Challenges and Recommendations for Expatriates in International Human Resource Management

This paper discusses the challenges faced by HR directors and expatriates in international human resource management and provides recommendations for expatriates to cope with culturally different work and social environments. The challenges include communication problems, unfamiliar socio-cultural environments, stress due to family and personal relationships, and challenges associated with repatriation. The recommendations include being more flexible with punctuality, developing personal rapport, and controlling aggressive emotional outbursts.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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Abstract
At a time when the world is undergoing rapid globalization, it is a common thing for the
directors of the multinational enterprises (MNEs) to assign managers and the best employees
for taking up international assignment outside the home country. However, this expatriation
process comes with a few challenges for the expatriates as well as for the directors. The
present paper takes into consideration a case where the human resource director of an MNE
has to send two expatriates from Poland to manage assignments at the potential business side
of the MNE in Santiago, Chile. To this end, the paper discusses the problems that might be
faced by the director before sending the expatriates to Chile and provides recommendations
for the Polish expatriates that might help them to cope up with the culturally different work
and social environment in Chile and efficiently manage the assignments abroad. In
conclusion, the HR directors might face challenges like communication problems, unfamiliar
socio-cultural environments, stress due to family and personal relationships and challenges
associated with repatriation. Moreover, the expatriates can cope up with the environment in
Chile that is culturally different from Poland by gaining knowledge about the predominant
customs, etiquettes and communication styles of the Chilean business world.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Challenges to be Addressed before Sending Expatriates to Santiago....................................3
Communication Problem...................................................................................................4
Unfamiliar Socio-Cultural Conditions...............................................................................4
Stress Due to Family and Personal Relationships..............................................................5
Repatriation Planning.........................................................................................................6
Briefing for the Expatriates....................................................................................................7
Recommendations with Justification.................................................................................7
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
In a rapidly globalizing world, the human resource directors of the MNEs are inclined
at sending their best managers and employees to manage assignments outside the home
country. However, this process of expatriation comes with a few challenges. More than often
the expatriates who relocate to a different country face challenges or cultural shock, that
come along with the culturally different societal and corporate environment. This results in
de-motivation of the employees that significantly lowers their performance in the host
country. This paper takes into consideration a hypothetical situation for the purpose of
determining the problems that might be faced by the HR directors and the expatriates of an
MNE in the context of the expatriation process. The paper examines a situation where the
HR director of an MNE has to send two expatriates from Poland to Santiago, Chile to manage
assignments. The first section of the paper discusses the challenges that can be faced by the
HR director before sending the expatriates to Chile. The second section of the paper provides
a briefing for the Polish expatriates including recommendations and their justification that
can help them to cope with the different culture of Chile and efficiently manage the
assignments.
Challenges to be Addressed before Sending Expatriates to Santiago
As the human resource (HR) director of a multinational enterprise (MNE), one must
bear in mind that in the face of a foreign environment, expatriates often face discomfort since
working conditions are particularly different from the working conditions in the domestic
environment (McEvoy and Buller 2013). Therefore, it is important for the managers to select
candidates with utmost attention. The managers must keep in mind that when an employee
provides high performance in the domestic working conditions, it cannot be taken for granted
that the same employee will provide high performance in the face of foreign working
conditions (Teixeira et al. 2017). This is mainly because the expatriates undergo a cultural

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shock from interacting with people and in conditions that are culturally different. Therefore,
there remains a significant pressure on the managers to select the suitable employees who can
cope up in a foreign working environment that is culturally different (Cerdin 2013). To this
end can be explored a few challenges that the HR director at an MNE can face and should
address before sending expatriates from Poland to Santiago.
Communication Problem
The first major challenge that should be addressed before sending expatriates to a
foreign country is the difference in the communication language (Ferraro and Briody 2017).
The official language of Poland is Polish even though the younger people can speak English
to some extent (Mazur and Zaborek 2016). However, most of the communications related to
business in Chile take place in the Spanish language. However, the people speak English to
some extent. Despite that the people and businessmen find it respectful to communicate in the
Spanish language (Rodriguez and Stewart 2017). Therefore, the manager must conduct
programs to train and coach the expatriates into at least a communicative course in Spanish
before sending them over from Poland to Santiago. The managers must engage the
expatriates in cultural training before sending them to Santiago. This will help the expatriates
overcome the major problem of communication in a culturally different and foreign working
environment (Vojinić, Matić and Bečić 2013).
Unfamiliar Socio-Cultural Conditions
The second challenge involves uprooting the expatriates from a familiar and
comfortable environment to a totally different and unknown environment (McEvoy and
Buller 2013). The managers must address the fact that relocating involves a huge change in
the lifestyle that affects not only the professional but the social and emotional setting of the
expatriates as well (McFarlin and Sweeney 2014). Therefore, the employees who are to be
sent to Santiago from Poland require to adapt to the unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations

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that are new. The expatriates are expected to get out of their comfort zones and adjust to the
new cultural settings of the host country (Gallon, Scheffer and Bitencourt 2014). This often
induces within the expatriates a cultural shock that de-motivates them lowering their
performance in unfamiliar working conditions (McFarlin and Sweeney 2014). Therefore,
before relocating the Polish expatriates, the manger must conduct sessions to make the
expatriates familiar of the cultural and social settings of Chile. Therapeutic and counseling
sessions should also be initiated to help the expatriates deal with their nervous breakdowns
before relocation to Chile (Vojinić, Matić and Bečić 2013). The manager must also provide
for interactive session between the Polish expatriates and a few Chilean sponsors who can
provide the expatriates positive information on Chile that would make the expatriates to look
forward to relocating in Chile. These steps will help the Polish expatriates to avoid any
surprise when they go over to Santiago and will decrease the degree of unfamiliar situations.
As a result, the expatriates might feel less disoriented in the face of extreme changes and
unfamiliar situations.
Stress Due to Family and Personal Relationships
The third challenge is a stress related one. The expatriates often undergo massive
stress induced mainly from homesickness and insecurity. Moreover, much of the stress factor
emerges from the family and personal relationships as well (Gallon, Scheffer and Bitencourt
2014). The prior stated challenges and the ways to mitigate them can help with the stress
factor on the professional and social level. However, relocation does not just mean relocation
of the self, but of the family as well (Teixeira et al. 2017). Therefore, if the family of the
expatriates does not do well in the unfamiliar and culturally different scenarios both in the
social and professional context, it causes for huge stress among the expatriates as well (Ahl
and Zittoun 2018). Hence, it is a concern for the manager to provide amiable conditions for
the family of the Polish expatriates before they are relocated to Chile. The first step to that

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would be arranging for a suitable abode at a suitable place for the Polish expatriates and their
family. There must also be training programs for the family members of the Polish
expatriates to help them get accustomed to the upcoming changes and the unfamiliar social
and cultural conditions of Chile (Ahl and Zittoun 2018). Suitable career options for the
spouses should be explained and made available. Information on better alternatives of the
schools and educational institutions in Santiago should be made available to the Polish
expatriates before they are relocated.
Repatriation Planning
A sense of insecurity often works among the expatriates who are sent overseas for
assignments. The insecurity arises due to the lack of assurance of their importance in the
organization of the home country (Beinrauch 2013). This insecurity often makes the
employees unwilling in taking up the overseas assignments and even if they take them up,
they lack motivation before they actually relocate (Gooderham, Gooderham and Grøgaard
2013). Hence, it is important to take up initiatives in forming a repatriation plan before the
Polish expatriates are sent to Santiago. The Polish expatriates must be convinced that they
will be able to retain their old positions or better positions in the home country organization
on returning from their international assignment. Before the process of relocation, each of the
Polish expatriates can also be assigned a mentor who had previously been an expatriate
preferably in Santiago as well (Baruch, Altman and Tung 2016). There can be counseling
sessions held to boost the confidence of the Polish expatriates and to get rid of their
insecurities (Beinrauch 2013). This will help the expatriates in developing a sense of trust on
the home country organization decreasing their sense of loss, which will in turn encourage
them to take up assignments in the host country organization (Gooderham, Gooderham and
Grøgaard 2013).

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Briefing for the Expatriates
Chile has much to offer when it comes to intercultural experience. However,
relocating to Chile for a long period of time for the purpose of management of assignments
on behalf of the MNC one works in can sometimes be disorienting due to the cultural
difference between two nations (Fossats and Mayrhofer 2018). Poland and Chile vary in
many aspects in context of the organizational and work cultures respective to each country.
On relocation to Chile, the Polish expatriates can undergo a cultural shock that might divert
them from their mission lowering their performance (Vojinić, Matić and Bečić 2013). Hence,
it is important that the Polish expatriates are made familiar with the working and business
customs that operate in Chile to prevent them from facing any surprise that might lower their
motivation. Following are some recommendations that can help the Polish expatriates to
manage their assignments in Chile without any difficulty in an environment that is culturally
different.
Recommendations with Justification
 The Polish businessmen, usually are formal and quiet to a moderate degree. They
prefer a behavior that is reserved in the first meeting (Mazur and Zaborek 2016).
However, in Chile, even though the atmosphere in the organizations are formal, they
usually prefer developing a personal rapport first since, personal relationships bear
importance in the business world of Chile (Rodriguez and Stewart 2017). Hence, it is
advised that the Polish expatriates shred of their reserve nature before conducting any
business communication with the businessmen and the employees in Chile.
 In Poland, it is not mandatory to conduct most business communication in person.
Important business communication, information, and decision can be made through
phone calls. In fact, communication over the phone is often considered important for
the establishment of organizational relationship in Poland (Mazur and Zaborek 2016).

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However, in Chile, it is important that all business communication be made in person
rather than over the phone or the fax. However, even though e-mail is a moderately
acceptable mode of communication in Chile, it is not preferable (Rodriguez and
Stewart 2017). Therefore, it is recommended that the expatriates from Poland conduct
all important business communication with the Chileans in person and not via phone
calls, fax or e-mails.
 Polish people are usually very punctual and consider punctuality with grave
importance (Zator 2013). However, even though punctuality is highly expected and
respected in the corporate culture of Chile, most of the Chilean people are usually and
expectedly late for thirty minutes (Perrone 2017). Hence, the Polish expatriates should
be more flexible in the context of their conservative nature regarding punctuality.
Since it is expected and usual for the Chileans to be thirty minutes late in business
activities, it is recommended that the Polish expatriates be a little patient regarding
their conservative take on punctuality.
 During the conduction of a business meeting, the Polish people tend to be expressive
in their emotions. That is to say that they do not step away from showing their
emotions especially if they are frustrated, angry or irritated. They also believe that this
attitude is straightforward and not offensive (Mazur and Zaborek 2016). On the
contrary, the Chileans look out for amiable business behavior. That is, even if they
support the expression of emotions in business negotiations, they are strictly against
business behavior that is even slightly aggressive (Perrone 2017). Therefore, needless
to say, the Polish expatriates must demonstrate a control over their aggressive
emotional outbursts with the Chilean corporate executives in the face of any adverse
business situations.

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 The management and executive process in Poland is hierarchical. One needs to
arrange meeting with the appropriate decision maker and not any subsidiary who
reports to the executive managers. That is to state that the Polish people usually
arrange direct meetings and communications with the corporate executives instead of
approaching the subordinates or assistants of the executives first (Zator 2013).
However, the corporate culture of Chile is fundamentally opposite in nature. The
process of decision-making is usually centralized and is initiated at the top-most level
even if the opinions and views of the other level are taken account. More importantly,
in the Chilean business world, the secretaries or the assistants are the screeners for the
executive managers (Perrone 2017). Hence, one needs to approach the secretary first
before approaching a higher-level executive manager. Therefore, based from this fact,
the Polish expatriates must approach any Chilean business executive through their
secretaries or assistants first and not directly as opposed to the corporate custom in
their home nation.
 During any business meeting the Polish people avoid any small talk and come down
straight to the point. They find any conversation and pleasantries in the hours of
business meetings are unnecessary, not required for and as confusing (Zator 2013).
Though they take the initial minutes to greet each other, the pleasant unnecessary
conversations are usually avoided by them. However, on the other hand, in the
corporate culture of Chile, the executives do not like to be rushed or pressurized. They
prefer a time for initiation before the business meetings can actually start. The
Chileans usually favor some small talk and appreciates a getting-to-know gesture
before the conduction of serious business meeting (Perrone 2017). It makes them
more comfortable and makes them able to relate with the persons in interest.
Therefore, it is advised that the Polish expatriates adapt to this custom of the Chilean

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businessmen for initiating pleasant conversations before the conduction of a serious
business meeting. The Polish expatriates must demonstrate patience and interest when
the Chileans initiate pleasant conversations before a business meeting is held.
These above stated suggestions are recommended for the expatriates to be able to
successfully manage the international assignments. Knowledge of the corporate culture and
customs of Chile is important for the Polish expatriates for adapting to new and unknown
business environment. The recommendations mentioned above will help the Polish
expatriates to understand the dos and the don’ts in a new country like Chile where they will
be relocated for the management of the international assignments of the MNE. This in turn
will allow them to successfully manage the assignments avoiding any unforeseen surprise and
without lowering their performance.
Conclusion
Looking at the above stated discussions it can be concluded that the HR director of
the MNE can face challenges like communication problems, cultural shock pertaining to the
different cultural and social environments of the host nation, stress related to the family and
personal relationships on the context of relocating and insecurities associated with
repatriation on the part of expatriates before they are sent from Poland to Chile. Furthermore,
it can be seen that knowledge of the social and corporate culture of Chile, especially of the
business world including the etiquettes, customs and communication styles can help the
Polish expatriates to adapt with the changes and the cultural shock and manage their
assignments in an efficient manner.

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