What are the main factors that influence expatriate retention and turnover?

Love may be the universal language that requires no translation, but in the realm of daily life, language proficiency goes beyond a practical skill; it stands as the linchpin for the triumph of expatriate assignments. Although one can get by in many countries by speaking English, the challenge arises when understanding spoken words and reading become essential, underscoring the significance of linguistic prowess in navigating the complexities of cross-cultural communication.

Managing expatriate retention requires not just company support, but also personal guidance. In my coaching experience, I helped a senior executive who was struggling to adapt to a new country, facing cultural and career challenges. By working together, we reframed his perspective, focusing on aligning his personal goals with the opportunities the assignment offered. This not only improved his performance but also strengthened his long-term career trajectory. Helping professionals in similar situations has allowed me to build my own brand as a trusted expert in international career development, showcasing my ability to support leaders through complex transitions.

The power of building a strong expert brand comes from understanding your unique value and communicating it effectively. Recently, I coached a professional looking to expand their influence in a competitive industry. By sharpening their content strategy based on audience insights, we crafted a clear and authoritative narrative around their expertise. This not only increased their credibility but also led to new consulting offers and speaking engagements. A well-defined expert brand opens doors to opportunities you didn’t even know existed.

In my experience managing expatriate employees across various countries like Italy, Estonia, India, and Bangladesh, I have observed that adaptability and cultural intelligence are critical factors. For instance, our employees who are proactive in learning the local customs of another colleague's country adapted much quicker and reported higher job satisfaction. Additionally, setting realistic expectations through pre-departure training helped mitigate the initial culture shock and set them up for success.

It's about making everyone a part of the team and being 100% transparent with the goals both for the individual and for the department/company. If you encourage, equip, and inspire...it will lead to success with retention. There is nothing more powerful than speaking life by showing employees how to succeed, giving them the opportunity to succeed, and allowing them to show others how they succeeded to pay it forward.

Expatriate retention often depends on how well they integrate culturally and professionally. From my coaching experience, one client was ready to leave due to disconnection with the local team. We worked on aligning his leadership style with cultural expectations, which not only improved his team relationships but also elevated his expert brand. This shift turned a potential exit into a long-term success, proving that strong personal branding can be a key factor in retention.

Expatriate retention is crucial for global organizations. Success in assignments depends on both professional factors and the well-being of employees and their families during relocation. Holistic approaches, including workplace support, family assistance, and cultural integration, lead to the most successful relocations.

The key factors affecting expatriate retention and turnover encompass cultural adjustment, job satisfaction, and family support. Providing adequate pre-departure training, offering competitive compensation, addressing cultural differences, supporting families, and creating a conducive work environment are vital. Moreover, acknowledging the expatriate's personal and professional needs contributes significantly to retention. Effective communication and ongoing support during their assignment help in reducing turnover rates.

Unilever excels in expatriate retention by offering tailored support, including customized compensation, thorough pre-departure training, and effective repatriation plans. Neglecting areas like feedback and communication can lead to isolation and higher turnover. Implementing mentorship and strong repatriation processes boosts expatriate satisfaction and retention.

I believe that balancing responsibilities between the company and the expatriate is key. That way the company doesn't "forget" about the expatriate and has an active role on the actual expatriate management, and the expatriate also participates in the whole experience, taking action and making choices about their specific moves and how it impacts their career as a whole.

Effective organizational support has been key to retaining our expatriates. Tailored onboarding programs that include family support, Awareness of the customs of colleagues from different countries, and continuous feedback mechanisms have significantly reduced turnover. For example, implementing a mentorship program where new expatriates are paired with experienced colleagues has provided essential guidance and a sense of community.

Intercultural Awareness and Communication training is a crucial part of retaining international talent. It teaches departments, leaders, teams, and companies how to respectfully share opinions, hold meetings, give feedback, celebrate holidays and simply work in a healthy and productive environment. We assume everyone knows what we know, we assume that the obvious is just that. However, that is not the case, we need to discuss, explain, learn and adapt to thrive together. We need to communicate about the details as well as the big issues. We need to learn about one another, how we work best, what is comfortable, and where we draw the line. Training/Workshops provide the opportunity to discuss these topics and provide tools.

Organizations must have a clear expat policy that is applied across the board. They must invest in cultural training & see the value for the international assignees.

We recommend training recruiters to screen for soft skills like adaptability, flexibility, resilience and comfort with uncertainty and change. Prior experience moving or traveling abroad is also a plus. And we work HARD to set expectations pre-departure, balancing realism about challenges the expat is likely to face alongside the support we/the company will offer to deal with those challenges. An internal buddy system to match new arrivals with more settled colleagues is fantastic for those very first weeks!

I've seen a lot of organizations offer inconsistent support to their expats. It's important that the organization is aligned in their expat / global mobility strategy & that they are consistently offering services across the board - even if those services might differ from expat to expat.

