Commentary: Companies, do more to retain employees returning from overseas deployments

CALGARY, Canada: Multinational enterprises are currently facing a serious challenge. These organisations are companies with multiple locations or operations around the world. They often send employees abroad on assignments so they can gain personal growth and promotion opportunities.

Our recent research study examined the reasons behind this high turnover rate. Our findings suggest that engagement, or lack thereof, of repatriates strongly influences their desire to stay with their company.Multinational enterprises recognise that international assignments help employees develop global competencies that contribute to the firms’ competitive advantage.

A report from Brookfield Global Relocation Trends found that about 38 per cent of repatriates left their firm within one year of returning home. Multinational enterprises need to strengthen their support mechanisms to improve repatriate retention to prevent the loss of key knowledge holders.We discovered that one of the key requirements for reducing repatriate turnover is ensuring they are engaged in their job after they return.

Overall, repatriates wanted their time spent abroad to be valued and recognised in their day-to-day interactions and the orientation of the organisation going forward. This knowledge might include technical knowledge and skills, knowledge of new sales and marketing processes, cross-cultural knowledge or new language skills. Organisations should recognise such skills in the job duties and responsibilities of repatriates.

Upon returning home, tightened controls, loss of autonomy and a lack of flexibility led to increased work dissatisfaction and lower job engagement. These are key factors that need to be properly addressed in positions offered to repatriates when they return home.MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS AS EXPATRIATES

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