contributions tothe French social security system for fiveyears. Ms. O’Mahony complained that heremployer defrauded the French govern-ment by failing to pay social security pay-ments on her behalf after the validity peri-od of the Certificate of Coverage hadexpired. Specifically, Ms. O’Mahonyalleged the company owed the Frenchsocial security system an amount equal toapproximately 36 percent of her $10.4 mil-lion of compensation for the periodSeptember 1997 through September 1,2004, i.e., about $3.7 million. She allegedshe told the company’s U.S. executivesabout the problem, but the company’sglobal financial controller in New York toldher the company had decided that its inter-ests would be better served by not makingany of the French social security contribu-tions. As a result, she claimed the companycontinued to conceal from the Frenchauthorities the fact that she had beenworking in France after the expiration ofher Certificate of Coverage. Ms.O’Mahony further alleged that sheresponded that she could not violate thelaw and brought the matter to the atten-tion to the French authorities. Finally, shealleged that, in retaliation, Accenturedemoted her in November 2004 andreduced her salary by $670,000.Accordingly, this foreign assignee allegedthe conduct (fraud) occurred in the U.S.and executives of the U.S. subsidiary madethe decisions in the U.S. to defraud theFrench government and to demote her.
The corporate defendants requested theU.S. federal court to dismiss the claims for
COMPLIANCE: LEGALSocial Security Benefits of International Assignees Totalization Agreements and Potential Employer Liability Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
by JOHAN LUBBE, Partner • [email protected] LEWIS LLP - New York
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
lack of jurisdiction, arguing that thewhistleblower protection provisions of SOXdo not apply extraterritorially. In denyingdefendants' motion to dismiss, the federalcourt provided a narrow opening forclaims involving American employees oninternational assignment when the claimshave a sufficient nexus to the U.S.
The federal court agreed that the allegedU.S.-connected conduct -- decision not toinform the French authorities of her con-tinued employment in France -- was suffi-cient to directly apply the SOX whistle-blower provisions under these circum-stances (as opposed to applying theAmerican law to conduct that occurred inthe host country under the principles ofextraterritoriality) and refused to dismissthe claims. The court specifically ruled thatit was not applying SOX's whistleblowerprotections extraterritorially. (See the previ-ous article in Global HR News magazine on“Extraterritorial Application of U.S. Law”).
The court distinguished this case from anearlier case that considered the extraterri-torial application of the SOX whistleblowerprotection. In Canero v. Boston Scientific,433 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2006), the plaintiff wasa resident of Brazil and an employee of aLatin American subsidiary of a U.S. compa-
ny. He was paid exclusively by the LatinAmerican subsidiaries. He accused the U.S.parent company of firing him in retaliationfor telling the defendant about fraudulentactivities in its Latin American subsidiaries.The court held that a foreign employeecomplaining of misconduct abroad byoverseas subsidiaries could not bring a SOXclaim against the U.S. parent company. InO'Mahony, by contrast, the court foundthat the suit was by a U.S. employeeagainst her U.S. employer for corporatedecisions taken in the U.S.
Accordingly, U.S. human resource profes-sionals should be aware that simple admin-istrative failures such as a neglect to applyfor an extension of an exemption from mak-ing social security contributions in the hostcountry can expose the home country com-pany to significant risk. The risks includenot only substantial penalty payments to thehost country’s social security authorities, butalso potential liability under SOX if theCompany fails to react appropriately to theassignee’s concerns about legal compliance.
PRO-ACTIVE STEPS:To avoid the delima the employer founditself in Accenture, U.S.-based humanresource professionals managing Americanemployees on international assignment
could take the following preventative steps:
1. Maintain an inventory of Certificates ofCoverage with a clear notation of eachcertificate’s expiration date and a sched-uled date to apply for an extended cer-tificate, which extension application dateshared precede the expiration date by atleast two months;
2. Timely apply for the extension of theCertificate of Coverage in the host coun-try; and
3. If the Certificate of Coverage hasexpired, promptly start making employerand remitting employee contributions tothe host country’s social security authori-ty. The fact that the company has contin-ued making social security contributions– FICA taxes – in the U.S. is no excusefor failure to make the contributions inthe host country.
4. Work closely with the human resourcedepartment in the host country to ensurecompliance and, if the assignee expressesconcerns about legal compliance, thatlegal and effective steps are taken toaddress any compliance oversight.
In a series of articles in GLOBAL HR NEWS,we will keep the readership informed onnew developments and trends in cross-bor-der employment issues. ■
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENT
Behavior Interviews in anIntercultural Contextby MAUREEN RABOTIN, CEO and FounderEFFECTIVE GLOBAL [email protected]
The behavioral interview technique —one used by employers to evaluate a
candidate’s past experiences and behaviorsin order to determine their future potentialfor success — is once again on the rise incompanies across the U.S. According toCareer Services at SUNY Brockport, cur-rently 30 percent of all organizations areusing behavioral interviewing techniques insome manner.
Why is this technique so popular? Because,presumably, it works. U.S-based surveys likethat done by Quintessential Careers men-tioned in the article titled BehavioralInterviewing Strategies for Job-Seekers byKatharine Hansen have shown that behav-ior interviewing is 55 percent predictive offuture on-the-job behavior, while traditionalinterviewing is only 10 percent predictive.
Another factor contributing to the growinguse of behavior interviewing, according toa December 2007 survey conducted by theNovations Group, is the broad demograph-ic shift underway in the workplace.According to Tim Vigue, Novations execu-tive consultant, “An increasingly diversetalent pool demands that organizationshire the best from the broadest possiblepool. To do so employers have to useobjective methods that won’t screen outqualified candidates due to bias.”
Implied then is the fact that behavior inter-views are fair and take into account thediversity of applicants. But, do behaviorinterviews take into account the diversityof the job for which the candidate is inter-viewing? Does the popular technique con-sider the intercultural contexts of the job?Can behavioral interview questions accu-rately assess whether a candidate’s past
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
INTRODUCTIONThe benefits of migrants to the UK econo-my are well recognised, albeit not wellpublicised. Official statistics show thatmigrants contribute 10% of GDP despitemaking up only 8% of the workforce. Ata corporate level, 60% of companiesregard human resources as the mostimportant factor in future competitivenessand, with increased global competitionand the rise of the knowledge economy,eight in 10 UK employers are lookingbeyond the domestic market and areactively recruiting staff from overseas.
For US companies investing in the UK, thesourcing, mobility and retention of qualityhuman resources from the US is para-mount. If that is the case, why is immi-gration law rarely discussed at the corpo-rate legal level? In fact, intelligent compa-nies investing in the UK recognise thatpolicies on employing non-EEA nationalscan be key to future success and the verybest companies are initiating and develop-ing corporate immigration strategy wheninvestment is being considered.
WHAT IS DRIVING THE NEEDFOR CORPORATE IMMIGRATIONSTRATEGY IN THE UK?Organisations within industries whereimmigration has always been a centralfocal point, such as IT, management con-sultancy and the health industries, havethe most mature corporate immigrationstrategies in place. In recent years, how-ever, recruitment need, increased globalisa-tion and investment protection has forcedother industry sectors to realise the poten-
tial of such strategy implementation.
From the UK perspective, the current maindriving force affecting all industries is the UKGovernment’s roll out of a new five-tieredpoints-based immigration system whichreplaces the current work permit scheme.Aimed at tackling abuse and controllingmigration more effectively, industry is beingcalled upon to play their role in makingmigration work for Britain. The newscheme, which should be fully implementedby April 2009, aims at giving employersmore control and flexibility over their deci-sions in employing overseas nationalsthrough Home Office accreditation. Withthese benefits, however, come increasedobligations. Not meeting those obligationscould result in both criminal and/or civilpenalties aimed both at the company andthe officers of that company. Even worse,however, failures in procedure could result insuspension or removal from the Home Officeaccreditation scheme and, as a result, theend of employment for all foreign workers inthe UK. The employees themselves couldface bans from future travel to the UK ofone to ten years. Compliance will, there-fore, become everything. And forward-thinking companies are developing theirimmigration strategy now.
WHAT IS CORPORATEIMMIGRATION STRATEGY?What, therefore, is corporate immigrationstrategy? Simply put, it is a coherent cor-porate approach to maximising compliancewhilst ensuring that immigration is a busi-ness tool rather than a business impedi-ment. It can be domestic in approach but,depending on the organisation involved,most effective when regional or even glob-al in nature. It defines what is acceptablefrom a corporate risk standpoint whilst alsointroducing policies that will best benefitthe company now and in the future. As it
relates to the interpretation and implemen-tation of law, it requires buy-in at theappropriate level of an organisation andneeds to be properly communicatedthroughout the organisation to have maxi-mum effect.
HOW DOES IT WORK IN PRACTICE?Any corporate immigration strategy will beunique to the organisation involved. Thereare, however, common themes.
