Challenges Faced in Training Expatriate Managers

The training to the expatriate shall be conducted both before leaving the home country and after arrival in the host country. Both hard skills and soft skills training shall be conducted before the assignee leaving the home country. The hard skills are technical areas that are specific to the assignee’s job. The soft skills training for expatriates can be even more critical. The employee should learn at least the basics of the other country’s language. Expatriates should also be educated about their adopted country’s culture, both socially and professionally.  

The expatriate’s family shall be included in some of the training. A large percentage of expatriate assignments are unsuccessful because the spouse is not used to the living style in the host country. They should have some education about exchange rates and the currency of the host country, food, proper dress and public holidays. They should be informed of the rules about how people should and should not behave there as to respect to the local culture (Robin, 2011). All these training is to minimize any culture shock to the expatriate and the accompany family when entering new living environment. Completing such training should result in significantly reduced risk of cultural misunderstandings and an enhanced cross-cultural experience. If the expatriate and the family is interested in the foreign language and able to learn quickly, this could help them to settle down in a shorter time in the host country. Also the willingness to learn from the expatriate plays an important part in the training and future assignment. If they are not willing to learn about the foreign culture and practice of work, the HR manager could take action to find a replacement to prevent future failure of the assignment.

The host country manager and team shall also provide information and training to the assignees with the critical information on the project work, local company culture and way of doing business. Such training can be conducted via telephone or videoconference (Goodman, 2014).

When the expatriate arrive in the host country, the HR manager shall set up open communication with the expatriate on their work and life and any difficulties could be assisted by the company. The expatriate is encouraged to take local language course in the host country.

References

Goodman, N. R. (2014, February 04). Six Steps for Successful Expatriate Training. Retrieved from Association for Talent Development : https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Links/2014/02/Six-Steps-for-Successful-Expatriate-Training

Robin. (2011, June 20). Expatriate Training and Development . Retrieved from Strategic HR inc. : https://strategichrinc.com/expatriate-training-and-development/