Expat partners matter
Thrive in Tough TimesExpat partners matter for a number of reasons.
Global mobility reports like the Brookfield surveys have consistently shown us that expat partners matter right at the beginning of your talent search. For family reasons, some partners refuse to become expat partners and your employee refuses the offer of an overseas assignment.
“Family concerns continue to be the number one reason cited for assignment refusal and ... the third most common reason cited was spouse/ partner career.” Brookfield Global Relocation Trends 2013 Survey report
Expat partners (those who do take up the challenge of an assignment) matter because they are traditionally one of the top reasons for early return from assignments.
“The most common reason cited for the early return from assignment has traditionally been family concerns, although the percentage of those indicating family concerns (23%) slipped behind the percentage indicating acceptance of another position within the company (25%) to become the second most common reason for the premature end to assignment in this year’s survey report.”
Don’t misread me here – I am very aware that assignment failure rates are much lower than often quoted by service providers trying to scare you into purchasing services.