1. You work in the human resources department at the headquarters of a multinational corporation. Your company is about to send several American managers overseas as expatriates. Utilize resources available on the global EDGE Web site regarding expatriate life to compile a short checklist of concerns and steps for your company to go through before sending its managers overseas.
The global economy offers lucrative opportunities for the multinational organizations so as to introduce their services and products to new markets. Steve Hoffman, CEO of iJet Intelligence Risk Systems says “The economic climate of the past few years has increased organizations’ appetite for risk as businesses pursue new opportunities – perhaps in places they wouldn’t have considered entering before the economic crisis hit,” This sounds very inviting however, by sending the employees to work in an unfamiliar environment can make the company face some settlement and security issues along with associated risks. Fortunately, today we are well equipped with the resources where we can tap in to retrieve a quick check list of concerns and steps for us to go through prior sending our managers abroad.
The major problems that an expatriate faces are the adjustment issues and inability to handle larger overseas responsibilities as a consequence of which an employee is unable to deliver the expected performance. These issues can be addressed by an effective repatriation program, a scrutinized selection procedure and of course training. And in order to make these solutions work we first need to know the concerned areas on which to focus while training and selecting our expats.
There a number of websites, updated on daily basis for the warnings and recommendations for the prospective expats.
Warnings
We first need to check for any warnings published by the US government. These warnings could be nation specific or could be regarding some weather or political issues.
Registration Procedures
Next we need to know well about the official registration procedures, the visa and related services, the dos and don’ts. The purpose of these is mainly that the resource people can be able to get hold of the expatriates in case of any civil unrest or any natural disaster.
Entry and Exit Requirements
Our managers shall be well aware of the entry and exit requirements. However it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that all the prerequisites are fulfilled. For the US there are no such obligations as the employee will be working on the company’s behalf. Yet the person will have to follow the country’s regulations religiously violation of which may result in serious penalties.
Travel Documents
Workers entering and leaving the U.S. via different modes of transportation should carry appropriate documentation for each mode of transportation.
Travelling by air to, from or through the United States the traveler must carry a passport; this passport should be valid till the date of expected departure.
While traveling through land or water the expat must present one of the following valid Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)-compliant documents:
a passport, which must be valid till the date of expected departure
a Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card; or
an enhanced driver's license (EDL) or
enhanced identification card (EIC) from a province or territory where a U.S.-approved EDL/EIC program has been implemented; or
a Secure Certificate of Indian Status (if Indian)
Source: http://www.voyage.gc.ca
Entering the U.S.
According to the U.S. law, foreign nationals do not enjoy the same rights as American citizens do. The requirements of U.S. authorities for the identification on entering the US have been made much stricter. Travellers are required to provide their address while their stay in the U.S., including Puerto Rico. They may also be asked to provide the evidence of residential, educational or, employment, ties to the native country; A proof that the reason for arriving at the US is legitimate and is for a reasonable length of time.
Criminal record
If the traveler has a criminal record, the date of offence and the severity does not matter at all. He may be refused to enter the United States.
Special cases
The expat having an unusual situation concerning the entry into the US will have to obtain authoritative information from the U.S. authorities immediately. This is the company’s concern and the company shall provide the manager the concerned documents.
Cultural and Language differences
The culture and language of a country if not completely but to some extent are different from the other. The managers shall be trained and given a suitable know how of the norms and culture of the US. The language though is not that different however the employees may face some issue regarding the accent while communicating with the Americans.
Our Employee is the company’s face in the foreign country. It is the responsibility of both the company and of the employee to represent the company in the best manner. This is important in two perspectives a. for the company’s financial progress, b. for the company’s social ranking. The Company shall well equip its managers before leaving for an overseas mission and the employee should fulfill his responsibilities extra efficiently for it’s the matter of the country’s and the employer’s name.
References
Expat Exchange. (2012). Expat Exchange - Expats - Moving Overseas - International Living -
International Jobs – Expatriate. Retrieved From.
http://www.expatexchange.com/index.cfm
United States Introduction. (2012). United States: Introduction >> globalEDGE: Your source for
Global Business Knowledge. Retrieved From.
http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/United-States
Global Edge. (2012). globalEDGE: Your source for Global Business Knowledge. Retrieved
From. http://globaledge.msu.edu/
Travel Reports. (2012). Travel Reports & Warnings. Retrieved From.
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/menu-eng.asp
