Feature:
“The Role of Wellness in International Assignments” - New White Paper Rob Fletcher - Heart Relo
The world is experiencing a once in a lifetime phenomenon the likes of which will bring about significant changes. For example, the Spanish Flu pandemic a 100 years ago contributed to the changes we see and enjoy in the areas of social security and medicine particularly. One of the frequently discussed topics during Co-Vid19 is mental health and well-being. Is the world going to be a “nicer” place to live in when the virus is finally brought under control? From a mobility perspective we ask the question; Does the “wellness” factor have a role to play in a successful assignment? Research would indicate that it plays a fundamentally important role in determining the success of an assignment on both an emotional and commercially. 12 - The EuRApean Summer 2020
However it is not just the wellbeing of the assignee that should be considered but also that of any accompanying family member as each member of a family unit has an effect on the others and an unhappy child will impact the assignee and their ability to focus on work as much as a stressed and unfulfilled partner. Often it is seen that relocation policies do not have any structured approach to wellness beyond their regulatory duty of care elements which, in the main, focussed on the physical health rather than the mental health of an assignee. In fact, it might even be worse because when organisations are looking to control the costs of assignments the first things to be sacrificed are the “softer” services such as partner/ spousal support.
Using the Holmes Rahe scale it can be calculated that the combined stress elements of an assignment, whilst in isolation, represent small stress impact events, when combined, can very often surpass a score of 400 against a scale that suggests a anything over 300 indicates a high risk of stress related illness. This is borne out by research carried out by Heart Relocation in which 100% of the assignees interviewed as part of the research indicated that they felt that both work and home life were more stressful when compared to their home location. More impactful was that 60% of respondents indicated that the increased stress levels were having a detrimental impact on both their home and their work. The respondents often used words
