Stress, resilience and expatriates

I recently revisited the research and data around stress at work.  With my colleague Susan MacDonald from Psychology At Work, we designed and delivered a workshop for one of our clients presenting strategies to build resilience and stress management capabilities at individual, team and organizational levels. 

We all know the messages that tough times can make us stronger, but the key fact that remains with me from reviewing the research is how damaging chronic stress can be at a physical, mental and financial level for individuals and for organizations.

We all know about the risk of heart attacks, strokes and depression but did you know that being in a state of chronic stress can impact right down to a genetic level re-writing our most basic

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Do expat partners need high cultural intelligence?

In all the work I do I am consistently espousing the importance of high cultural intelligence for successful expat performance.  Another thing I have a tendency to rave on about is the critical role of the partner (spouse) in a successful transition; in ensuring the assignment is completed and in ensuring the expat employee is working effectively.   In research terms, partner satisfaction mediates the outcomes for all of these variables.   

So it was really interesting to me to meet a researcher who was looking at expat spouses in China and the impact of CQ levels on their satisfaction.   (Regula and I met during a Cultural Intelligence Facilitator Certification course with David Livermore in Hong Kong and enjoyed a number of nerdy discussions about CQ and what her research is showing)    So what were the results?  I’ll let her tell you below…

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Happy Chinese New Year from Sydney Australia!

Chinese families around the world are beginning to prepare or are travelling home for the Chinese New Year celebrations.  This year (the Year of the Dragon) the New Year begins on January 23^rd and ends on 9 February 2013.  The New Year celebration is known as the Spring Festival and officially lasts for 14 days ending with the Lantern festival.

If you have colleagues or friends in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore or Taiwan

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