The UK immigration authorities areextremely commercially aware. However,their resources are limited and, as such, themost respected and well-known service-users will be at an advantage. Brandingand representation, both at corporate andlegal representative level are, therefore, keyto immigration. Whilst pigeonholedand/or under-represented, the leverageavailable to obtain concessions, exceptionaltreatment and better turnaround times islimited.
Then there are costs. A coherent andcomprehensive corporate immigrationstrategy may immediately save somemoney. In the future, however, a carefullyplanned corporate immigration strategyintroduced now, in anticipation of theemployer accreditation scheme, couldpotentially save some organisations hun-dreds of thousands of pounds.
The final common theme is the willingnessof the vast majority of UK companies to becompliant. In most cases, compliance isdirectly related to control. A review oforganisational structure from an immigra-tion perspective and the authority to dealwith an increasingly complex area of lawtypically identifies weaknesses. This, inturn, can assist in policy drafting tostrengthen the company and maximiseleverage benefit.
The thread that runs through all themes isthe need for companies to be able to mon-itor, track and connect with their migrantpopulation. The need to produce andreview reports is, therefore, paramount andthe days of the excel spreadsheet withexpiry dates should be long gone. Theintelligent company should have access toreports both in the UK and internationallythat can detail all immigration aspects ofan expatriate assignment or new hire.
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COMPLIANCE: LEGAL
UK Immigration:the new tax?
by ANDREW BARNETT • [email protected] LLP, London • +44 (0) 20 3077 5000www.fragomen.com
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
COMPLIANCE: LEGAL
Costa RicaNew Accreditation Process for ExpeditedTemporary Residence Permit Processing
by FEDERICO SOLIS - Partner Latin America, andLEON ZARNOWSKI - Manager for the Costa Rica inbound PracticeFRAGOMEN GLOBAL IMMIGRATION [email protected] or [email protected]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:The Costa Rican Immigration Authorities have passed a resolutiondetailing a new registration/accreditation procedure for companiesthat sponsor foreign nationals for Temporary Residence permits.Accredited companies will enjoy priority filing status for TemporaryResidence permit applications and substantially reduced processingtimes and documentation requirements. Furthermore, TemporaryResidence permits issued to foreign nationals sponsored by accred-ited companies will now be valid for two years instead of one year.
On May 19, 2008, a new resolution (DG-1084-2008) took effectdetailing a new accreditation procedure for companies withoperations in Costa Rica that sponsor foreign nationals forTemporary Residence permits. Accredited companies will benefitfrom priority processing of their Temporary Residence permitapplications filed with the General Migration Office. The newresolution replaces Decree 32918-G-COMEX-MTSS, issued inMarch 2006. Please refer to our March 15, 2006 Client Alert forthe details of the 2006 regulation.
The primary benefits for companies that undergo the GeneralMigration Office's new accreditation process are:
• Priority filing status: Accredited companies will have a designat-ed filing window and staff at the General Migration Office,which will mean shorter wait times to file applications;
• Reduced processing times: Temporary Residence Permit process-ing times will be substantially reduced from at least four monthscurrently to 30 business days from the date of filing with theGeneral Migration Office;
• Reduced documentation requirements: Foreign national workerswill no longer be required to present extensive corporate docu-mentation with their permit applications, as all required corpo-rate documentation will be submitted with the company'saccreditation application; and
• Extended permit validity: Temporary Residence permits issued toforeign nationals sponsored by accredited companies will nowbe valid for two years instead of one year.
ACCREDITATION CRITERIATo be accredited under the new guidelines, companies must fit with-in specific corporate categories and meet other criteria. For example,each company must meet at least two of the following conditions:
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COMPLIANCE: LEGAL
The E Treaty VisaAn Alternative Approachto U.S. Immigration
by RYAN PATTERSONFRAGOMEN • [email protected]
This article was written and researched by Ryan Patterson. Ryan isa Mountbatten Paralegal on the U.S. Consular team in London.
SQUARE PEGS AND ROUND HOLESOne of the greatest challenges for any business enterprise is staffing– finding the right individual for the job. If the best candidate is aforeign national, immigration law poses an additional obstacle.
Companies bringing staff to the United States generally rely ontwo tools: the L-1 “Intra-company Transferee” Visa and the H-1B“Specialty Occupation” Visa. While these visa categories are oftenuseful, their restrictive requirements can screen out even the best-qualified applicants.
The L-1 Visa is only applicable to existing employees who haveworked in a company’s non-U.S. office for more than a year; newemployees are ineligible. The H-1B Visa, which allows professionalsto take up employment in the U.S. in specialized fields, is strictlylimited to 85,000 applicants per year. This year, employers filedsome 163,000 H-1B petitions, forcing the U.S. Citizenship andImmigration Service to institute a “visa lottery.”
Now that the 2009 H-1B cap has been reached, what can Britishbusinesses do to bring employees to the U.S.?
JAMES MADISON AND GEORGE IIIThe answer may lie in an 1815 British-American “treaty of friend-ship, commerce, and navigation” – the first of its kind signed bythe two nations. Pursuant to this document, the U.S. maintains aspecial, often-overlooked immigration category – the E Visa – forUK citizens doing business in America. The U.S. also maintainssimilar treaties with a number of other nations.
There are two types of E Visas. The E-1 “Treaty Trader” visa is avail-able to British-owned businesses that engage primarily in tradebetween the U.S. and UK. Many wholesale, retail, andimport/export businesses can qualify for E-1 Visa status. The E-2“Treaty Investor” visa is open to British nationals who wish to investin the American economy. A wide range of enterprises, from largePLCs to mom-and-pop retail stores, may qualify for E-2 Visa status.
The E Visa has several advantages over its L-1 and H-1B cousins.
First, it grants broad coverage, both to a host of company typesand to a variety of positions within a company. Owners, execu-tives, managers, supervisors, specialists, and technicians may all be
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
• COSTA RICA – continued
1) The company must require a consider-able volume of foreign national workers.The General Migration Office has notdefined "considerable volume" or how todemonstrate this need; however, the localcompany's five-year plan or an organiza-tional chart that incorporates foreignworkers into its management structureshould suffice.
2) The company must:
• Be registered before the Costa RicanTourism Institute;
• Operate under an incentive exportregime, such as a Free Trade Zone;
• Have a recommendation from theMinistry of Commerce (COMEX); or
• Be registered before the FinancialEntities Supervising Authority (SUGEF).
3) The company must be establishedthrough Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)that contributes to the country's economicdevelopment.
ACCREDITATION PROCESSThere will be slightly different processesand requirements for each corporate cate-gory. For process details, clients are advisedto contact their immigration providers. TheGeneral Migration Office will take at least30 business days to approve accreditationapplications. Upon approval, the GeneralMigration Office will issue a notice certify-ing the company's accreditation, which willbe valid for two years from the date ofissuance, and add the company's name toits accreditation list.
COMPANIES ALREADY REGISTEREDUNDER THE MARCH 2006 DECREENew Temporary Residence permit applica-tions filed by companies registered underthe accreditation regulation of 2006 refer-
enced above will be processed based onthe 2006 regulation until the company'sregistration expires (in the first half of2009, in most cases). However, all tempo-rary residence renewal applications will beprocessed under the new regulationdescribed herein. Accordingly, accreditedcompanies are encouraged to upgradetheir accreditation under the new regula-tion as soon as possible.
The content of this alert is provided forinformational purposes only.
If you have any questions regarding thisalert, please do not hesitate to contact theglobal immigration professional withwhom you work at Fragomen GlobalImmigration Services, or send an email [email protected] [email protected]
Copyright © 2008 by Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen &Loewy, LLP ■
• E-TREATY – CONTINUED
covered by a corporate E Visa registration.Additionally, spouses of E Visa holdersreceive “derivative” E Visa status, completewith authorization to work in the U.S.
Second, although the normal first-time EVisa validity period is two years, the visamay be renewed indefinitely. Dependingon the perceived strength of the company– (Embassy adjudicators are instructed to“weed out risky undertakings”) – the visa’svalidity period may be extended to five-year increments.
Third, there is no requirement that E Visaholders maintain concrete ties to theirhome country. Therefore, an individualmay sell his or her home and move com-pletely to America, so long as he or sheasserts an intent to depart the U.S. oncethe visa expires. A linguistic quirk of the1815 British-American treaty requiresBritish citizens to remain legally domiciledin the UK, but other treaty nationals arenot subject to this rule. Dual nationalsmust therefore be careful when applying.
Fourth, an E Visa employee may petitionto change to Legal Permanent Resident(“green card”) status. Unlike H-1B and L-1 Visa holders, employees with E Visasmay be subject to travel restrictions dur-
ing the Legal Permanent Resident applica-tion process.
Legal Permanent Resident applications forE company owners can have complex con-sequences; one of which is that a LegalPermanent Resident will no longer qualifyas British for the purposes of the E Visa.An entire company, including owners,employees, and dependents, could lose EVisa status automatically. Therefore, carefulplanning and appropriate legal advice arecritical.
