HR newsletter - September 2012

Expat Partner Support HR newsletter | September 2012 Welcome to the September Global Connection HR Newsletter. This quarterly publication will keep you up-to-date on expat partner issues worldwide, and bring you the results of the surveys we conduct, as well as those carried out by leading companies in the Global Mobility world. These pages will also bring you the latest news on Global Connection activities, such as this issue’s topic: partner support effectiveness.

NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL Many international organisations feel there is room for improvement regarding expat partner support. HEINEKEN has recently introduced a radical new policy in this area. As Global Mobility Manager Ellen Jansma told us in an interview, “I became more and more convinced that the way we currently do this – with a cash out allowance – simply wasn’t working” (see page 2).

Developments in the market This fits in perfectly with the types of developments currently visible in the market. Mobility issues, such as dual careers, are becoming increasingly more important, and partners require concrete support while looking for a fulfilling pastime abroad, be that work, studying or volunteering. At the same time, companies are realising that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, such as a cash allowance, isn’t working. This is something which the Effectiveness survey has revealed (see column opposite).

And companies are convinced that personalised partner support – such as that currently being provided by HEINEKEN – can be a part of the solution.

Importance of general intake In order to respond to these developments, we have started expanding our activities in the area of personalised support, which we mentioned in our last Newsletter. As a result, we’re now working in even closer cooperation with HEINEKEN to conduct general intake interviews with its expat partners, and, in our role as an independent organisation, to locate the best support providers to meet its partners’ needs. We also manage the entire process right up to the evaluation and billing stages. Our first experiences have been very positive.

Personalised partner support combined with a budgetaryappropriate, modular approach – no unnecessary and expensive packages, just exactly the support that the partner really needs – is our solution to the challenges posed by the ever-increasing rate of international mobility.

Jacqueline van Haaften

HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR PARTNER SUPPORT PROGRAMME? Companies identify ample opportunities to increase the effectiveness of their support for expat partners.

That is one of the conclusions of a Global Connection survey carried out in cooperation with the RES Forum, a major ’in-house only’ international HR community – www.theresforum.com The survey (n=68) follows earlier research by Global Connection which revealed that expat partners feel that, on average, only 62 percent of their total need for support is met. The quality of this support (split three ways between the assigning organisation, a third party and from free websites etc.) scored only 5.8 on a scale from 1 to 10.

Only 37% of funds used A surprise finding showed how little available support is taken up. Overall, partners used 57 percent of the support offered. Of those, partners used 65 percent of the budget available to them. This means that the total uptake of the funds allocated to partner support was just 37 percent.

46% plan to increase effectiveness When companies were asked to rate the effectiveness of their expat support programme on a scale from 1 to 10, the average score was 5.5. Almost 46 percent of companies said that they have plans to increase the effectiveness of the support they provide. How? From an extensive list of options, the two highest scores were for better communication (with an average score of 4.0 on a scale from 1 to 5), and the use of a modular approach (3.9). Providing more personalised support was also high on the list of preferred options with a score of 3.8.

Most important improvement options scale 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)

Read more on page 3 Global Connection | September 2012

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Expat Partner Support HR newsletter NEW PERSONALISED SUPPORT AT HEINEKEN

ALSO FEATURING IN GLOBAL CONNECTION’S SEPTEMBER MAGAZINE Theme article – Catch a coach A good coach is hard to find (also see page 3 of this newsletter).

Expat Partner & Work – Hiring expat partners is a ‘fantastic deal’ More and more expat partners are on the lookout for work. This sometimes hampers companies’ efforts to send their employees abroad. In Lagos, Nigeria, several organisations have agreed to circulate their expat partners’ CVs and give them serious consideration when a vacancy comes up. Although this does not automatically guarantee jobs, it does provide partners with an extra route to employment. See also page 3: Vacancy Exchange

Ellen Jansma is Global Mobility Manager for HEINEKEN. She thought up a new way to support expat partners that focuses much more on their actual needs than before. Global Connection plays an important role in bringing this new support programme about, as she explained in an interview to appear in the September issue of Global Connection Magazine.

