Good communication involves more than just relaying information. We find out where companies often fall short.

Assign someone who can be a 'buddy' in the host country

Most employers are adept at 'downward communication,' according to a new organisational communication survey conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's executive career site. However, the survey finds that only slightly more than half (59 percent) of employees polled feel their organisations listen to what they have to say.

This perception seems to be well-founded. Fewer than half (46 percent) of all HR professionals surveyed report that their organisations collect employee opinions. Perhaps it's not surprising then that although 80 percent of HR professional feel their organisations are open to suggestions and improvements from employees, only 66 percent of employees concur.

On assignment

'Upward communication' appears to be an issue for the general employee population. But it can be particularly problematic for employees on foreign assignment who have fewer opportunities to communicate with management, as well as circumstances that differ from other staff members.

Indeed, because expat circumstances tend to be unique, global employee research and consulting firm ISR tells Expatica that some organisations ask for feedback from them as group, as opposed to others that poll expats as part of broad cultural surveys.

However, Gary Berger, executive director of the Americas for ISR, indicates that surveying expats as a group and focusing on their concerns is by no means widespread. He says the process tends to be more common in specific sectors, such as financial services and the oil and gas industry, among organisations that have extensive experience in deploying a global workforce.

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