highest human capital investment for MNCs, companies must ensure that they
have the appropriate levels of autonomy and job discretion upon repatriation.
A turnover upon repatriation within this category of assignee is seriously detri-
mental to the strategic management of a MNC’s human capital.
Lack of integration among selection, performance
management, and repatriation systemsFinally, the low retention rates of repatriates are not surprising, given that
global assignments generally have not been viewed by companies as a compo-
nent in employees’ career development. The 1994 Global Survey Relocation
Report found that repatriation support programs offered by companies typi-
cally do not include long-term career development plans. While 97 per cent of
the US-based MNCs in the survey offer to pay for the return shipment of house-
hold goods, only 31 per cent offer any expatriate career development assistance
(Windham International and NFTC, 1994). This lack of strategic integration
seems to be a concern not isolated to US-based MNCs. A 1996 repatriation
report found that only 13 per cent of US-based companies, 22 per cent of UK-
based, and 46 per cent of Continental European-based MNCs plan for their
global assignees’ return (Conference Board, 1996). More recent research has
also suggested that many repatriates describe their repatriation as a more or less
‘haphazard affair’ – characterized by a lack of coherent HR policies (Lazarova
and Caligiuri, 2001).
Recommendations for practice. While these studies and many others bemoan the
need to integrate the skills acquired by the global assignee upon repatriation,
little has been done to examine the entire strategic global assignment process,
including selection, performance management, and repatriation. Given the
centrality of repatriates’ career needs and expectations, the key to retention
after repatriation is creating an environment appreciative of global experience
that allows opportunities for career development. This means that the MNC
must provide support to the expatriate during all stages of the assignment.
Expatriation and repatriation are not two separate processes; expatriation is the
initiation and repatriation is the culmination of the same process. In reality,
most activities that ensure high retention after repatriation happen during–
rather than after– the expatriate assignment.
Care needs to be taken that repatriates’ careers not be derailed as a result
of their overseas assignment. The career development concerns cannot be
addressed by a repatriation system in isolation. Rather, they need to be inte-
grated into selection, performance management, and repatriation. To be truly
strategic, MNCs’ purpose for selecting an individual for a global assignment
should be a part of a greater developmental career path. In addition, the people
with the greatest likelihood of success should be selected for global assignments
350 International Human Resource Management