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Sending the Wrong Employees Overseas?
20 Key Questions You Need to Ask

It is estimated that about 75 percent of employees sent overseas fail.  Why, because they are improperly selected.  Companies assume that success in the U.S. guarantees success abroad.  It does not, and the numbers prove it.

Yet, U.S. companies still don't get it.  They keep sending the wrong people overseas who end up producing a huge negative ROI.  How much?  Check the following figures.
  • On an average, sending an employee to a foreign country costs American companies about $300,000 a year.
  • Assume a company sends just 17 employees abroad in a given year. The annual cost of those 17 employees is about $5,100,000.
  • The average overseas assignment lasts about 4 years.
  • The cost of keeping 17 employees overseas for 4 years is $20,400,000.
  • If 75 percent or 13 of those 17 employees fail, the negative ROI is $15,300,000.
  • Further, the cost of the mistakes that improperly selected employees make during their stay abroad may equal, double, triple, or more, than just the cost of their compensation.
U.S. companies send thousands of employees overseas every year.  Given the outrageous cost of these poor decisions, companies should invest more time and money up front to choose the right candidates.  They should also track the cost of sending those wrong candidates overseas. 

Yet, regardless of the size of your business, today it is more important than ever to go global.  Here's why:
  • The U.S. government is printing money at the rate of more than $11 billion a day!  
  • Flooding the world with dollars has lowered their value.  
  • In 1999, the Euro was worth only $0.85 dollars.  Today, the dollar is worth only 0.75 Euros.
  • U.S. markets are shrinking, which makes it much harder to grow a business.
  • Conclusion:  you need to find new markets.  Where?  Go global!
BUT - before going global, do your homework!  Analyze and study the country, the market, and the culture that you have chosen as a target.  Make no assumptions about other countries, markets, and cultures, based strictly on U.S. experience.

Once you have defined the nature of the people in the target country, ask yourself what kind of persons should you select to work with them? 

20 Key Questions You Need to Ask
  1. Have they ever lived, or at least traveled, overseas?
  2. Are they set in their ways?
  3. Do they adjust easily to new circumstances?
  4. Are they people-friendly?
  5. Do they speak any other languages?
  6. Are they capable of learning enough of the required language before going there?
  7. Are their personal needs such that they can only be met in the United States?
  8. Are they insightful managers and leaders?
  9. Will their spouses and children be able to adjust to the new environment?
  10. Can they stand the initial isolation that goes with being a foreigner in another country?
  11. Are they resourceful?
  12. Are they good negotiators?
  13. Can they adapt and yet not go entirely native?
  14. Are they good communicators?
  15. Will their leadership style match the nature of local employees?
  16. Are they good decision makers?
  17. Do they know anything about the target country?
  18. Do they have any habits or weaknesses that could get them in trouble?
  19. Do they have the indispensable "street smarts" to navigate safely in a strange environment?
  20. Are they good networkers?

There are more wrong kinds of people to send abroad than right ones.  The right ones build relationships.  Wherever you go in the world, building relationships is the key to business.   Business is about people, and not everyone is right for every country, market, and culture.   So analyze candidates carefully, and choose only after extensive interviewing and reviewing.

If you would like to learn more about the above 20 questions, and how to select and train the right candidates for overseas assignments, feel free to contact Michael Wynne at International Management Consulting Associates, (630) 420 2605, or [email protected], but please do it before you send anyone overseas!

� Michael Wynne, 2010



Michael Wynne
The Real World Business Expert
He has walked the talks you will hear.
(630) 420-2650
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Michael Wynne
International Mgm't Consulting Associates