BUSINESS EXECUTIVES UNPREPARED FOR ASSIGNMENTS ABROAD

There is an increasing number of international assignments that require professionals who are skilled in global operations; yet according to a  recent survey carried out by a U.S. workforce solutions provider among 202 CEOs and senior HR professionals as many as two in five managers fail when they’re sent abroad. Only 58 percent of overseas assignments are judged successful. Given the investments being made in bringing along a new generation of leaders and their growing need to be able to think and operate globally, for 42 percent to fail when they’re sent abroad is hard to comprenhend. Europe, the Middle East and Africa reported the greatest level of success, with 63 percent of executives completing assignments abroad, compared with 54 percent in Asia Pacific and 57 percent in the Americas.

The survey found disparities in the preparation that managers were given before an assignment. Respondents revealed that the most common methods of preparing employees for foreign assignments are giving an overview of cultural differences and providing language training (particularly in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The Americas are more likely than other regions to provide little or no training, the survey found.

Twenty-five percent of the organizations surveyed provide language training. While only 18 percent of North American employers offer language lessons, 33 percent of European, African and Middle Eastern companies does so. An average of 16 percent of companies worldwide give minimal or no preparation at all to employees going on an international assignment. And 22 percent of North American employers do virtually nothing. No wonder so many people don’t perform well outside their home country.

Language or cultural training alone is not adequate. The latest research suggests that the best companies utilize a comprehensive battery of assessments with the candidate to determine whether or not an expatriate assignment will actually work. Being aware of potential derailers that could stand in the way of success is critical to understanding and adjusting to an international role.

Many organizations make the mistake of assuming that a successful leader in one part of the world will find the same success in another. Before considering whether a leader is ready for an overseas assignment or a role with global responsibility, organizations need to do more than simply provide cultural awareness and language training. Companies should make sure individuals have developed a global mindset. Organizations are advised to conduct a thorough assessment of the candidate and his or her family to determine if an expatriate assignment will work. International assignments affect the family members of the expatriate employee, and they need to be prepared and supported, too.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, putting leaders into cross-functional or cross-business-unit roles helps prepare them for future global assignments. It forces leaders to get out of their comfort zone and think differently with fresh perspectives. Establishing a selection process that includes screening for key competencies such as the ability to adapt socially and cultural fluency and setting up a local, on-the-ground network to prepare and ease expatriates into their new role are additional ways to bring about successful overseas assignments.

The lack of attention to the cultural differences in the expat selection process is critical. Most U.S. companies simply try and match skills and pay little attention to the economic, political and cultural differences in an overseas assignment. Most expat failures are attributed to a mismatch of the individual's spouse, or family members and believe that pre-assignment training and counseling will fix the problem. But the most critical mismatches of an expat with wide differences in values, beliefs, managerial style and team orientation in a different cultural setting will blow up the assignment and leave a wake of destruction behind. All the training and preparation in the world cannot fix the wrong person going into the wrong country or region where the differences are so huge that they cannot be overcome by preparation before or during an assignment.

Public Affairs Executives

Corporate executives running business operations in foreign countries often face huge political challenges but have little or no training in public affairs. The ability of global public affairs professionals to affect public policy varies tremendously around the world. Some policy issues  such as trade and taxation are rated highly important, yet companies feel they have little influence on governmental decisions on those issues in most countries. Among the toughest markets for public affairs professionals are South Korea, Argentina and India. The chief challenges public affairs practitioners face when working abroad include: winning support from foreign governments; gaining access to foreign government officials; managing foreign regulatory practices; finding local talent; and working with lean budgets that force them to focus on a limited number of countries and manage a small staff. The use of different public affairs strategies – including lobbying, media outreach, corporate responsibility and social networking varies widely. Corporate responsibility programs are implemented most often in Mexico, China and India, for example, but are less common in Japan. Coalitions are common in the European Union, but are rare in Russia.

While country managers often are responsible for international public affairs, they frequently have no training in company-specific issues or even in how the government where they are located works. There is a need for executives to understand political trends and how to manage external relationships with stakeholders. Beside understanding the language and the culture of the target jurisdiction, they need to handle  complex matters such as how to work with local management personnel, how to finance business development, how to operate within the local legal frame-work, and how to resolve disputes.