Contact us: Info@intXel.com Your Cross-Culture Solutions Partner Search Transitioning Home Why Your Returning Expats Need Re-Entry Training You’ve done everything to ensure that your people living abroad are successful. And they’ve been extremely successful. Kudos! Now they’re coming back home. Your job is done. Right? So wrong. Not even close. In fact, the biggest hurdle is waiting in the “home” country. What fails to make it onto many people’s radar—including those abroad—is that, during their years abroad, people have changed; people at “home” have changed; and the entire “home” culture has changed. It’s true that you can’t really “go home again” because home has moved on without you, and you have moved on without it. Re-entry culture shock is often more difficult to deal with than that of relocation because it’s unexpected and invisible. The idea that coming back “home” means taking up where you left off creates unrealistic expectations that are a major cause of re-entry difficulties: Unrealistic Expectation 1: I am going back to colleagues and a culture I know and that is familiar to me. I am going “home.” No problem. Unrealistic Expectation 2: I am the same person I was when I left and can easily return to my old behaviors. Unrealistic Expectation 3: People will be interested in my “adventures” or life abroad. Summary Expats consistently report that it is much more difficult to readjust to the home culture following relocation than to adjust to the new culture abroad. The ways of living and doing business in the home country have continued to evolve. The culture you left no longer exists. And although you have also changed while immersed in the culture abroad, these changes are often not apparent to those back home. A report on key findings regarding what helps people to feel “settled in” recommends to professionals: “Don’t ignore repatriates because you think they’re ‘just coming home’.” And another states that, “Although focus on repatriation and its importance remains high, widespread adoption of formal strategies by companies remains elusive.” Most companies now recognize the importance of relocation training. However, there is more than one way to lose investment in a valued employee one sends abroad. Though the need may be less obvious, indications are that re-entry training for those returning “home” is even more important than relocation training. NOTE: Re-entry Training provides information and skills to help employees prepare for and re-enter their own home culture. The need for, and benefits of, re-entry training have not been as widely publicized as those for relocation training. Companies acknowledge the importance of the repatriation process.4 However, they often remain unaware of how much training and support is required for re-entry, since repatriation difficulties tend to be less visible and more varied. Many companies still provide only a “discussion” or other informal approach for employees returning “home.” by Colleen Kelley, PhD See our Pre-departure and Re-entry Programs Moving Matters: A Study of How to Help International Transferees Relocate: Final Report Fall 2005, Research conducted by The Interchange Institute, Brookline MA; Commissioned by GRAEBEL, Aurora, CO. Global Relocation Trends 2012 Survey Report, Brookfield Global Relocation Services, Woodridge, IL, p. 14. Tweet Sign up for our Cultural Competence Infoletter! Email Address: About Us Rowland & Associates is a premier cross-cultural consulting firm, providing essential international business skills since 1985. Our passion is bringing intercultural business success through heightened insight and agility. We believe that bold steps with exceptional preparation can create dynamic solutions. Read more... Services Offered Globalization has made cross-border business deals more common than ever. But, every day, deals are jeopardized or lost when foreign associates are offended by Americans unaware of other countries' customs, culture or manner. while traveling, meeting a foreigner here or communicating on the... Read more... CultureCorner Our CultureCorner offers a wide variety of information through articles, tips, quizzes, and titbits in addition to monthly Business Holidays in different countries. Access various types of information by clicking on your theme of choice. Read more... Home About Us Our Team Our Services Our Clients eBooks CultureCorner Contact Us Blog Cross-cultural training professionals IntXel <in·teks·əl> is a combination of the words in our registered trade mark of 20 years: International Excellence®. The new company name is a consolidation of these words. Contact Information Phone number: 1-858-794-9637 Email: info@intXel.com Copyright © 2021 intxel - Your Cross-Culture Solutions Partner. All Rights Reserved. Article RSS Blog RSS