Making the decision to move abroad for the sake of a partner’s professional advancement is one of the hardest aspects of expatriation, especially if the spouse has to give up her own career to do so.
Uprooting the family to begin anew in a foreign country is not without its challenges, but with the help of the sponsoring organization, the expatriate family can thrive internationally. Prudential Financial’s “Many Women Many Voices” Study of Accompanying Spouses Around the World, conducted by Dr. Anne P. Copeland at The Interchange Institute, found that a high of degree support received by accompanying spouses before moving overseas translated into better adjustment in-country.
Spouses have several needs in the pre-departure stage that must be addressed to make the transition easier for the entire family:
Frequent Contact With Experienced HR Professionals
A major complaint of expat spouses is the lack of respect they perceive on the part of the Human Resources department of the sponsoring organization. They expect an honest and open dialogue directly with HR – without using the expat employee as an intermediary – on all matters related to the family.
Spouses are often frustrated by HR professionals who just don’t “get it.” The ExpatExpert.com/AMJ Campbell “Family Matters!” survey advises that companies need a “complete picture” of expatriate life in order to best serve families’ needs. Spouses want to deal with HR personnel who understand the complexities of living abroad because they’ve experienced an overseas relocation themselves.
Cross-Cultural Training for All Family Members
Spouses who are able to work in the host country need intercultural training for the same reason expatriate managers do – to help navigate the cross-cultural encounters that make up a significant part of their day-to-day interactions. Non-working spouses, who are forced to operate in the new environment without the safety net of the corporate culture, have an even greater need for such assistance.
The number of organizations that provide cross-cultural training to spouses and other family members has steadily increased over the years, according to surveys published by international relocation companies such as Cartus and Brookfield. The expat wives who responded to the “Family Matters!” survey, however, painted a slightly different picture.
Just under 20% of respondents indicated that pre-departure training was made available to both the expatriate employee and the accompanying spouse, while only 6% said the entire family was offered training. These findings suggest that spousal cross-cultural training “may be written down in policy, but is neither being communicated nor implemented.”
Language Training Before Relocating Overseas
“To really adjust, you need to get involved with the locals,” says Mandy,* a Canadian trailing spouse in Buenos Aires. When it comes to forming social relationships with host country nationals, she is adamant that “speaking the language is the key.” Being unable to communicate in the local language is a serious barrier to adjustment. It breeds isolation and frustration, especially in those locations without the built-in support offered by an established expat community.
The “Many Women Many Voices” study found that women who had undertaken language training were better adjusted than those who didn’t. A more surprising result is the effect of the timing of these lessons on subsequent adjustment: a much better outcome was achieved when the language training was taken before the international relocation. Studying the local language after arrival in the host country was still beneficial, but “did not seem to be related, per se, to better adjustment.”
Most sponsoring organizations recognize the value of language training for their expatriate employees. Not all, however, extend this benefit to spouses. “I should have learned some Spanish before I arrived, but only my husband was offered Spanish instruction,” Mandy says regretfully.
Contact With Established Trailing Spouses in the Host Country
Many companies have an informal spousal mentoring system in place, in which a spouse who is already established in the host locale welcomes the newcomer and helps her settle in. However, arranging a telephone meeting before the family has moved would do much to reduce the anxiety and uncertainty felt by the relocating spouse. This is especially important if the company doesn’t provide look-see visits prior to signing the expatriate contract.
Accompanying spouses want to ensure their family’s expatriate experience is a positive one. Their pre-departure wish list includes timely communication from experienced HR professionals, cross-cultural and language training – ideally, for all family members – and an introduction to a mentor in the host country. A pre-departure period that is lengthy enough to allow spouses a significant amount of preparation would give them a head-start on the integration process.
*Email interview conducted February, 2008. Name has been changed.
Readers interested in expat spouses’ needs may also enjoy Before Signing an Expatriate Contract, Ask What the Spouse Needs and Families Adjust Better to Expatriate Life with Support From HR.
Maria Foley - Former expat spouse Maria Foley understands how overwhelming living abroad can be, having spent seven years outside her home country of ...