Is becoming an expat a good career move? Or the contrary - you may feel like by moving away your career will hurt within this particular organization? When looking at leadership within the organization - do you see leaders with international track? What real help is the organization able to provide?

My country, Germany, ranks high at the list of countries perceived as unfriendly by expats. Helping new hires connect to locals really helps - one idea is helping employees match with volunteering opportunities they can do even with minimal language skills, or setting up a company volunteering experience, can help them meet locals in a positive setting and provide ideas for how they can continue to meet locals in their free time.

Normally, when you accept an opportunity, you accept something better than what you currently have. If the host country has a worse scenario, being unstable, insecure or any other hardship, the whole experience can be jeopardized. And, sometimes, allowances are not enough to compensate the expatriate and their family of this new semi-hostile scenario. That's why companies must have a clear and raw view of the host country, and have also actions and benefits to assist in the transition.

Environmental stability plays a crucial role in expatriate retention. When our team in Estonia felt secure and had access to quality infrastructure and services, their overall satisfaction increased. Conversely, due to the effect of the Ukrainian war, employees in regions with political or economic instability faced more challenges, underscoring the need for additional support in such environments.

I will focus my answer in the profile of expats I know well, that are Europeans living in China. In most cases I see that expat retention and turnover can be significantly influenced by the challenges faced in simple day-to-day activities like navigating local transactions, such as ordering a coffee or purchasing a train ticket. The ability to smoothly handle these routine tasks impacts their overall satisfaction and sense of comfort in the new cultural context, which, in turn, plays a role in their decision to stay or leave. When someone needs help to handle everyday life situations, it is very difficult to build a connection with that place.

Cultural training can help expats better understand and work through any differences in social, cultural, and economic aspect of the country. Cultural training is particularly important when expats are moving to countries deemed as "high risk."

Is the location providing an exciting environment to be in? Is it safe at the basic level? How welcoming is the host society? (i.e. even if your intention is to integrate and function within it, how much hard work would that require?). Are you committed to succeed in the environment with awareness the rules and criteria for success may differ from your own environment?

Yes, companies hiring for positions abroad must consider the move holistically and do what is possible to make the change of worlds a good one for the candidate's family. If the family is not happy, the employee loses strength. On the other hand, treating the family well and assisting the family where requested and where needed makes a huge difference. Spoken here by one who has moved 8 times internationally and 5 times with kids.

Cultural training & family support programs such as partner support & school assistance are key in relocation success. Anyone in the industry knows that if the family isn't happy, assignees don't stay on assignment. Any support that can be given to ease adjustment to the location should be offered.

Spouses/Partners are the glue that often holds the household and the relocation together. It is always helpful for couples to discuss the expectations and goals of the whole family before moving. Acknowledging the individual needs can make the experience a great one. Having a plan, and mapping out the goals and needs of all involved can contribute to a smoother relocation. The companies hiring need to also consider the needs of the Spouses/Partners.

In my experience, the family factor has proven to be key in international transfers for many individuals. Ensuring that children's education is attended to, securing suitable housing for all family members, and meeting the needs of the spouse are critical elements in facilitating a successful expatriation. I recommend providing visibility of timelines, setting clear expectations, sharing possible roadblocks and alternatives throughout the process.

One additional point: In countries where it is not easy for the dependent spouse to get a work visa, making funds available for furthering the education of the dependent spouse is a valuable plus. Colgate was one of the first companies to do this. The dependent spouse's career disruption can be compensated in this way. New opportunities for professional/personal development can make an international relocation a more positive experience for the dependent spouse, which ultimately gives the working spouse more peace of mind and energy for the job.

26% of expat family members, including children, report having serious cultural stress. Family members are the ones who suffer the most, since the expat herself spends most of the daytime at the office, busy, dong what whe decided to do. The family members, instead, decided to accompany her. Given that 56% of expat mission failures are reported to be due to their families not adapting to the new country, and not to the expats themselves failing, the best (and most counterintuitive) way to reduce expat mission failure, is training their family members in intercultural competences and prepare them to the cultural shock. There are plenty of programs, theories and methods to do it, anyone is better than none.

Family support is paramount for expatriate success. During the pandemic, we found that providing monetary support for immediate medical attention greatly enhanced expatriates' sense of gratitude towards the firm, which significantly improved our retention rates.

If the partner or spouse is unhappy then the assignment is more likely to fail. Support the partner/spouse & the children. Cultural training is not only about do's & don'ts. It's about taking a deep dive into the host culture so all family members can adapt and feel at home. Cultural training helps with the employee experience and improves wellness of the assignees (and family) by connecting them to the resources they need.

When we think about an expatriate policy, we think about the whole experience of the expatriate. However, it's possible to forget that we are working with people, with lives. And people have families, whose well-being and happiness impacts on the expat's lives. Companies have to be more than mindful on families accompanying their employees to another country.

