One outspoken expat complaining about service delivery can cause an International HR manager to worry their whole system may be flawed. But the Expat Technology Forum has developed a way for IHR to evaluate itself based on metrics, rather than anecdote. Continuing Expatica HR's series of reports on the ETF's annual Congress.

The Expat Programme Performance Metrics (EPPM) is an online questionnaire that looks at how effective service is delivered to expatriates throughout their assignment.

The EPPM is designed to be used by organisations on an ongoing basis to evaluate the expatriate's experience before, during and after the assignment, said Cees de Soet, a Netherlands-based consultant who formerly ran Heineken's international personnel department.

"When you incorporate [the EPPM] however on a continuous basis in your expatriation process, it will be a more natural good practice to check the quality of the service of the various parties (internal and external) involved in the expatriation process," said De Soet. "It gives you continuous feedback of the quality of the service so you can see results of changes you have made."

Depending on the number of expatriates sent abroad each year, De Soet said the survey should be sent out quarterly or every six months. For example, expats sent abroad in the first quarter should receive an EPPM survey on 1 July which would include the sections "Overall, Pre-Assignment and On Arrival". A year later, they can be given the second part, "Overall and Ongoing Support". And once they have been repatriated, they should receive the "Repatriation and Conclusion" section.

During a presentation about the EPPM at the ETF Congress, De Soet highlighted some of the general conclusions from the six companies that have already used the questionnaire.

For example, in the pre-assignment phase issues most important to expatriates include pension and social security, tax implications, contract details and education for their children in the host country.

When accepting an assignment, an expatriate is confronted with new information and issues from a range of sources, including HR departments in both home and host countries as well as International HR staff.

 1 2 3 Next >