Whether you are expanding your current operations into a foreign country or have partnered with an existing company to service your overseas customers, it is probable that some of your key people will need to travel to your overseas operation. Depending on the complexity of the operation and the amount of hands-on supervision required, an overseas assignment could last two weeks, two months or even two years. Certainly you will need to take a great deal of care when choosing the people you send overseas – particularly for extended periods of time. Factors such as age, health and family situation will all need to be taken into consideration; as well as the individual’s ability to get the job done without direct supervision from your home office. But finding the right person among your staff is only the beginning.
As I have written in previous articles, for the most part it is usually both more convenient and more cost effective to hire people locally rather than relocating your top people for considerable periods of time. Unfortunately, as I have seen time and time again, this is often simply not possible. Particularly in businesses which require a high level of specialized skill sets or are hands-on in nature, it is frequently not possible or practical to manage things smoothly from half a world away. Time zones and possible language barriers aside, there are simply some businesses that need a qualified executive from the home office supervising a satellite office – whether that office be in Milwaukee, Bangkok or The Hague. At the very least, many expanding businesses must have some of their key people in their overseas offices to train their local hires for periods ranging from two to six months.
While the last decade has certainly seen the rise of globalization both in business and – to a lesser extent – culturally, it is important to remember that relocating even temporarily overseas is not the same as relocating within the United States or Canada. There are dozens of major and minor details that the people you send overseas will need to be aware of – everything from local regulations regarding what sort of identification foreigners are required to carry on their person, to the fact that in many countries (including most of Europe) the personal electrical items your people bring over with them might not be able to be plugged into the wall sockets in the place they are housed. While it is certainly a simple matter to check out these well in advance of sending your people and take measures to make the practical aspects of the transition as smooth as possible, there are additional things you should consider doing to prepare your people for an overseas assignment. These include: