Global Mobility: Six Minimum Cost High Impact Ways To Support Accompanying Partners.

The issue:

Unhappy partners and families threaten the success of overseas assignments. More focused support, which aims to facilitate and empower accompanying partners to create their own lives abroad can make the difference between success and failure and it does not need to cost a fortune to have an impact.

Here are six simple, low cost ideas for accompanying partner support that will have a minimal impact on the relocation budget of the global mobility specialist, and a  positive influence on the accompanying partners’ transition.

Isolation and the inability to adapt to and integrate into the new communities and culture have the potential to derail an assignment.

Isolation is a dream killer.
Barbara Sher

Here are some easily implemented, low or no cost ideas that can facilitate the social transition for partners and families.

1       Provide a Host Mentor. Research has highlighted the value of a “host” country mentor to the assignee and their partner (Harvey, M & Wiese, D 1998, Marion van Bakel 2012). From the accompanying partner’s perspective, a local “host” can provide useful practical, local, cultural and language information, and also links into local host country groups and a wider network in the host country community.

2       Set up an accompanying partner FACEBOOK group for your company/organization, either within the host country if the AP community is large enough OR if not, perhaps regionally or internationally. Populate it with links to blogs and resources that are pertinent to the issues faced by the accompanying partner when moving overseas, and initiate discussions and contributions from experts who work with partners and families who are experts in advising how to move abroad.

3       Arrange Social Events – drinks in a local bar, dinner, sightseeing tours, sports/social event for the children. This can have a positive impact on the work community as well as providing partners with the opportunity to meet other expatriates and host nationals.

If there are only a few accompanying partners and/or it is not feasible to hold social events, research the expatriates support groups in the locality, connect with them and ask for the names of their new member liaison team and pass the details onto the partners.

4       Facilitate Language Exchange. Encourage host employees and their families to team up with new employees and their families to practice language skills. One of the biggest reasons cited by expatriates for lack of language acquisition is the absence of opportunities to practice their language skills. Language exchange can give both expat and host families an opportunity to improve their language and cross-cultural skills - as well as foster new friendships.

5       Hold a networking event if you have a large number of partners in one location. Choose an overall relevant theme for the event; portable careers, relocating with children. This then becomes a networking and informational event – a double value. If there are not enough accompanying partners in any one location to make this viable then why not create an online networking event, with a few conferences and online discussions OR combine your efforts with other international companies/embassies or associations in each locality.

6       Build or source a valuable list of local services and resources. Lists provided by relocation companies are often superficial, so furnishing families with a well researched and extensive list of resources can be invaluable and can help to smooth the transition during those difficult early days. Local expatriate/international clubs often have comprehensive and up to date resources, so no need to reinvent the wheel. Don’t forgot to include blogs and websites that are relevant to accompanying partners.

Look at our resources board on Pinterest to give you a head start.

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