Better match “What these and other figures revealed to us was that we had to create a better match between the real needs of our expat partners and the support we were offering.”

Cost-neutral “Of course I was aware that, in the current economic climate, we wouldn’t be able to approach the Board and tell them that expatriation costs were suddenly going to go up. That’s why we decided that our new policy would have to be cost-neutral.”

Modular approach “So the programme is based on a modular approach. You only choose what you want and what you need. It’s how we help partners spend their budgets effectively.”

First point of contact “Global Connection is now the first point of contact for our partners; their experts help them choose from the options available and they make sure that partners are pointed towards the right parties.”

Really positive “I can only say that the reaction has been really positive, starting with the expats and their partners, and all the way up to the Board.”

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Global Connection | September 2012

Kids – Raising children in an expat bubble Many regard the idea of moving abroad and encountering new cultures as an enriching experience – especially for their children. Yet many kids spend their time in a kind of ‘expat bubble’. More often than not, it’s up to parents to carefully balance the child’s life at an international school with their participation in local life.

Expat Archive – Cocktails and cockroaches Paraguay in the late Seventies was not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, one of the few pieces of advice from Britain’s Foreign Office before setting out was to pack your own teabags. One seasoned expat couple found their three-year stint there to be a taxing experience, but probably one of their most rewarding.

Read these stories and many more!

ON THE LIGHTER NOTE...

Frequent Flyers If you thought you had many of your employees and expats earning millions of air miles, think again! Jacques Vroom (64) from Texas has more frequent flyer miles than most. Over 40 million miles in fact. How has he managed it? Back in the Eighties, he bought himself an Unlimited AAirpass for 250,000 dollars for a lifetime’s worth of unlimited first class air travel on American Airlines. Since buying into the promotion, Jacques hasn’t stopped flying – for business, for pleasure and just for the hell of it. We suspect American Airlines may be sorry they ever came up with the idea...

No more than two flies Authorities in Beijing have set new rules for public toilets, including a stipulation that they should contain no more than two flies. There are also new standards on odour and cleaning. It is not clear how the new rules will be enforced.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR PARTNER SUPPORT PROGRAMME?

SUCCESSFUL HR MEETING, EXTENDED TO COPENHAGEN

Continued from page 1

On 27 June, we hosted our annual HR meeting in the Netherlands. Many of you attended, but quite a few had to turn our invitation down, due to other commitments.

Therefore, we have decided to organise a special Scandinavian HR meeting, to be held on Thursday 4 October.

For more details, please contact Geke van Gurp at geke.van.gurp@gcmail.info.

Less discretionary, more mandatory Some 30 percent of participating companies provide a discretionary cash allowance to partners, while 42 percent have some mandatory support. When asked about their plans to improve the effectiveness of their programmes, the option not to provide any discretionary support scored 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 5, while part-mandatory support scored 3.5. Outsourcing and better supplier selection scored high marks: 3.5 and 3.6 respectively.

A GOOD COACH IS HARD TO FIND Expert knowledge, expat experience and coaching experience.

Those are the three qualities – in that order – that expat partners look for most when looking to hire a coach. This is just one of the findings of an extensive survey about coaching carried out by Global Connection.

Career coaching: a favourite The survey among 583 expat partners was prompted because we know that coaching can help expat partners in a variety of ways. Some coaches are career specialists, others can help partners adjust to a new culture, and others can help define what is important in expat life. Asked what kind of coach they would be most interested in, 76 percent of survey respondents opted for career coaching.

Unlicensed profession About a third of respondents had already consulted a coach, and generally they were happy: they gave the experience an average score of 8 out of 10. But there are issues: 62 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that “It is difficult to find a good coach.”

Little wonder, because it’s an unlicensed profession. As an experienced HR official says: “It is very important that companies know who they are dealing with, when they work with coaches.”

