Expats are typically dedicated, career-minded individuals who are inclined to put in long hours. But all work and no play can cause star employees to burn out.

For a long time, there's been a general consensus that approximately 30 percent of expat assignments fail, says Don Rogers, PhD, professor of international business, professor of human resource management, and a leading expert on employee relations and workplace issues.

Traditionally, the argument is that expat assignment failure is due to either selection or training issues, Rogers explains.

But in reality many assignments fail because expats burn out.

The expat experience

According to Rogers, one of the problems is there is often a lot to be done and few people to do it. In addition, there are home country expectations. The end result is that expats wind up doing more.

Employers: keep your expectations reasonable.

Burnout generally happens among high performers, Rogers notes. While it's an issue for the employees themselves, he points to a more serious issue: an organisation tends to send its best people on expat assignments.

Therefore, because a company may be burning out its best employees, it is arguably jeopardising a core resource.

Understanding tolerance

To address the situation, says Rogers, employers first need to understand that all human beings have tolerance levels, including tolerance levels for stress.

"In burnout, we have met or exceeded our tolerance for stress," Rogers explains.

Preventing burnout is essential to an effective expat experience and this means finding ways to reduce stress.

Holidays and more

To this end, Rogers recommends time off from work, providing that taking a holiday is actually a real break. Merely changing location isn't enough, especially in a world where technology allows for ongoing connectivity.

A holiday with a laptop may not be restful, he points out. Instead, Rogers advocates that expats do things that will keep them from reaching their tolerance levels.

The goal is finding ways not to exceed physical, mental, and spiritual limits, he says.

Corporate perception

Preventing burnout is to some extent in an individual expat's hands—but not entirely.

Companies tend to blame burnout on the expat, says Rogers. But he disagrees, pointing out that organisations cultivate such behaviour. From the company's point of view "the workaholic looks good," he explains.

But the hard-driving approach to expat assignments isn't held in esteem by all organisations. Some companies are starting to understand the correlation between burnout and failed assignments, says Rogers.

However, understanding, as well as practice, varies depending on assignments and countries. For instance, says Rogers, "Japanese companies in general do not send people on assignment who have not already lived in the country they're going to."

A major factor in success is corporate expectation. Companies are starting to understand the difference between reasonable and unreasonable expectations, Rogers says. He cites differences in how business in the United States and Europe is conducted, as opposed to other parts of the world.

As an example, he points out that it would be unreasonable to expect an executive to fly into Brazil, negotiate a 20-year contract, and play golf that afternoon. "No one in the country would talk to him till he'd been there a month or so," Rogers says.

Consequently, doing business globally requires taking into account what a company can accomplish in a reasonable time frame. It requires very significant shifts in what is expected as far as outcome, including when results will be delivered and what they will look like, Rogers says.

If companies have reasonable expectations, expats are under less stress.

Benefits and perks

Although multinational employers generally offer an array of work/life benefits and perks to staff members in America and Western Europe, the expat may be unable to take advantage of many of these if on assignment elsewhere. Benefits vary from location to location, and not all sites offer benefits aimed at the expat experience.

"The expat tends to work in a situation where there are lots of local employees, but not a lot of expats," Rogers explains.

He finds that companies typically provide an expat with a living allowance, and sometimes a car and driver. There are also likely to be paid trips to the home country for the expat and his or her family two or three times per year.

Expat benefits are not usually focused on relaxation, Rogers says.

Various personal issues

This can be problematic for the employee who faces the combined stresses of an expat assignment. "Family issues in addition to job issues add to a person's stress," says Rogers.

Issues vary, according to individual circumstances and assigned location. For instance, it is the norm in many Latin American countries for girls to only go out if accompanied by chaperones. Needless to say, this custom may create conflict for families with teenage daughters used to more freedom, explains Rogers.

"You really need to have executives well versed in the countries they're going to," he says.

When burnout occurs

Addressing areas of potential stress prior to assignment can help reduce the chance of burnout. "One of the crucial things about burnout is that after it happens, the person, the expatriate in this case, cannot fix it by themselves," Rogers says.

"The burned-out person experiences a sense of personal failure, and without company intervention it takes a long, long time to recover. The particularly bad piece is if the person is experiencing failure and the company treats it as failure; then it's a double whammy."

Companies risk losing burned-out employees, who end up changing careers or seeking other employment, says Rogers.

"This is particularly important because these were high performers, people you wanted to keep," Rogers says.

Addressing issues upfront

Consideration for an expat's personal well-being can be part of an agreement.

Employees: Leave your laptop at home during breaks.

Certain stipulations can be put into an expat contract, although it varies depending on employer, the sector, and the specific challenges of an assignment, says Lisa Gerhardt, a partner with Boyden Global Executive Search in London.

Nevertheless, for the expat who will be travelling frequently or leaving a family behind, Boyden usually asks the employer to provide additional time off. Generally, a contract specifies an additional week every two months so the expat can be with family.

Gerhardt indicates this kind of stipulation is built into a contract because family issues are one of the main causes of dissatisfaction with expat assignments. What's more "it's the right thing to do for a family being separated," adds Gerhardt.

Boyden also tries to include a health club membership as part of its expat contracts. "It's not a big expense for employers," Gerhardt says.

Ongoing challenges

However, mandating relaxation is difficult. Expats tend to work longer hours, particularly if they're away from family, Gerhardt says.

And even when benefits are available they might not be utilised.

"I think senior executives on the whole with a demanding and challenging role tend not to take the amount of holiday they are allocated," Gerhardt tells Expatica.

High performers have a tendency to perform, and outperform.

"A lot of expats are being groomed for a top job. It is intensive. It's career-making or breaking. It is a challenge," Gerhardt explains.

And even when employers try to persuade expats to go on holiday Gerhardt observes that it's often to no avail. "It's a problem for both the employer and the employee," she says.

August 2005

Paula Santonocito is a freelance writer specialising in workforce management issues. She is the author of more than 500 articles on a wide range of topics.

Subject: Work-life balance, expatriate assignment policies, expatriate support