How to Motivate Employees to
Accept “Difficult” Assignments
3rd December 2012
Fred Schlomann
Managing Director, AIRINC Asia Pacific Limited
Agenda
Understanding the issues
What makes an assignment challenging?
Providing support
Career Planning
Q&A
Understanding the Issues
Where would YOU like to live?
Mobility Drivers
Technical Need
Knowledge Transfer
Career Development
Management Development
Governance
The Three “R’s” of International
Assignments
Recruit
Retain
Repatriate
(or
Reassign)
International Assignments…Why?
•
Job Requirement
•
Career Development
•
Improved Lifestyle
•
Financial Reasons
“I either go to Malawi or have to leave the
company. Do I have a choice??”
“I see that going on global assignment can polish my CV.
It’s like building your own brand! In addition, I’ve seen
assignees coming back with
very different
management experiences.”
“I wanted my children to experience different cultures since
they were young. I was from the U.K. and my wife was from
Australia. Our children just went to the U.S. for college. Now I
live and work in Johannesburg for a Japanese company. We
can call anywhere to be our ‘home’.”
Challenging Location Assignments
within a Mobility Framework
Many companies have adopted multiple mobility solutions to
align the value of the assignment with cost
This has led to the adoption of lower cost packages or flexible
policies that allow for the elimination or reduction of benefits
In addition the use of host plus or other non home based tax
equalized packages have become more common
BUT into challenging locations, these solutions may not always
be appropriate…….
Addressing Challenges
Assignee
Family
• Perception of Risk for Taking Assignment to Less “Visible” Location
• Recognition for taking an assignment to a difficult location
• Knowing when to allow or not to allow for accompanied status
• Providing support to accompanied or unaccompanied families
Business
• Need to attract talent to host location
• Balancing operational requirements with frequent leaves
• In developing markets may not have funds to support assignment
Company
• Coordinating with Security Department
• Need to focus on Duty of Care
• Retaining employee in talent pipeline
What makes an assignment
challenging?
Lack of International Schools
Security Concerns (Political instability?)
Inadequate Medical Care
Substandard Housing
Limited Goods and Services
Small or no Expatriate Community
Remoteness
Cultural Differences Crime
Boredom
Recognizing Challenging Locations
A
B
C
International
School
Variety of Accredited
International Schools
Only one or Limited
International Option
No Accredited Schools
Security
Security Risk Low
No Additional Company
Support Required
Security Department
Recommends Driver or other
Precautions
Major Security Precautions
Recommended by Security
Department
Medical Care
Top Quality Medical Care
All Urgent Needs can be Met
Local Routine Care is
Adequate, Major Care not
available
Limited Clinic Services, Airlift
Required in Emergency
Housing
Wide Range of International
Quality Housing
Limited International Quality
Housing Available
Substandard or Temporary
Accommodation Only
Goods &
Services
All Good and Services
Available
Some International Brands
Unavailable
Basic Goods Only
Expatriate
Community
Diverse and Large Expatriate
Community
Moderate Size Expatriate
Community, May be of
Limited Diversity
Very Limited Expatriate
Community
Additional Factors
Compensation Expectations
Uncertainty around Career Progression
Personal Reasons
International Assignments…Why “NOT”?
Compensation Expectations
•
•
•
•
Cost-of-Living Allowance/Per Diem
Host housing accommodations
Tax liabilities
Other expatriate type benefits
International Assignments…Why “NOT”?
