If your role is to oversee training for impatriating employees to the U.S., you are not alone. Training of impatriates is alive and well according to a recent Issues & Trends survey and interviews of International Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals from the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD).
A surprising 98% of survey respondents said they have conducted training within the last year for their organization's overseas partners or associates working in North America. This question was quite specific in soliciting information about training per se as separate from other possible support services, such as housing, guidance, relocation, etc. Follow-up questions revealed the nature of the training provided.
Overwhelmingly, the training most provided to impatriates is equally distributed between the "nuts and bolts" topics, such as technical issues and policy and procedures, and "soft" skills, such as cultural and language issues. Among the "soft" skills, cultural preparation topped the list of greatest training needs. Over and over again, the respondents indicated the need for human relations skills development, and the importance of training to preclude and avoid some of the pitfalls already experienced and documented by expatriated assignees.
The survey results show an interesting distinction between impatriate and expatriate language training. Most expatriate training surveys indicate a strong need for language skills, sometimes even higher than for cultural preparation, while for impatriation training, we see a strong need for cultural training with a significantly smaller need for language training. Researchers stated they can only interpret this difference as reflecting an assumption that most impatriates already speak some English while most expatriated Americans do not speak the language of their new host country (unless it is coincidentally English). However, they also discovered from the respondents' subjective comments that language issues can be a significant barrier to the impatriates' adjustment - many just don't realize it until after they have arrived in the U.S.
The respondents indicated that impatriation provides an overwhelming advantage in developing international corporate synergy and team building. Respondents indicated the following benefits for impats: "they achieve a sense of pride being part of headquarters"; "they build relationships and networking"; "improved communication, understanding of business processes"; "diversity, diversity, diversity: a global perspective." On the flip side, respondents answered the following when asked about the obstacles: "linguistic and cultural barriers"; "monitoring its progress."
Traveling with their families is a key issue in impatriate surveys that turns up as the critical element in determining early return or not. The figures showed that 75% of the impatriated employees traveled without their families, whereas the majority of expatriated employees leave on assignment with their families. Researchers believe this factor may explain the low early return response among these impatriates. Additionally, most impatriates are viewed by their organizations as being on short-term assignment in the United States. The implications for expatriation training and future patterns may be considerable.
© 2000 Dean Foster Associates