Relational factors, like positive interactions with colleagues and managers, are crucial for expatriate retention. Companies like Siemens and Procter & Gamble emphasize mentoring and collaboration to build trust and communication. In contrast, conflicts or misunderstandings can lead to disengagement and turnover. Cross-cultural training and open communication are key to fostering strong relationships and improving retention.

One of the core competencies for every professional is networking. For expats is no different. However it has an additional layer, or, layers, culture and language impact greatly in the maintaining of an international network. It's great for the expat to be able to create not only a good network, but to also create a community in the new country, providing them with a safety net for the rainy days during the expat journey.

Building strong professional and social networks is essential for expatriates. As our firm's branches are in different countries, and many of our employees work remotely without being bound to a specific country or region, we facilitate at least two team-building activities each year at our main head branch in Vicenza near Venice. These activities encourage participation, helping employees connect and build stronger relationships, fostering a sense of belonging. This initiative has helped expatriates form meaningful relationships with their colleagues, contributing to a sense of belonging and higher retention.

Anticipating and proactively addressing the complex web of factors influencing expatriate retention is crucial. They include personal alignment, organizational support, effective communication, role adaptability, family satisfaction, feeling isolated, security, the external socio-political landscape, and more which collectively shapes the landscape of expatriate retention and turnover. Recognizing and strategically addressing these factors in advance is essential for creating a conducive environment for long-term expatriate success and satisfaction within the company. Pieces of Advice: Channels. Programs. Mechanisms. Measures. Management. Training. Evaluation.

Make sure that good expat coaching is part of the expat package! The key is the awareness about the different environment and the expectation management. In the expat trainings I give, I like to plan one portion before departure with the individual (ideally one with partner) and one or two after arrival in the new environment. That way all questions in the adjustment are addressed and can be discussed in a safe and positive environment. If these questions are not brought up and reflected properly, they can lead to irritation and frustration, eventually to a failed expat assignment. A good expat coach will ensure that the expat understands the interactions in the new environment.

The psychological contract, or the unspoken agreement between expatriates and employers, is crucial for retention. When promises around trust and career development are honored, expatriates stay engaged. However, broken psychological contracts, such as limited career growth post-assignment, can lead to frustration and turnover.

Asking someone to uproot their life, leave behind their home and career, and step into the unknown—especially with their family—is a significant request. I understand that this decision comes with immense challenges, both personal and professional. That’s why I’ve always believed that demonstrating genuine care for the families and taking the time to deeply understand the complexities of a new work environment are critical to fostering loyalty and long-term retention. When employees know we are invested in their well-being and that of their loved ones, it strengthens our collective commitment to success.

Some companies (and assignees) don't prepare themselves for a "culture of similarity" move - US to UK, Canada to Australia, Argentina to Chile, etc. Often times these are the moves where expats need to most support. Don't short change your expats on these types of "similar" moves.

When making a decision to move to the foreign environment, do your research first, so to as to avoid disappointment. It is never black and white - there will be always pros and cons. When balancing it all, the pros should outweigh the cons, even if you may need to take a longer perspective to see the real benefits. If you think about it carefully, you may have a solid experience already - for example - if you had moved around within your country a lot, you already likely have the skills how to adapt to a new environment quickly and how t overcome challenges.

Whether the expat adjusts to the new environment. It takes about 2 years to immerse yourself in the local culture. Knowing the local language helps, but can be a big ask. There is a huge difference between basic functioning in the language of your host country, and a true mastery allowing meaningful conversation on any topic. Some cultures are also less welcoming to strangers. Any expat at one point needs to ask a question whether they want to invest in "turning local" or remain a temporary guest worker. Depending on the answer they may apply different strategies. From the organizational point of view, both approaches can be accommodated and be successful, but a lot depends on the individual in question. And they can change their mind.

How welcoming is the host culture. In my experience, it takes at least 2 years before you can start really appreciating the local environment. So, until then, you could help with providing some opportunities for your new arrival if you know some shortcuts. For example, for Switzerland that was the German class, where you would be able to meet most of your friends trying to improve their German. In Scotland that was a travel club which organized some trips into highlands over weekends. These can accelerate the immersion and positive experiences.

If someone is new to the environment with a different language, one needs some time to adjust. The transition period may last 2 years. What I mean by that - it may take up to 2 years of effort, before you start enjoying the benefits of getting truly integrated into the local environment. Or - put it in different terms - you stop feeling it is more hard work than you get out of this as joy. If you stay for more than 5 years, it may become hard to leave. It feels like your benefits outweigh any potential gains elsewhere. You may be not prepared to go through the effort again, even if that means going back to your native environment. Or you really turned 'local' by then. Naturally - none of this is scientific. Just observational (Switzerland).