Uncertainty around Career Progression
• Disconnected from the home office/headquarter
• Lack of career planning – during and post assignment
Personal Reasons
• Disruption to family - both immediate and extended family
members
• Impact on lifestyle
Providing Support
“Standard” LTA to a Challenging
Location
PRE-ASSIGNMENT VISIT
• Allow the assignee to visit the location before moving, help set the right expectations
SETTLING IN SERVICES
• Ensure the assignee and family have adequate support from DSP, extra days may be needed
MEDICAL
• Assignee and family should have a medical check prior to travel
• Evacuation insurance should be in place
INVOLVE SECURITY
• Corporate security department should review host location and approve residential areas
• Evaluation of need to provide car and driver, guard, or other security measures
EMERGENCY PLAN
• Ensure you have an evacuation plan in place and assignee knows what to do in case of emergency
HARDSHIP
• Hardship should be offered and tailored to host location
• Ensure your scale is high enough: 40% is becoming a more common max among non-Oil companies, among Oils up to 80%
R&R
• An R&R benefit should be part of the Standard LTA offerings for Challenging Locations
• Up to two trips per year to a nearby location
Alternative Approaches
Unaccompanied:
• Employee resides in host location, family stays behind at home
• Additional Home Leaves Provided
Commuter:
• Employee travels to host location and returns home weekly or monthly
Accompanied, Proxy:
• Worksite and assignment location are different, but both in an international location
• Family lives in assignment location and employee travels to worksite during week
Rotator:
• Assignee alternates between a scheduled amount of time working at host and not working at home
Case I: Assignment from UK to Lagos
Joe Accountant
• Needed in Lagos for 2 Year Assignment
• Spouse is a High Income Earner in UK
• Has a Special Needs Child and Proper Education Not
Available in Lagos
Unaccompanied Assignment:
•
•
•
•
•
4-6 Home Leaves a year to visit with Family
No R&R
Standard Lagos Hardship Payment
Host Location Allowances based on Single Status
No Housing Deduction (Norm)
Case II: Assignment from Australia to
Samara, Russia
Julie Plant Manager
• Needed in Samara for a 5 Year Assignment
• Has two children
• No International School in Samara, but Samara is 2 hour
flight from Moscow
Proxy Assignment:
•
•
•
•
•
Family on Assignment in Moscow
Assignee commutes to Samara on Monday, and back on Friday
Hardship Premium based on Samara
COLA and Host Housing based on Moscow
Assignee’s lodging and transportation covered in Samara
Case III: Assignment from US to
Remote Construction Site in UAE
Sam Engineer
• Needed in UAE to complete 18 month construction project
• Construction Site in remote field location
• Camp Environment no local housing, shopping, recreation
Rotator Assignment:
• Employee works 6 weeks on, and is home not working for 2 weeks
• Hardship Premium for days spent in UAE only
• No cost of living support as daily needs provided in camp
Alternative Approach Watch-outs
Unaccompanied:
• COST: If the assignee has a large family unaccompanied status may be less expensive because there are
no education, large housing, etc. expenses. But if the assignee does not have a large family the cost of
extra home leaves and potential additional taxes may cause the assignment to be more expensive
• FAMILY: Separation from family for extended periods may put strain on the assignee and family
• POLICY: If rationale for unaccompanied not clearly stated, policy may be abused
Accompanied, Proxy:
• TAXES: The worksite and the resident location preferably should be within the same country. If in two
separate countries this could create additional and complicated tax liabilities.
Rotator:
• POLICY: A separate policy is needed to govern this assignment types
• TAX: Employee may not be able to break home residency, additional tax costs may accrue
Career Planning
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The biggest complaints from assignees in challenging locations are:
I am worried about finding my next job in
the company, it is hard to network while I
am here
When I returned from assignment the
valuable skills I learned working in a difficult
location were not used or valued
This assignment location is
not a key center for the
company, I feel like I am
missing out on opportunities
Proper Career Planning is Critical for Assignments to Challenging Locations
- And Can Sometimes Serve as More of an Incentive than Hardship or other Cash Allowances
Career Planning
• Targeting employees with “global mindset” and ability to adapt
• Setting assignment goals to drive success
• Identifying potential roles for the next job within the company
• Rewarding assignment with future career growth
• International assignment as part of a well developed career plan
• Assignee mentoring
Closing Thoughts
•
Diagnose the reasons why employees decline international
assignments
• Compensation isn’t always the issue
• Provide adequate support and consider alternatives
• Career planning is key
Q&A
About AIRINC – Global Mobility
• In business for over 55 years
• Offices in Cambridge, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London
• Over 800 clients in all industries and geographies, over 45% of Fortune
100
Data
Advisory Services
• Policy Review
• Value Alignment
• Business Needs
Assessment
• Policy Writing
• Impact Analysis
• Expatriate
Communications
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cost of Living
Housing
Hardship
Per Diem
Hypothetical Tax
Home Spending
Norm
• Country Reports
• Expatriate Surveys
A Complete Solution
Technology
• Cost Projection
(ACE)
• Balance Sheet
Manager
• International
Housing & Tax
Guides
• Per Diem Calculator
• Permanent Transfer
Calculator
Thank you!
AIRINC Asia-Pacific Limited
Telephone
Rooms 1107-1108, 11th Floor
Kai Tak Commercial Bldg.
317-219 Des Voeux Road
Hong Kong SAR, China
+852 2541 8380
Contacts
Fred Schlomann, [email protected]
Other Offices
Brussels, Belgium (EMEA Headquarter)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
London, U.K.
Cambridge MA, USA (Corporate Headquarter)
Web Site
www.air-inc.com