DOES YOUR BUSINESS QUALIFY?To qualify for an E Visa, basic conditionsmust be met:
E-1 and E-2• A qualifying treaty must exist between
the United States and the country inquestion. The U.S. now maintains Etreaties with some 80 countries;
• The enterprise must be majority-ownedor controlled by nationals of that coun-try. A publicly-traded company is takento possess the nationality of the countryin which its stock is listed, but share-holders’ nationalities can be taken intoaccount as well; and
• Each employee seeking an E Visa mustpossess that same nationality as thecompany.
E-1 “Treaty Trader” Visa• The enterprise must be engaged in
trade. “Trade” typically involves the pur-chase or exchange of physical goods,but an international exchange of servic-es, such as accounting or consulting,may also qualify;
• The trade must be substantial.Substantiality in this case is measured bythe volume of trade, the number oftransactions, and the continued courseof trade;
• More than 50% of the company’s trademust be conducted between the treatycountry and the U.S., and tradebetween the two countries must beongoing; and
• A qualifying employee or principal musthold an executive, managerial, or super-visory role or possess skills essential tothe enterprise’s success.
E-2 “Treaty Investor” Visa• The investment must be active.
Purchasing or planning a business is notenough; the business must be underactive development or operation;
• The investment must be substantial.While there is no hard rule, Embassyadjudicators generally weigh the amountof money invested against the size of
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GLOBAL HR NEWS
According to the book of Daniel (5:1-31), during a drunken feast, King
Belshazzar of Babylon took sacred goldenand silver vessels, which had beenremoved from Jerusalem by his predeces-sor Nebuchadnezzar, and started to praisethe gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron,wood, and stone. Suddenly, the disembod-ied fingers of a human hand appeared andwrote strange words on the wall of theroyal palace.
Despite inducements, none of the royalmagicians or advisors could interpret theomen, so the King sent for Daniel, current-ly in exile and a former advisor to the pre-vious king, to interpret the words.Rejecting offers of rewards, Daniel warnedthe King of the folly of his arrogant blas-phemy and interpreted the text as follows:
"God has numbered the days of your king-dom and brought it to an end; you havebeen weighed on the scales and foundwanting and your kingdom is divided andgiven to the Medes."
That very night, according to the story,King Belshazzar was slain and Darius theMede became King.
FROM THE MOUTH OF PROPHETSTO THE COMPANY BOARDROOMFast forward a few thousand years to the21st century and into the boardroom of afictitious, successful, multinational compa-ny. Congratulating each other on anotheryear of record profits, the directors havejust approved another incentive compensa-tion plan for the company's employees.Riding high on the wave of globalization,the board is keen to both reward andretain its top performers and its globallymobile workforce by introducing another,more innovative, performance-based remu-neration scheme. Confident with the
knowledge that it has met its SOX 404requirements and is compliant, the compa-ny is now keen to look further afield tonew emerging markets. So, with this inmind, it sends its top performers (rich withlucrative equity-based incentive plans) onnew assignments to open up new oppor-tunities for the company.
Some years later, the multinational compa-ny we described above is further along itsglobalization path. Let's consider that thecompany is a U.S.-based multinational andnow has affiliates in many countries. Eachaffiliate has its own employees, and thereare U.S. employees on assignment to manyof the affiliates. In addition, the employeesof certain foreign affiliates may be onassignment to the U.S. parent company.The parent company, as already estab-lished, has several compensation plans forits employees, among which is a stockoption compensation plan, which awardsoptions to employees regardless of theirlocation. The parent company in theUnited States has been taking a corporatededuction for compensation related tooption exercises — regardless of the loca-tion of the employee, or which entity is theformer employer. The U.S. parent companymay not be taking deductions it is not enti-tled to. In addition, its approach may meanthat it is not properly reporting the relatedcompensation in foreign jurisdictions, andis not properly withholding and remittingpayroll taxes either.
Despite the counsel of its advisers, thecompany has never been overly concernedwith non-corporate compliance issues andtends to leave any tax obligations attachedto employee remuneration to its employ-ees. In fact, ever since equity arrangementswere introduced into the company's remu-neration policies, they have never been
queried by the tax authorities or had theissue raised during a tax audit in any coun-try where they operate, creating a poten-tially false sense of assurance and reinforc-ing its own (possibly misguided) faith in itscompliance.
For this company — and others like it —the writing is on the wall.
Unfortunately for the complacent, thecareless, and the blissfully unenlightened,tax authorities around the world are begin-ning to combine forces and target cross-border tax compliance issues, including thetax obligations of both the employer andemployee.
COMPLIANCE WEIGHED AND FOUNDWANTING: OECD TAKES ACTION While neither in Babylon nor in a palace,September 2006 heralded the third gather-ing of the OECD Forum on TaxAdministration in Seoul, South Korea. Fortwo days the heads and deputy heads of rev-enue bodies from 35 countries met to shareconcerns, experiences and ideas on how todeal with two of the key issues facing taxauthorities in the 21st century, namely:
• More effective tax administration, and • Non-compliance in the international
context.
It is the second initiative that should be ofgreater concern to multinational compa-nies and their advisers and the one thatneeds to be carefully studied.
The OECD forum recognized that enforce-ment of the respective countries' tax lawshas become more difficult. Business global-ization, labor mobility, trade and capitalliberalization, and technological advanceshave made time zones and bordersincreasingly irrelevant, thereby opening theglobal marketplace to a broader array oftaxpayers and arrangements.
The Seoul Declaration, the communiquéissued from the gathering, stated:
"It is our duty as heads of our respectivecountries' revenue bodies to ensure com-pliance with our national laws by all tax-payers, including activities beyond borders,through effective enforcement and by tak-ing preventative measures to deter non-compliance."1
CONTINUED — PAGE 36
COMPLIANCE: TAX
The Writing on the WallCompliance issues...Tax obligations
Peter Burnham, PartnerKPMG AG, Zurich • [email protected](KPMG AG in Switzerland is a KPMG International member firm)
22 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
How many relocated employees, ecstaticabout their new international assign-
ment, are quickly deflated upon experienc-ing the declining purchasing power of theirhome country currency? What about otherindividuals who have been on assignment,and have benefited from the appreciationof the host country currency? How will aneventual weakening of such currencyimpact their view of how much they aremaking, or as importantly their perceivedability to meet home country financial obli-gations?
Getting paid while on international assign-ments should not be a risk-taking exercisefor such dedicated staff. After all, they’realready undertaking a fair amount of per-sonal disruption by simply agreeing tomove overseas.
We all know currency fluctuation is noth-ing new to the global mobility community.With recent volatility and downward pres-sure on the U.S. dollar, there has beengrowing concern amongst HR executiveson how to best compensate internationalassignees, and also protect their compa-nies. The most common questions are:
(1) Do we put them on host country pay-roll exclusively?
(2) Do we split their payroll? (3) Do we continue to pay them in home
country payroll? (4) What currency should we pay
allowances and expenses?
Regardless of the answer to such ques-tions, the issue of currency fluctuation andits attenuated risks does not disappear.There are increasing numbers of GlobalMobility professionals who are examiningdifferent ways to help mitigate against thereal cost associated with currency fluctua-tions. The larger the global mobility popu-
lation, the more options companies try tooffer. Many of these HR groups are nowreferring their assignees directly to financialspecialists who can offer assistance manag-ing such risks. Unlike in the past, referralsto such third parties are increasingly com-mon practice, particularly where theemployee is simply referred to such partieswithout any up-front obligation by eitherthe assignee or the company. In the Eurozone, Canada, Australia and Singaporethere have been considerable shifts alongthese lines. In the U.S. the uptake hasbeen slower, in large part because U.S.assignees paid in “host” countries havegenerally benefited from the weaker U.S.dollar. Meanwhile the employer compa-nies have had to incur this hidden, but sig-nificant cost. Also it should be noted that
at some point the U.S. dollar will regainstrength and leave the internationalassignee with less “home country” curren-cy. At that point HP Groups will definitelyhear from their assignees, and the cost willno longer be hidden.
For example, in the following case theemployee who has agreed to an assign-ment in Europe was offered compensationon a “host country payroll” basis back inNovember 2006. At the time the U.S. dol-lar was considerably stronger than where itis today (US$1.25 per Euro vs. US$1.56today). As shown below, this employee isconsiderably better off financially near termbecause of the move. His U.S. equivalentcompensation (base plus bonus) has risento $344,000 in July 2008 from $275,000purely because of foreign exchange shifts.However with any strengthening of theU.S. dollar the HR group will likely hearabout how the currency fluctuation is“killing me”. For example, what conversa-tion would occur should the Euro dropback to initial (i.e. 2006) levels or lower.
Meanwhile, the company that offers“Salary Protection via a Rate Lock” to suchan individual is able to assist the assigneelock in a rate that is significantly closer to
CONTINUED — PAGE 26
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENT
Who’s Bearing the Risk Anyway?The volatile U.S. dollar is causing many to rethinkhow they assist international assignees
WARD NAUGHTON, President • [email protected] CARMEL PARISEAU, Senior ManagerHIFX, Inc.