A coach’s most important qualities

BROOKFIELD: ELDERLY FAMILY SUPPORT According to the Brookfield Global Relocation Trends 2012 Survey report, 10 percent of expatriating companies make provision to assist international assignees with elderly family members. Of those, 64 percent support relocation of an elderly family member to the assignment location and 55 percent support visits to the elderly family member in the home country (additional home leave).

VACANCY EXCHANGE A survey and a number of pilot projects should prove how Global Connection can further contribute to enhancing the chances of expat partners finding a job.

Project-based opportunities Further facilitation of job searches has been a long-time wish of Global Connection. Director Jacqueline van Haaften believes there are many opportunities, especially in project-based employment: “This is a niche that matches what expat partners are looking for. What they want is often different from what the ‘average employee’ is seeking. For example, both expat partner and employer will be fully aware that the employment relationship is only temporary: after all, the idea is that both expat and partner will leave the host nation again after a certain period of time.

Therefore, expat partners are usually not looking to build a career at the expat location.”

Specific needs partners And the needs of expat partners differ in other ways as well, according to Van Haaften. “Partners often prefer to work fewer hours. Working part-time is unusual in many places, but opportunities for part-time work can be created by offering project-based employment. Hiring personnel temporarily for specific projects fits today’s job market. We are excited about taking up the role of facilitator, providing clear insight in supply and demand in this area.” We will keep you posted.

Global Connection | September 2012

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Expat Partner Support HR newsletter ABOUT GLOBAL CONNECTION We are an independent, international expat partner support and research organisation.

Worldwide partner support We support partners of 80 nationalities in 140 countries. Our services are used by over 250 organisations. We inform and inspire partners in order to contribute to their well-being and mobility, and consequently to the success of their posting.

One-stop-shop We cover all aspects of partner support: living abroad, including life for expat kids, destination-related issues, including culture, networking, paid work and alternatives to paid employment, and repatriation.

CREATIVE SOLUTION FOR THE ‘DESIRE TO WORK’ Who’s involved?

• Jitra Janssonius-Sinselmeijer and Sophie VosKooistra, two enterprising expat partners • HEINEKEN, with a partner policy that looks further than just career support • Global Connection, with its knowledge, support and network Together, they are fulfilling the ‘desire to work’ in a creative way. Jitra is on her first international posting and Sophie on her second (her first was in Canada); one left a job behind, the other her own business.

A ‘regular job’ in South Africa wasn’t an option, so the pair came up with an idea to start a non-profit organisation called Red Balloon Revolution.

Jitra and Sophie want to help boost the selfesteem and self-confidence of underprivileged children by throwing them creative birthday parties. Red Balloon Revolution will raise funds through developing and selling online a selection of ‘fun’ items made by local businesses. That way, everyone can have their cake and eat it too!

Setting up a foundation was new to Jitra and Sophie. They used their partner support budget to receive professional advice.

As the name of their new organisation suggests, Jitra and Sophie want to start a revolution. Global Connection is helping them to look at ways they can roll out this fantastic concept worldwide, so that other Global Connection members – wherever they are located – can launch their own red balloon.

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Global Connection | September 2012

Our services range from providing information through to individual support. They include: member-only magazines, books and newsletters (print & digital), the Global Connection website, including a members-only portal, workshops and webinars, training and coaching (one-to-one, in groups and online).

Ongoing support All services and support can be used on an on-going basis, at every stage.

Research Global Connection executes research into all aspects of partner support. Tailored surveys can also be carried out for expatriating organisations that want to test plans and new initiatives, in order to optimise the support they provide.

B2B and B2C Products and services are sold to the assigning organisations, while a range of books can also be ordered directly online.

For more information Please visit www.global-connection.info or contact one of our Business Development Managers: Richard Forrest – richard.forrest@gcmail.info Irma Groenhof – irma.groenhof@gcmail.info Geke van Gurp – geke.van.gurp@gcmail.info or our Managing Director: Jacqueline van Haaften – jvanhaaften@gcmail.info

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER This quarterly Global Connection HR newsletter is produced for all HR and Global Mobility managers with an interest in expat partner support.

For more information, please contact Global Connection at info@gcmail.info