Frequent contact from HR prevents expats from feeling out of sight, out of mind — and is key to successful expat assignments, as Carrie Shearer explains.

Although there is no ideal method of communicating with expats, certain mediums work better for different types of messages.

Valerie Scane, a writer and human resources consultant who has been an expat spouse in several European countries says, “HR must tactically know which communications tool to use, considering both the financial and technical resources available. Each tool should be used strategically to maximize its potential.”

Communications tools available to HR include:

Email

The least expensive and most immediate form of communication, email has the benefit of being two-way, since the expat may respond. It is an effective way to announce personnel and organization changes or introduce new policies.

It is also an excellent way to maintain contact with the expat spouse.

Robin Pascoe, editor of Expat Press (www.expatexpert.com) believes all information should be sent to spouses.

 “It is not just the employee who was sent abroad. It is the employee’s family as well. Changes to the company affect the spouse.” Pascoe suggests sending information directly to spouses at their home email address.

A Scandinavian expat of a pharmaceutical company disagrees. “It is sufficient for HR to provide information in a form that the employee can take home and discuss with the spouse.”

Not all expats want the same amount of information. “If HR sends too many emails, it quickly turns into spam and you start to ignore it,” maintains a French expat of an engineering services company.

On the other hand, an expat of a Dutch petrochemical company wants everything. “Let me decide what is important.”

Intranets

Intranets allow HR to provide detailed information of topics of interest to expats, maintain policies and advise of organizational changes. To be effective, the information must be updated frequently.

“It is frustrating to check a policy on the intranet and then learn it was modified three months ago,” says a British expatriate of a financial services company in Belgium.

“Expats need to know what’s happening in the home office as much as they need to know stuff that directly affects them as expats. If HR posts corporate announcements online, the expat can check she he wants, without being bombarded by paper or email correspondence,” says Huw Francis, a management consultant currently living in France.

Newsletters/magazines

Newsletters or magazines can fill the gap for the computer-phobic spouse or when Internet access is not available at home. Articles in a newsletter can be shorter than on an intranet since they can provide a list of other resources.

Newsletter/magazines can range from glossy and multi-colored printed material mailed to expats’ homes to email attachments, depending upon the company’s financial resources.

A German expat of a telecommunications company states, “A simple monthly email newsletter keeps one abreast on home office events and would go a long way to easing the feeling of isolation.”

Video

Videos are multimedia since they are both oral and visual. They can announce new programs and cover detailed information relevant to expats.

Videos of a presentation given in the home office may help expats feel less isolated.

Personal visits

Personal visits are an excellent way to announce new programs or resolve challenges in a particular location.

If time and financial resources permit, sending an HR representative to each location to see how things are going helps the expat and their family feel that they are important to the company.

Phone calls

HR should contact expats, or their spouses, on a quarterly basis to keep the lines of communication open. “I want to know that I have not been forgotten,” says a British expat of an engineering company in the Netherlands.

Before they leave on assignment, give expats the name of one person in HR who will act as their single point of contact rather than a laundry list of people to contact. This eases communication flow for the expat and alerts HR to potential problems areas.

Conclusion

To be most effective, a good communication strategy should be frequent and utilize various mediums.

It should also include a Q&A section, most likely on the company intranet, where expats may have policies clarified or voice concerns. And if it fits within the corporate culture, communicate with expat spouses directly.

February 2002

Carrie Shearer spent 20 years in international HR, living and working in seven countries, as well as working at headquarters. Currently she runs a small international HR consulting practice and is a novelist who writes about expat living.