THE BENEFITS AND RISKSOF THE INTERNETMaintaining contact with friends and fami-ly is a key issue following relocation, espe-cially for children, and doing so successful-ly can be instrumental to a family’s happi-ness in a new location. The internet hasbecome an essential part of home andschool life making it easier for children tomaintain important long-distance friend-ships. This can be an essential support net-work for children, especially in the first fewweeks and months in a new location.
In recent years the number of online toolsand technologies available has grown rap-idly. Webcams, instant messaging andsocial websites like myspace.com are allexcellent ways for children to stay in touchwith family and friends from back home,and make new friends too. Installing skypefor free voice connection over the internetis also a great – and cheap – way for chil-dren to chat to friends around the world.
24 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
But with the opportunities these technolo-gies provide comes the responsibility toensure that children have a safe environ-ment in which to use them. The questionon the minds of many parents will be, ismy child safe using the internet?
HOW PARENTS CAN KEEPCHILDREN SAFE ONLINEBy taking a few precautions and ensuringyour child is aware of the importance ofinternet safety you can do much to reas-sure yourself and equip your children withthe knowledge they need:
• Move the computer to a family areasuch as the living room. This encourageschildren to make their online behavioura family activity and to share their expe-riences.
• Talk about internet use with your child.Explain the risks of viruses and unsuit-able content which may be in emailsfrom unknown recipients. Explain that
some people online are not who they saythey are, and like the real world noteveryone has good intentions.
• Webcams can be an excellent way forgrandparents to see their grandchildrengrowing up. But make sure that use ismonitored and that you know who yourchild is communicating with.
• Install filtering software to help preventchildren clicking onto harmful sites. Nosoftware is 100% effective however andis no substitute for being involved inyour child’s use of the internet.
• Monitor children’s use of web-basedfriendship sites, and advise them not toput personal information online, such asname, addresses and phone numbers.Photos of friends shared online shouldnot be published with identifying details.
• Get your children to teach you. Askthem to help you set up a Facebook pro-file; communicate with someone on theother side of the world with your child,perhaps a relative. It will reassure chil-dren that you are interested in their livesand supporting their long-distancefriendships.
• Most importantly, let your child knowthat they have someone understandingto talk to about their online world.
Children are curious and like to explore
CONTINUED — PAGE 28
EDUCATION RESOURCES
Safe use of the internetfor a successful relocationby MARK LONDON, Marketing ManagerACS International Schools
ACS Cobham, venue for the first International Youth Advisory Congress.
• BEARING RISK – CONTINUED
today’s rate, ensuring that the U.S. dollarequivalent doesn’t fall below $336,000.
When considering the four questions above,many companies will have similar answersregarding how any particular strategy mightaffect their bottom line. What has shifted ishow progressive HR Groups are dealing withthe issue, which up to now has been fairlyone-sided. When currency movements are inthe assignee’s favor HR Groups seldom hearmuch, yet when the reverse occurs thephones definitely ring. No matter which pay-roll structure is selected, each scenario has adownside. After all, with foreign exchangefluctuations there is a clear and discernibleshift in value from one party to another.Many of today’s HR policies regarding inter-national assignees is about who bears thisrisk, and not the more important question,“How do we effectively manage this risk tominimize the impact on both the assigneeand the employer company?”
When HR groups take this type of action (i.e.providing access to “Salary Protection via aRate Lock”) they give assignees a tool to dealwith currency fluctuations. They also helpinsulate their company. Foreign exchangefluctuations, particularly as they becomemore widespread and happen faster, areclearly a concern of both internationalassignees, but also are attracting increasedattention by senior management at manyglobal companies.
While HR groups can’t stop economicchange from occurring, they do recognizeit’s still important to help affected assigneesto the best of their corporate ability. Thetruly progressive groups are also looking toprotect their employers from bearing unnec-essary costs.
ABOUT HIFX, INCHiFX, Inc. is a financial services advisory firm focusedon providing private clients with specialized foreignexchange solutions. The company assists individualsbetter manage their foreign exchange exposuresthrough innovative yet competitively priced financialproducts. Such solutions are provided in an easy tounderstand, client-centric manner. HiFX, through itsglobal offices in Europe, Australasia, and NorthAmerica assists over 30,000 individuals and corpora-tions annually manage in excess $40 billion a year inforeign exchange exposures. The company is a fre-quent contributor to such major publications as TheWall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Marketwatch, TheFinancial Times, Newsweek, Forbes, CNN Money,Business Week, and Reuters.
Mr. Naughton can be reached [email protected]. ■
26 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
gration strategy in place, it is a good time forreview in light of announcements on theemployer accreditation scheme. For those thatdon’t, an immediate discussion may prove vital.
Fragomen is recognized internationally as the loadingglobal immigration services provider. We employmore than 1,200 people in over 35 offices located inAustralia, Belgium, China, Costa Rica, Germany, HongKong, India, New Zealand, Singapore, the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom. Our global immigra-tion professionals include qualified lawyers, formerconsular and government officials, and an interna-tional staff of immigration specialists. ■
• UK IMMIGRATION – CONTINUED
Only in this way can a company truly calculatemovement to maximise branding, manage costsand ascertain compliance levels.
To conclude, UK immigration law has become afundamental consideration for any companylooking to invest in the UK. With the currentoverhaul of the UK immigration system, this willbecome even more so as companies are obligedto monitor their migrant population. For thosecompanies that already have a corporate immi-
Kathy Paddock, CRPVice President - Relocation Services
E-MAIL: [email protected]
1-800-821-1411MEMBERS:
WORLDWIDE ERC • INRELCO • RDC
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– Rentals – Area Tours and Maps – Expert Community and School Guidance – Personalized Info-Kits and
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Largest Century21 in the USACovering Southern California’s
Orange County • San Diego County • Riverside County
27Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
• MEGATRENDS – CONTINUED
To accomplish this, companies must fostera corporate ethos that centers on develop-ing the skills of promising individuals sothat they, and the corporation, can adaptquickly to changes in the workplace, servethe needs of new consumers, develop newproducts and position themselves in newand different ways.
For a company to truly succeed in today’sglobal marketplace, it must develop a newway of looking at and developing itshuman capital. And if a company is tocompete in an increasingly diverse market-place, it must approach these new chal-lenges with a different set of solutions.
A company with a strong tradition of pro-moting from within its domestic corporateheadquarters might miss out on develop-ing talent in subsidiaries or overseasoffices. Instead, companies must look todifferent individuals within the organiza-tion who have different perspectives anddifferent ways of performing.
DEFINING THE CORPORATEBRAND PROVIDES A CONTEXTFOR GLOBAL LEADERSHIP Before a global talent management plancan be developed, a company must firstdefine its corporate brand, instill a consis-tent set of values worldwide, and providea context for global leadership.
A brand is not simply the product a com-pany manufactures or the company nameand logo; instead it is the identity, pur-pose and direction of an organization. Itis the beliefs and behaviors that definewhat the organization is, and what it isnot. A company’s brand is particularlyimportant as it influences all of the corpo-rate strategies, products and servicesstrategies, the corporate culture, and thetalent management strategy.
Once a company’s corporate identity andaccompanying brand are established, theleadership must define its culture and val-ues. These values will determine the char-acter of the organization and will guidedecision-making about the company’sfuture direction. Organizations that allowtheir culture and values to develop by hap-penstance may be destined for failure.
Google, Apple, IBM, Colgate Palmolive,
General Electric, Procter & Gamble andPepsico are all examples of great companiesthat have established values that positionthem for global leadership in their indus-tries. These companies are well known forthe discipline they provide in generatingtheir leaders and their products.
Corporate leaders must proactively deter-mine what types of values the company willhave so that they can purposefully recruit,train, mentor and develop employees whosebehavior is in line with the corporate cultureand values. To do this, organizations mustanswer the following questions:
What are the corporate values?
What behaviors count?
What is the true character of the company?
For example, a corporation may identifycorporate social responsibility, trust, globalteamwork, integrity and diversity as its corevalues. The behaviors that reflect these val-ues then would be an integral part of theirleadership training programs and a primarydeterminate of their recruiting processes.
Once an organization’s culture and valuesare defined in a way that supports itsbrand, leaders must act to ensure thateveryone from senior management tothose involved in the day-to-day operationsunderstands and embraces them. Thisrequires that management understand andintegrate local values while supplementingthem with the required competencies andbehaviors so that individuals can be suc-cessful within the wider organization.
CREATING A TALENTMANAGEMENT STRATEGY Once a corporation has determined its cor-porate brand, corporate values and behav-iors it wants to promote, it must develop atalent management strategy. A good talentmanagement strategy will recognize theskills an individual possesses at that partic-ular moment and provide opportunities sothat those skills may enhance both thecompany and the individual in the future.
