Global Pit Stops: International Short-term Assignments Remain Popular

Some of the popular destinations for these assignments include China, India, Korea and Vietnam
Some of the popular destinations for these assignments include China, India, Korea and Vietnam

RISMEDIA, October 12, 2006?Often less costly than full expatriate assignments, short-term assignments of three to 12 months remain popular among multinational employers, according to a majority (60%) of survey participants who cited increases in the number of such assignments in their organizations. Some of the popular destinations for these assignments include China, India, Korea and Vietnam. More than 530 North American, European, and Asian-based multinationals participated in the ?2006 Survey of Short-term International Assignment Policies??conducted jointly by Worldwide ERC, ORC Worldwide, and TheMIGroup?a follow-up to similar studies in 2000 and 2003.

?HR managers are under continual cost-cutting pressure to reduce costs, and have looked in recent years to short-term international assignment programs to help shave expenses,’ says Worldwide ERC?s Jan Hatfield-Goldman, vice president, research and education. But cost reduction is no longer the primary driving force in the ongoing shift to shorter assignments from the more traditional expatriate assignments that last a few years.

Hatfield-Goldman notes that in particular, short-term assignments today are useful in completing specific projects (80.4%) and transferring knowledge (72.5%), and also offer a potential solution in situations where dual-career issues inhibit an employee from accepting a full expatriate assignment.

?As shorter assignments increase in popularity, managing them has become a significant challenge for HR and business-unit managers,’ says Hatfield-Goldman. A key difficulty reported by nearly half of our respondents is controlling the length of the assignment.

The survey revealed that when a short-term assignment extends beyond the predetermined duration, it can lead to other challenges, such as ensuring tax compliance with host-location regulations (45.8%) and complying with immigration regulations (27.3%).

Since 2003, there has been a 7.8 percentage point increase in the number of companies not offering incentives for short-term assignments. At present, more than half (57.3%) of the participants do not pay incentives. This figure is highest for Asian-based organizations (69%) and lowest for those based in Europe and the Middle East (52.4%). In addition, 53.2% do not pay a hardship premium in locations where a long-term assignee would receive one. Once again, Asian-based firms are less likely to pay such a premium in comparison to other multinationals. RE

For more information about the ?2006 Survey of Short-term International Assignment Policies,? visit ERC?s Web site, www.erc.org.

Attention to Family Issues Eases International Assignments to Mainland China

In the current environment of large scale moves into China, Worldwide ERC, the association for workforce mobility, and the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM) have surveyed companies to examine the assistance they provide to support employees and their families while on international assignments in mainland China. The report, ?2006 Expatriate Family Assistance for Mainland China,? identifies the demographic trends of assignees going into China, the challenges families face, and specific programs companies have established to address family needs. The survey also examines how these issues differ for traditional and short-term international assignments.

Among the report highlights:

The primary challenges faced by assignees? families on traditional assignments in mainland China revolve around language capability, finding comparable medical services to their home countries, and social networking issues such as establishing friendships and finding activities. The most frequently cited challenges faced by those on short-term assignments are language capability, understanding Chinese culture and social life issues.

One-fourth of respondents reported that the most common cause of ineffective job performance for assignees in mainland China is the inability of the spouse/family to adjust to the location’s cultural environment. And nearly 20% of respondents noted that the assignee?s inability to adjust to the location’s cultural environment resulted in poor job performance.

Cross-cultural training is increasingly recognized by companies as a way to mitigate the impact of culture shock for the employee and family, and develop awareness and understanding of the host culture. Of the 83% of companies that offer cross-cultural training to assignees moving to mainland China on traditional assignments, 57% provide training to all assignees and another 26% offer it to certain assignees depending on either the location or type/level of employee.

It is significant that fewer companies provide cross-cultural training to short-term assignees (41%), as the short-term assignee generally has a limited period of time to accomplish his business objectives. Having cross-cultural training could assist the short-term assignee in being more effective from the outset of an assignment as he/she won?t be struggling with cultural issues to the same extent.

Almost all companies grant assignees at least one home-leave trip annually in addition to vacation. Almost one-third of respondents also offer rest and relaxation (R&R) trips to their assignees in mainland China in addition to home leave and vacation.

For more information on the 2006 Expatriate Family Assistance for Mainland China report, contact Worldwide ERC via e-mail at
membership@erc.org.