Many unhappy expats don't tell HR managers they're having problems - that's why thoroughly preparing the expat and family can save the heartache of failure later.

Almost every aspect of the relocation policy should include the family.

"International assignments often involve mounds of paperwork to fully comply with foreign tax and labour laws. But what happens when an expat isn't meeting professional goals? How can HR departments ensure they don't lose valuable members of staff through mismanagement?

According to Nannette Ripmeester, managing director of the Dutch-based relocation company Expertise in Labour Mobility, family problems, closely followed by problems adjusting to cultural differences, are the key reasons.

"If things are not working out with the expat worker's family, if employment or language classes haven't been arranged for the spouse or adequate schooling for the children this can, in the end, become a big issue."

She says that the key to success for any relocation policy is to ensure the family is included in almost every aspect of the process. "Including partners and children in the process will make them much more comfortable in the eventual move than if they are left to hear everything second-hand."

Marylene Rollier, expatriate officer at Philips Belgium, says a failed assignment is rare in her company, but if an expat does become unhappy with a situation, Philips will do everything to help repatriate them.

"More often than not, it's the spouse that has the most problems as he or she does not have the same network as their partner and feels isolated and unsettled. We try to help both parties as far as possible, with finding a house, establishing contacts, finding the appropriate school for the children and organising language courses. We can make it clear that they can always contact us or the relocation company we work with if there are problems.

"At the moment I'm dealing with an expat who has just divorced. His family wants to return home and he will stay in Singapore. We are organising and paying for this and making it as smooth as possible for both of them, whilst also ensuring we don't lose a valuable member of staff.

"But we don't always know what the problem is unless we are told, or what we can do about it. However, we would never just leave an expat to their own devices, and they arrive pretty much prepared for what to expect."

Beyond family issues is the mismanagement of cultural differences. Says Ripmeester, "Moving and working abroad is a very large step, many people think they will be able to adjust very easily but they don't.

"It's essential that people are provided with plenty of information before they go abroad. They need to know exactly what this move will entail and be prepared to have to work hard to ensure it's a success. It may seem very exciting to be taking such a step and doing something different but in many cases families become unhappy and want to move back home.

"In my experience, expats are often unprepared for the most day-to-day things. For example, an expat might go to a meeting, make suggestions and give some orders only to find later on that his subordinates haven't done what they asked, which makes them feel foolish and disrespected when in fact there might be a totally different explanation, such as failure of communications.

"Often French people, for example, encounter problems when going to work in the Netherlands, because they walk into a situation where they are given very direct criticism, which is very surprising and seems very rude to them whereas in fact it's just the Dutch way."

 Ripmeester's company provides expat workers with packages and seminars designed to help ease enxiety from the beginning, giving information about both the cultural and practical aspects of living and working abroad. She says they also make a concerted effort to ensure the expat's spouse is equally well prepared.

"We aim to make people generally more culturally sensitive in order to prepare them for living abroad," Ripmeester says. "We also try to make sure the communication network is very good, for example that expats can have Internet access wherever they are, and we recommend that they are placed in immediate contact with expats in the country, or enroll in further education to help them settle in faster."

She suggests that sending company newsletters, ensuring access to the company's internet or setting up bulletin boards, and connecting expats to other, more veteran expat families, can go a long way to ensuring an employee makes the best of the assignment.

Inge Decin, compensation and benefits manager at Ericsson Belgium, says that in her experience, it is rare for an international assignment to fail, but admits that her company can do little if problems do occur.

"Normally our expats are very well prepared before they take up their assignment, which usually lasts for a period of up to sixth months. In the rare instances where they are very unhappy they themselves tend to take the initiative and look for a new assignment.

"But to be honest, we don't always know if there are problems, other than if an employee comes to us and complains. We've had international assignments since 1984 and we used to take care of everything ourselves, including initial preparation and settling in. But now we just don't have the staff, there are only two of us working in the HR department in Belgium, and pretty much everything is sorted out by a relocation company.

"We do try and keep an eye on the progress of our expats and hope to be able to spot problems. We encourage them to come to us with any worries or grievances but usually I would say almost all settle in very well.

"We organise meetings and events to cultivate relationships within the company and try to offer as much information as possible. But this is a very full time job and perhaps some people might feel a little neglected. However we have a worldwide policy with clear outlines so each employee knows exactly what they are entitled to and we live up to that."

But Ripmeester believes it the company's own HR department (backed up by a relocation company) is responsible for the success of an international assignment, and that this shouldn't be delegated to an outside relocation company - as seems to be the case in many companies.

Keep your expats on the radar.

""Human resources should make sure from the start that the employee in question is the right kind of person for an expat assignment and that they have the right cultural background.

"It's essential that contact is constantly kept with the company back home. In the case of some international assignments in what might be deemed a more 'backward' country, the expat might be given a very senior position with lots of responsibility but might feel undervalued if the company back home doesn't seem to recognise this. Company rules shouldn't be too inflexible; they should be designed to help the expat as far as possible.

"If an expat always has the feeling that he/she is still part of the larger network, then a lot of problems can be avoided. It is vital that a company shows that it's interested in its employee's progress, family and personal situation.

"It just won't work if everything is dealt with outside the company. An outside expert isn't always able to detect the warning signs that show an assignment is on the rocks, it's the company itself who should be the key contact. Especially in the current economic situation, people want to know they are working for a company who cares."

(Updated 1 June 2005)