For instance, consider a job candidate whois a woman fluent both in French andArabic, with a marketing background and awork history as a chemist. Then consider theMiddle East both as it is today, and how itmay be tomorrow. It is probable that
women will have a stronger role in theregion in the future, and a company canprepare for that by hiring, coaching andtraining a strong woman who can lead anorganization in the region: someone who,like our theoretical candidate, is multilingualand has the technical capabilities to see thewhole business because of her joint market-ing and R&D background. This kind of fore-sight and proactive hiring will ensure that acompany maintains a global mindset years,and possibly even decades, into the future.
IDENTIFYING FUTURE LEADERS The first step in a talent management planis to identify the future leaders of the com-pany. Today’s corporate leaders should notjust look at the present generation forleaders. Identifying employees that exhibitleadership potential for the next two tothree generations is crucial to sustainingthe organization and making it successful.
It means that as soon as people come in thedoor, the company must look for leadersand high-potential people. It requires fore-sight in hiring for leadership and senior posi-tions, not just the job in question. It meanstaking the approach of hiring people asleaders because they have the potential todirect and function at a high level.
Future leaders of an organization must pos-sess the following five competencies in orderto turn raw talent into global success:
1 functional excellence 2 global perspective 3 consumer focus 4 management skills and 5 communication skills.
These competencies must be evaluatedwhen determining who in a global organi-zation should be groomed for senior posi-tions, including how these five competen-cies are integrated into their everydaywork. Mastering these five competenciesdemonstrates that a company knows that itcan’t just generate leadership with goodtechnical skills and functional know how.They need to focus on those aspects ofemotional intelligence as well. They needleaders who can inspire others and com-municate across gender, age , ethnic andcountry distinctions. Future leaders musthave a world view that appreciates thedynamics of global competition
CONTINUED — PAGE 36
28 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
• SAFE INTERNET – CONTINUED
and take risks, and the internet is no differentfrom anywhere else. After relocating to a newneighbourhood, you check that local hauntsare safe before you allow your children to gothere alone, so take the same approach online.Explore the internet yourself, particularly sitesyou know your children use. The more youunderstand about how young people use theinternet, the better equipped you will be toensure they have a safe and rewarding experi-ence online.
WHAT ROLE CAN SCHOOLS PLAY INPROMOTING INTERNET SAFETY?With online technologies playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, it is important thatschools take a lead in promoting internet safe-ty to children and that it becomes a part oftheir education.
As an International School, ACS is keen toencourage the use of the internet as a communi-cation tool, and safe use of the internet is taughtto students. Our school has found that groupdiscussions and role-play are effective ways forstudents of all ages to engage with online safetyand share advice. It also helps teachers to under-
should be doing to create safe online environ-ments. The outcomes from this congress will beput forward to the United Nations Conventionon the Rights of the Child.
A key finding of IYAC was that students wanttheir parents, teachers, and other adultsinvolved in their welfare, to understand onlinesafety issues. Parents like to know how theirchildren interact with their friends in the realworld and should view the online world in thesame way. By understanding their children’suse of the internet it may even be that someparents are able to learn a thing or two them-selves – perhaps discovering that the toolschildren use are beneficial to their own longdistance relationships as well. And that canonly be a good thing.
ABOUT ACS ACS International Schools (www.acs-england.co.uk) were founded in 1967 to serveinternational and local communities. Theschools are non-sectarian and co-educational(day and boarding), enrolling approximately2,600 students aged 2 to 18 years.
For more information, visit CEOP atwww.ceop.gov.uk, and the International YouthAdvisory Congress at www.iyac.net. ■
stand the issues they face, which leads to a saferand more effective use of the internet by stu-dents’ both in and out of school.
Last year, ACS International Schools partneredwith CEOP, the Child Exploitation and OnlineProtection Centre (part of UK police), which hasdeveloped training procedures to ensure onlineprotection for students. CEOP’s website(www.ceop.gov.uk) has a wealth of informationand tips for both parents and teachers, as wellas advice for children of different age groups onsafe internet usage. In addition, ACS studentsbetween the ages of 11 and 16 have becomemembers of CEOP’s Youth Advisory Panel, whichmeets to discuss online issues with companieslike MSN, Bebo and Google to help developresources and create safer online environments.
It is important that children have an opportunityto learn from each other and share their views.In July, ACS Cobham hosted the first everInternational Youth Advisory Congress (IYAC)on online safety, led by CEOP, and sponsored byhigh profile organisations with an interest inonline safety, including Visa and Microsoft. Thefive-day congress brought together 140 stu-dents from around the world, who participatedin forums and workshops to define and presenttheir views on what governments and industry
29Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
Your home telephone rings in the middle ofthe night. You answer and an unfamiliar
voice says that he needs help. You try to focusyour attention on the heavily accented wordsand realize it’s the voice of one of the interna-tional visitors your company is hosting, com-plaining of chest pain. What do you do?You’re not a doctor, and you certainly don’twant to try to determine if it’s just a case ofindigestion. However, you also don’t want tospend the night in the emergency room if it’snot really an emergency. Does the visitor evenhave health insurance to pay for treatment?
In a global economy where employees, aswell as staff from joint venture partner com-panies, are increasingly being asked to takepart in international assignments, it is impor-tant that companies be fully prepared for thepotential medical issues that often accompa-ny such assignments. Logistical SolutionsInternational has teamed up with two pre-mier medical organizations, CIGNAInternational and International SOS, to pro-vide corporate clients world-wide with aunique method of assisting their internation-al employees and guests with medical issues.The LSI Medical Administrative Support(MAS) System was created to assist compa-nies of all sizes with securing appropriatemedical insurance for international visitorsand developing a medical response plan toaddress any medical events that occur.
And, unfortunately, medical events do occuron international assignments, including every-thing from sprained ankles to medical evacua-tions. Unfamiliar foods, disrupted sleep pat-terns, culture shock, and the stress of workingwith a new team all contribute to a dispropor-tionately high rate of medical issues for peopleworking internationally.
Having medical insurance to reduce potentialcosts and risks is important (and sometimesrequired by local law), but finding qualityinsurance coverage for people on interna-tional assignments may not be as easy as itseems. Your company’s “international”health plan may not necessarily be complete-
ly international. Many HR professionals havefound, only after a medical event hasoccurred, that their company health plandoes not cover specific high medical costcountries, such as the United States andJapan. In the case of partner companies,company plans rarely cover visitors, as theirparticipant pool includes employees only,regardless of what country they are in.Participants on the MAS System are enrolledin one of the LSI-sponsored medical insur-ance plans through CIGNA International,which provide benefits appropriate to thelength of time visitors are outside their homecountry. Whether it is through a medical trav-el plan for short visits or a more substantialPPO plan for longer stays, participants canobtain cost effective, quality coveragethroughout their assignment.
When a medical emergency occurs, it isimperative that a plan be in place to addressthe situation and that communication linesare clear. A medical response plan shouldbegin with reviewing the level of supportneeded. Too little medical support can be dif-ficult and time consuming for the employeeand could result in scarring the employee rela-tionship with the company. In the case ofjoint venture partners, a lack of medical sup-port can even cause serious damage to thebusiness relationship between the companies.Too much support, on the other hand, canexpose the company to long-term medicalcosts, well beyond what anyone anticipated.
Some companies rely on their internal medicaldepartment to assist in times of a medical cri-sis. However, even if a company has a medicaldepartment, they may not have experiencewith medical issues in other countries, such asidentifying tropical diseases or understandingthe various names of medicines around theworld. Additionally, if the visitors being host-ed are not employees, the company medicaldepartment may feel the liability is too greatto provide any medical advice at all.
Trying to steer clear of liabilities in medicalevents takes time, effort, and exhaustive
attention to detail. Using the MAS Systemmakes this process efficient and systematic.Company representatives and visitors alikeknow exactly what to do if a medical situa-tion arises, who should be contacted, andwhat the roles and responsibilities are foreach entity.
Under the MAS System, participants are alsoenrolled under LSI’s membership withInternational SOS. In the event of a medicalissue, a visitor would contact LSI’s 24/365 callcenter where they would receive telephone-based triage support and medical advice bythe staff at International SOS. Medically relat-ed payments can be guaranteed, so thechance of visitors having to pay out-of-pocketfor treatment at a clinic in a remote locationis greatly reduced.
This support can be limited based on the com-pany’s predetermined parameters (Is it serious?Cosmetic?). If a condition falls into a categorythat should be addressed, International SOSwould utilize their global network of medicalcare locations and contacts to schedule anappointment at an appropriate provider oradvise the visitor of a walk-in clinic or emer-gency facility in the area.
Having a medical response plan in place meansthat companies are prepared, even in theevent of a major medical crisis. Amidst thechaos of the Tsunami that hit Asia and Africain 2004, thousands of people were displacedwithout any means of communication. This sit-uation was a logistics nightmare for compa-nies, not knowing which personnel were in theareas of impact or how to assist them. Thisconfusion and panic can be avoided throughthe information database maintained in theMAS System. Through it, companies have anup-to-date, single source for data on interna-tionals, as well as the supervisors, mentors,and home country emergency contacts foreach visitor. This information can be utilized bycompany representatives to obtain statisticaldata or provide support in the event of disas-ter, natural or otherwise.
