What You Should Know Before They Go
Global assignments are exciting opportunities for your company and your employees. They require careful consideration and fact finding to carefully select the right candidate in order to be successful. These are a few of the areas you'll want to look into before they go:
Reason for the Assignment
Can you justify this assignment? Legitimate reasons include: a firefighting situation, specialist skills are required, training local employees, or career development.
Cost of the Assignment
A general rule of thumb is that global assignments will typically cost your company 3 to 5 times more than hiring an employee locally. What is the return to the company for this significant investment? Obtain an estimate on the cost before making your offer.
Legal Compliance
Potentially risky areas exist with Home and Host country tax, as well as Home and Host country social security and immigration. If you get this wrong there can be significant fines and penalties, your employee and family could be sent home, your reputation externally in the market could be damaged or you could even be banned from operating in that Country.
Compensation
How are you going to pay your employees and where will they be paid? Check again on those taxes and social security. Create a consistent process to ensure each of your assignees are treated equally no matter where they are in the world.
Personal Considerations
Many assignments are terminated early because the employee or their family were not screened for personal matters that can take a toll. For example: dual careers, children and schools, dependent parents, health issues, or their ability to adapt and thrive in the new culture will impact whether your employee will be successful. Assessments designed to measure their ability to be succeed are a good investment.
Length of Stay and Benefits
The length of time your employee will be on assignment will help you determine what benefits you'll need to offer to support them. Long term assignments are considered 13 to 60 months, short term 6 to 12 months, and less than six months would classify as a business trip. Long-term assignees will likely need a homefinding trip, language & cultural training, settling-in assistance, school search, household goods, temporary living, long-term housing, transportation, home leave, and repatriation among other things.
Greetings!