The MAS System helps companies manageinternational medical issues by improvingcommunication, reducing risk, retaining data,and increasing the likelihood that internation-al assignments are completed successfully.The opportunity to participate in the MASSystem may even serve as an incentive foremployees choosing to accept assignmentsoverseas, knowing that the medical supportthey and their families might need is availablearound the clock and around the world. ■
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENT
International Medical Issues, en MAS:Solutions for a Global Workforceby JOHN A. ELSNER, Sr. Vice President/General ManagerLOGISTICAL SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. • [email protected]
30 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
• BEHAVIOR – CONTINUED
experiences will predict success or failure in anintercultural, international assignment?
BOB’S BEHAVIOR AND WHATIT TELLS US ABOUT OUR OWNMeet Bob. Bob graduated at the top of his classat one of the most prestigious universities inTexas and then went on to finish his MBA whilemaintaining a rigorous and demanding positionat a top corporation in the food industry. Bob’sgreatest asset was his charismatic approach; hewas a real down-to-earth, people person — andthe company had taken notice. Bob was up foran international assignment and passed theinterview (which included both conventional andbehavior-based questions) with flying colors.
Here is an example of how Bob thought he hadnailed the interview. When he was asked by theinterviewer, “What do you do when workingon a tight schedule with several priorities? Givean example of how you handle this,” heresponded like a S.T.A.R. Bob’s answer startedwith the perfect Situation, moved into dealingwith a specific Task, and went on to explain hisAction orientation on prioritizing projects tomeet deadlines and the successful Result of sur-passing expectations. In fact, his response wentsomething like this: “Due to extenuating cir-cumstances, our team project was moving for-ward on a very tight schedule. The project wasnearing deadline. Two of the team membershad sales forecasts to finish up for a meetingthe following Monday. With my urging, theteam agreed to stay late, work through dinnerand meet late Sunday to wrap up both oursales forecasts and tie up some loose ends on aprocurement proposal that needed to berevised. By gearing up the team’s motivationthrough commitment and accountability, wewere able to easily finish everything with timeto spare. By Monday morning, everyone wassatisfied with the results. Of course, this is notmy Preferred way of time management, butwhen everyone on the team is motivated, youcan move mountains.”
Bob seemed to have the perfect U.S. corporateculture, “can-do” attitude. That, however,turned out to be the problem.
Bob got the job and was hired to run the newlyacquired Spanish office in Madrid. After several“discussions” with his superiors, Bob wasbrought back to reassume his position in the U.S.
Why did he fail at his international assignment?
According to the HR director at the Madridoffice, “We hire people who resemble us.” Inthe Madrid office, a sure hire’s response wouldbe more in tune with family values (paternalistic),personal honor and dignity. In Spain, human
relations count far more than logic or efficiency.Spaniards influence colleagues with personalappeal — not rules, regulations or deadlines.
They do not like being rushed and no one is evertoo busy when asked to lend an ear. Thus, inSpain, when a candidate is asked, “What do youdo when working on a tight schedule with sever-al priorities? Give an example of how you handlethis,” a S.T.A.R. might give the following answer:“When our project team was working on a tightschedule, we knew that the deadlines were outof reach. Knowing that the extenuating circum-stances were beyond our control, there was littlewe could do to meet the deadlines imposed byheadquarters. To ease everybody’s sense ofurgency and stress, I made sure that the teammembers were following the instructions I hadclearly defined for them at the outset of the proj-ect. Plus, they knew they could count on me totake the responsibility for any delays. We workedlate into the night preparing some presentationsto explain where the project was expected to bedelayed, and of course, we finished our salesforecasts for the upcoming year.”
See the marked difference in the responses?Bob’s efficiency was totally out of synch withthe relationship-building, hierarchal and pater-nalistic structure of the newly acquired Spanishcompany — a company that needed a culturallysensitive, effective manager (especially duringthe integration phase), not an achievement andprofitability-focused number cruncher.
The reason that the company could not deter-mine if Bob’s style and approach would inte-grate well with the Spanish division is becausethe right questions weren’t evaluated in theright contexts. The behavioral interview ques-tions were evaluated ethnocentrically, givinggreat credit to answers that could only be pre-dictive of success or failure in U.S-based posi-tions. So, is behavior interviewing effectivewhen screening for international positions?The answer is yes, but with modifications.
A DIFFERENT PARADIGM CALLS FORDIFFERENT QUESTIONS, DIFFERENTEVALUATION CONTEXTSThe behavior interview is based on the theorythat past behavior is often a good indicator offuture behavior. By framing questions onknowledge, skills and abilities that are thebasis of the competencies needed for therequired position, the results should showhow well a candidate may or may not succeedin the position. But, how do we interpretanswers that indicate success in internationalpositions when the questions are written andasked within a U.S. paradigm? How do weassess the “right” answer if the evaluation isnot culturally adapted for the position? Weeducate the interviewer, ask different ques-
tions and listen for different answers.
First, educate the interviewer about this para-digm shift. This involves:
• A comprehensive understanding of the posi-tion’s location and culture
• An understanding of the behavioral skill setsrequired to succeed in a position located in acountry with a completely different culturalcontext
• Homework — proper probing of the candi-date’s previous expatriate or internationalassignments
• An understanding and awareness of one’sown cultural biases, pre-conceived judg-ments, values and assumptions
• A consideration of the cultural frameworksand job “fit” of the candidate’s national cul-ture compared to that of the destinationcountry
• An appreciation of the adaptability and flexi-bility particular to a candidate with previousexpatriate experience
• Insight into what makes a person successful ininternational assignments, especially thosewho have been on the global nomad track,sacrificing family and home security for chal-lenges and the need to add value to the globalorganization ( i.e., how do characteristics likeindependence and self-reliance work with agroup-oriented, family-style culture?)
• Familiarity — interviewers of applicants forinternational positions should have had anexpatriate or international experience of theirown in order to better frame their questions
• Language proficiency — interviewers whospeak more than one language are preferredso there is a sensibility with respect to vocab-ulary, articulation and word choice.
Secondly, think through how to elicit theresponses you need to make a determination.
For example, if you know that to succeed in thisposition, a candidate must be a team player, dis-cover unique ways to phrase questions that willprompt the candidate to speak about collabora-tive experiences. As you brainstorm questions,choose situations and words that work withinan international context. If this process causesyou anxiety, enlist the help of a cross culturaltraining consultant who is familiar with the cul-tural contexts of myriad international locations.
As an example, Bob’s interviewer should haveknow that to succeed in business in Madrid, anunderstanding of the following were required: ahierarchical system; family-first culture; flexible
CONTINUED — PAGE 40
32 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
NEWSMagellan Networkreaches 10th
PARIS, FRANCE — The Eiffel Tower providedthe prestigious setting in which over 250Member Companies, Accredited ServiceProviders and the major players whohelped to build the network gatheredtogether on June 23 to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Magellan Network(www.magellan-network.com).
President and founder Yves Girouardopened the evening with a speech tracingthe chronology of the professionalMagellan network from its very begin-nings, and which has since become essen-tial for any multinational company wishingto optimize the management of its inter-national human resources.
The objective of Magellan Network entails:
• Assisting Comp & Ben Managers andInternational Mobility Managers tobenchmark on their international mobili-ty policy (through the on line forum andinformation and exchange conferences);
• Informing Comp & Ben Manager andalso International Mobility Managers onpractices, developments in internationallegislation (labor law, tax systems, socialprotection, immigration, remuneration)and international crises.
Emphasis was placed on the international-ization of the network with the creation ofa Singapore office and the desire toincrease exchanges with HR professionalsbased on the five continents. Loyal mem-bers and experts relayed this speech withtestimonials, highlighting the advantages
of a network where international HRDs,Mobility Mangers and Comp & BenManagers are invited to participate inexchanges on their International Resourcesmanagement practices, all in a convivialand professional atmosphere.
With a glass of Champagne in hand, theguests capped their evening by admiringthe Eiffel Tower sparkle as night fell overParis. For more info contact: [email protected] or Tel +33(0)1 42 34 75 78. ■
GLOBAL TALENT MANAGEMENTRelocation Assistance:A Strategy to Win the Talent Warby TERRY PILE, Career Consultant • REA
When Don Fisch told his wife Susan ofan opportunity with a large technolo-
gy company in the United Kingdom, herresponse was a mixture of joy and concern.Don and Susan spent a couple of yearsoverseas in the 1980s. It was a terrific expe-rience, and one they hoped to repeat.
Fast-forward twenty years. The Fisch’s nowhad two pre-teens comfortably ensconcedin the public school system. Susan wasalmost finished with a hard-earned gradu-ate degree in Library and InformationServices, and she was eager to apply hernew skills. An overseas move undoubtedlymeant postponing her career; a sacrificeshe was unwilling to make.
The Fisch’s dilemma is a common one.According to the Employee RelocationCouncil, nearly one million Americans relo-cate for jobs each year. Over 75 percent ofthose are married and dual career families.(Over 20 percent of the accompanying part-ners are male and that number is growing.)Of the employees who are reluctant tomove, 63 percent site partner/family resist-ance. With assignments overseas, the rateis even higher, and with good reason.
For most accompanying spouses/partnerswho are relocating abroad, finding workisn't easy. Immigration laws for employ-ment are complex and applications cantake years to process. Careers get pushedaside as other pressing issues take over,such as finding housing and schools for thechildren, dealing with transportation andacclimating to a new culture and language.Once relocated, it is generally expected thatthe accompanying spouse/partner will con-tinue to be responsible for keeping familylife running smoothly. Careers can be puton hold for years and in some cases dam-aged beyond repair.
What does this mean for employers tryingto do business in a global marketplacewhere the war for talent is heating up?
34 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
According to a study by McKinsey &Company which involved 77 companies,the most important corporate resourceover the next 20 years will be talent;smart, sophisticated businesspeople thatare technologically literate and globallyastute. However, in 15 years, there will be15% fewer Americans in the 35 to 45-year-old range than there are now.Although the demand will increase for tal-ent in this age bracket, the supply willdiminish. Finding talent to relocate over-seas will be increasingly difficult as theaccompanying spouses/partners becomeentrenched in their careers.
The more aggressive and visionary compa-nies are taking a non-traditional approachto recruiting and retaining talent for over-seas assignments. They are aware thatthe success of relocating an employeeabroad depends largely on the happinessof the accompanying spouse/partner.Increasingly, these companies are hiringinternational relocation assistance servicesto help with the special needs of expatri-ates and their families. In addition toassisting with housing, childcare and lan-guage, relocation assistance programsoften help the accompanying spouse/part-ner explore alternatives to employment oroptions to enhance or advance a career.The result is a significant reduction in relo-cation resistance and failure rates amongoverseas candidates.
In the book, A Career in your Suitcase 2,REA consultant, entrepreneur and authorJo Parfitt discusses the range of challengesthe accompanying spouse/partner experi-ences when trying to find employment in aforeign country. Career consultants whospecialize in working with expatriates canhelp negotiate the rough waters of obtain-ing work permits, understanding culturaldifferences and determining education/cer-tification compatibility, to name just a fewof the obstacles.
Parfitt offers “Fifty Brilliant Ideas” for indi-viduals who want to continue workingwhile living overseas. Some of theseoptions include self-employment, intern-ships, additional education, telecommutingand volunteering. She points out thatwith the benefit of an international careerconsultant, the aid of technology and a bitof ingenuity, “the accompanyingspouse/partner can maintain a career iden-tity while finding adventure, vocationalgrowth and exciting opportunities in aglobal economy.”
Fortunately for Don Fisch and his employer,Susan was one of the 14% of accompany-ing spouses/partners who did find employ-ment overseas. During a preliminary tripto England to check out housing andschools, Susan discovered that one of theschools she was considering for her daugh-ter had a librarian position open. Sheapplied in May, finished her degree in Juneand started her new job abroad in August.“My job was miracle,” said Susan. “Frommy observations of other expatriate par-ents, it is unusual for a (accompanying)spouse to find work.”
With a shrinking workforce and the pre-dominance of dual career families, forwardthinking companies are seeing spouse/part-ner career assistance as an importantinvestment to their international growthstrategy. Whether it is hiring a career con-sultant, subsidizing educational pursuits orproviding legal aid to negotiate immigra-tion issues and work permits, the employerwho is sensitive to the career needs of theaccompanying spouse/partner, has theedge in the fight for recruiting the best tal-ent available.
Terry Pile is a career consultant for Ricklin-EchiksonAssociates (REA), a global human resources consult-ing firm specializing in partner assistance services forrelocating families. She also is president of CareerAdvisors, providing career transition and outplacementservices to individuals and small businesses.www.careeradvisorsonline.com. ■
Come and THRIVE in...London Dec 9Paris Dec 11 + 12Sao Paulo Feb 17Cologne April 17Zurich April 21
globalhrnews.com
36 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
the authorities in some countries may evenbe looking for "high-profile" foreign com-panies whose local non-compliance, oncehighlighted, might serve as an example totheir peers. Stories of international execu-tives being taken into custody for corpo-rate financial violations on a Fridayevening, so that they cannot be freed untilafter the weekend, may be apocryphal, butunderscore the mood in the internationaltax arena.
Unlike King Belshazzar, you don't need aDaniel to reveal the Seoul Declaration. Thedays of hiding behind the complexities ofcross-border transactions, resource-chal-lenged tax authorities, the lack of cross-border information sharing, and/or thereliance on the fact that no news is goodnews are numbered. Clearly, internationaltax compliance is firmly on the revenueauthorities' agenda!
While no one will be slain like KingBelshazzar, companies can expect the fullforce of the laws to be applied to anycross-border non-compliance.
The revenue authorities love high-profileexamples, so be warned – the writing is onthe wall! In order to mitigate potentialpenalties and damage to an organization'sbrand and reputation, companies shouldconsider consulting with their professionalservices advisers about undertaking anexamination of their systems and processesto determine where and if there are anyareas of non-compliance.
FOOTNOTES:1 For the Seoul Declaration, visit theOECD Website at:www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/14/37463807.pdf ■
• WRITING – CONTINUED
Not surprisingly, there was general agree-ment that international non-compliance isa significant and growing problem andthat it can take many forms. Having sharedtheir experiences and concerns, there wasan overwhelming consensus that address-ing the problem would require bothnational and international responses,including:
• The employment of effective risk man-agement techniques
• Strengthening the enforcement process– taking appropriate civil and criminalactions for non-compliance and puttingmore resources into international coop-eration
• Exploring the creation of dedicated'units' to deal with offshore non-compli-ance
• Addressing the role of tax intermediaries(lawyers, accountants, financial andother professional advisers)
• Encouraging top management and auditcommittees of large organizations totake greater interest in, and responsibili-ty for, tax strategies.
It was recognized that to be more effec-tive, national actions need to be augment-ed, supported, and reinforced by interna-tional actions. Therefore, there is to be arenewed focus on the promotion of betterinternational cooperation amongst revenueauthorities, including:
• Sharing, through appropriate legalmeans, information and the identificationof tax schemes and or mitigating strate-
gies being used by different countries • Reinforcing and improving the practical
implementation of the exchange of infor-mation provisions found in bilateral taxtreaties and, where appropriate, develop-ing tax information exchange agreementswith offshore financial centers
• Keeping the OECD transfer pricingguidelines up-to-date
• Improving practical cooperationbetween revenue authorities and otherlaw enforcement agencies to counternon-compliance.
The overall message was clear and, asembodied in the Seoul Declaration, thegroup reiterated its commitment to nation-al, regional, and multilateral efforts aimedat initiatives to achieve better tax compli-ance with the laws, working within theexisting framework of bilateral agreements,but also being prepared to explore the useof new ways to assist with the detection ofinternational tax non-compliance including,for example, the secondment of tax offi-cials from one administration to the other.
IT CAN NEVER HAPPEN TO US? The wit and sage Ivern Ball once comment-ed, "Most of us can read the writing onthe wall; we just assume it's addressed tosomeone else." But those who adopt acynical attitude about the resolve, or ability,of tax authorities to put "teeth" into thecommitments made at the OECD and otherforums may do so at their peril. We arealready observing a growing number of taxauthority audits and an increasing sophisti-cation in investigations and case prosecu-tions that focus on international issues, inAsia, Europe, and the Americas. Indeed,
• MEGATRENDS – CONTINUED
PROVIDING DIVERSEGLOBAL EXPERIENCE Once an organization identifies its potentialleaders at hiring, it needs to give them theexperience that will enable them to lead thecompany as it will be five, ten or twentyyears in the future. An effective way ofdoing this is by moving people through dif-ferent posts in different countries, puttingthem through common training experiencesand providing coaching for them.
This may include lateral assignments to
other parts of the world, so they can learnhow others within the organization operatein different marketplaces. Then, the individ-ual can be moved back to the original coun-try with an expanded knowledge of howthe company operates. As organizationsmove people of various backgroundsaround the world, it’s crucial to ensure thatthe organization takes their varying perspec-tives into account in a way that is going tocreate a competitive advantage.
For instance, a global organization may starta young manager in an Eastern Europeanposting, then move him to a more senior
position in a smaller market in a totally dif-ferent area, such as Latin America, thenmove him again to a more responsible posi-tion in a larger market in another region,and ultimately to a position in a majorpotential market, such as China.
The career path will provide fast trackexperience that gives this new leader awealth of global knowledge. As an aside,this is particularly important with the mil-lennial generation, because they are keento get these experiences quickly, and ifthey cannot get them within the current
CONTINUED — PAGE 39
WorldwideNetworking
38 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
Philippe ROLLANDResponsable RelocationRelocation Manager
YOUR RELOCATION SOLUTION
A.I. du Coudray - 30/32, av. Albert Einstein93155 LE BLANC-MESNILCEDEX - FRANCE
Switchboard : +33 (0) 1 48 14 42 42Direct Line : +33 (0) 1 48 14 41 72
Mobile : +33 (0) 6 17 19 25 18Fax : +33 (0) 1 48 14 42 40
E-mail : [email protected]
39Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
P.O. Box 3115 Cold Hill Road South, Suite 28Mendham, New Jersey 07945-0311www.pmipmi.com
Peter A. FehnelPresident
(973) 543-6001Fax (973) 543-7911
Personal Mail International, Inc.PMI Expatriate Mail Services
• MEGATRENDS – CONTINUED
organization, they will move to companies where they can.
If a company does not have the global reach to move people across everycontinent, it should still look for a way to make sure that promising indi-viduals are placed in positions or assignments where they can get variedexperience, even if it’s simply by working with other teams.
In addition to providing diverse experience, a global talent managementstrategy must also strive for balanced development. For instance, if anindividual has experience working in a small subsidiary in a high-growthmarket, his or her next assignment should be in a large subsidiary orcorporate headquarters in a developed market. Similarly, if an employeeonly has field experience, he or she should be placed in a short termglobal assignment.
Why is this expanded development important? It is because the worldbasically consists of developed countries from the standpoint of theireconomy and marketplace and of those countries that are emerging andseeking to transition their economies and marketplace to a different level.As companies expand to be more globally competitive, they must alsobuild a cadre of leaders that can operate in multiple markets. This increas-es the flexibility of a company to address consumer needs anywherearound the world.
PROVIDING CHALLENGING ASSIGNMENTS An essential element of a talent management strategy is to place employ-ees in assignments that test the individual’s abilities. The company shouldplace them in a stretch assignment, or a sequence of stretch assignments,and assess how they perform, react and learn from these positions.Feedback is a crucial element of any talent management plan and helpsorganizations determine how employees apply lessons learned, in additionto letting them know that the company both appreciates them and isplanning for their future.
Career paths must be established for future leaders, and if the organiza-tion doesn’t have career paths in place, it should at least be thinkingabout them, and at a minimum for the “two-steps,” or where the personwill be going next. Top talent should be promoted frequently to acceleratetheir learning, development and contribution and should be placed on aglobal career path.
A tool that large organizations can employ to test whether or not an indi-vidual can work internationally is to place them on part-time or short-termassignments. This should involve discussions about the assignment withthe local human resources staff in the new location, because individuallocal HR people sometimes do not think globally. The individual’s assign-ment, however, needs to be viewed in a global context, and in terms ofthe experiences that this individual needs in order to move forward.
SUCCESSION PLANNING AT ALL LEVELS Another important consideration in a talent management strategy is suc-cession planning, not just for the top few or even the top twenty posi-tions, but rather for all levels within the organization and in every sub-sidiary. This helps to ensure that the company is developing talent on aglobal basis, rather than just moving Americans to different countriesand offices.
For example, an organization may be looking for a financial executiveexperienced with hyperinflation, and so may plan to move a financemanager from Zimbabwe to Romania. After that experience, the compa-ny may round out the individual’s skill sets with postings in other coun-tries, such as Turkey, Brazil or Russia. After five to seven years, this indi-vidual would then have the skills and experience to be promoted as afinancial executive.
This kind of career planning, including diverse experience and challengingassignments, develops the needed leadership competency in individualemployees and ultimately benefits the organization. In this way, an organiza-tion can develop talent with a wide range of expertise, span of control anddepth of knowledge to be its future leaders.
Companies that devote senior management time and commit to a long-term strategy of developing high-performing talent in their organizationswill reap the benefits of growth in the markets they serve from developedcountries to emerging economies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Philip Berry is the Managing Principal of Berry Block & Bernstein LLC, aglobal management consulting, executive coaching and training firmwhich specializes in leadership development, global talent development,global diversity, innovation, team building, and corporate social responsi-bility and employee relations effectiveness. Mr. Berry has extensive globalexperience, was previously Vice President, Global Workplace Initiatives forColgate-Palmolive and also worked for Procter & Gamble, DigitalEquipment Corporation and IBM. ■
40 Volume 6 / Issue 2
GLOBAL HR NEWS
• E-TREATY – CONTINUED
the business venture to determine if theinvested funds represent a substantialportion of – and a viable foundation for– the enterprise;
• The investment cannot be marginal. Thebusiness must demonstrate either aproven track record or an independentlyverified projection of profits beyondwhat is necessary to support the ownerand his or her family. In most cases, thismeans that the business will createAmerican jobs; and
• An E-2 Visa applicant must serve in anessential role in the enterprise. Anowner must be in a position to developand direct the business, and an employ-ee must either serve in a managementor specially trained role for which he orshe is highly qualified.
A FRIENDLIER APPLICATION PROCESSUnlike most other visa applications, whichare adjudicated by the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service (USCIS) in their U.S.offices, the E Visa is processed entirely byU.S. Department of State adjudicators inlocal U.S. Consulates. The application can,therefore, be prepared locally. Surprisingly,adjudicating officers may even be familiarwith a UK business before the businessfiles an application.
The USCIS can grant a company E registra-tion within the U.S., but such status willnot allow the company’s employees toleave and re-enter the country without firstfiling an entirely new application at aConsulate abroad. Submitting the applica-tion to the Department of State at a U.S.Consulate first is, therefore, the preferredpath to E registration.
Once a company obtains E Visa status fromthe Department of State, its employeesmay apply for individual E Visas as a matterof course, with a one-page form and anemployer letter of support. Individual visasare generally granted on the same day asan applicant’s Embassy interview, and asuccessful applicant may receive an E Visa
stamp in as little as three days.
The average processing time for an initialcompany E application in London is cur-rently 39 days, but processing times some-times average up to 120 days; therefore,planning ahead is critical. Corporate struc-tures and finances may require adjustment,and the adjudication process at certainConsulates can take a number of months.Due to the high level of business, legal,and procedural knowledge necessitated bythe E Visa’s complexity and documentaryrequirements, Fragomen LLP highly recom-mends enlisting the support of a qualifiedlegal advisor.
For more information, please contactCharlotte Slocombe, Solicitor and U.S.Attorney, at [email protected], oron +44 (0) 20 3077 5250.
This article was written and researched byRyan Patterson. Ryan is a MountbattenParalegal on the U.S. Consular team inLondon. Ryan can be contacted [email protected]. ■
• BEHAVIOR – CONTINUED
attitudes with respect to time and physicalcloseness; national and personal pride; andcare and concern for others. Thus, exam-ples of the questions he/she could haveasked to determine if Bob had these under-standings include:
• Tell me about a time when you felt pres-sured for time and a colleague neededto discuss an issue with you. How didyou react? What options did you consid-er? (Answers would speak to time man-agement in a polychronic culture.)
• Give me an example when you felt frus-trated over an ethical decision by yoursuperior or departmental manager. Whatactions did you take to resolve your innerconflict? (Answers would speak to hierar-chy issues in a protocol-oriented culture.)
• Give me an example when family mat-ters prevented you from giving yourutmost at work. How did you handlethat? How would you handle that situa-tion if it involved an employee?
(Answers would speak to time in relationto a family-oriented, work-to-live cul-ture.)
Next, draft the questions and have an HRcounterpart at the international destinationreview them for cultural context and sensi-tivity.
Finally, analyze the candidate’s answerswith the destination HR counterpart andwith a wide lens. Based on the candidate’sanswers, evaluate:
• How will this candidate’s behaviors beperceived by colleagues and superiorswithin this context?
• How well do the candidate’s characteris-tics translate across cultural and linguis-tic boundaries?
• How well will this candidate fit into thenew organizational culture?
• How capable will this candidate be ininfluencing local team players? In devel-oping senior, local and regional-basedemployees?
• How will this candidate recognize themotivational drivers of the employees inthe new contexts?
• What level of observation skills does thiscandidate have? How comfortable ishe/she with listening more than talking,observing more than participating?
• What will need to be taken into consid-
eration if this candidate is accepted forthis international assignment? Is there adual career issue? An aging parent con-cern? Childcare and educational issuesto take into account?
• In general, what are the risks, what is thepotential for success? What is the cost ofearly repatriation to the company?
Although our Western-style need to stan-dardize, structure and measure perform-ance will resist change, we need to remindourselves that in an increasingly flattenedworld, change is necessary. In today’s glob-al marketplace, we must take into consid-eration the context within which we meas-ure success. This means rethinking thebehavioral interview process when itcomes to interviewing candidates for inter-national assignments and taking a long,hard look at the ethnocentrism that haspervaded the hiring process for far toolong. The result will be better hires and afaster integration of corporate and func-tional cultures in a boundary-less world.
Maureen Rabotin, CEO and founder of EffectiveGlobal Leadership, is a Global Executive Coach andCross Cultural Training Consultant. She has coachedand trained more than 450 global leaders represent-ing 125 Fortune 500 companies. ■
