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1、becominganexpatwhenthecfoisassignedabroadby Cesar Bacani, 06 June 2012As an American transplant to Asia, Cathy Loose knowsstrategicfirst- hand what the issues are when companies post talent ” such as CFOs outside their country.Look at the asignment as a great opportunity for development and exposure

2、, ” advises the Director of Benefits at TowersWatson, an employee benefits and talent management company.Make sure you keep in contact with the regional office or talent mobility, including the new trend of Asian companies sending finance and other executives abroad. Excerpts:headquarters, so you do

3、nv'isibt illoitsye.Loose spoke to CFO Innovation's Cesar Bacani about strategicTowers Watson recently did a survey of some 100 companies across the globe, 43 of them in Asia Pacific. Are you finding that companies are replacing expatriates with homegrown talentthese days, particularly in Asi

4、a?Since the financial crisis, there's definitely more interest andeffort by companies in terms of accelerating or at least making localization a formal process. In the past, companies tended to have a localization policy, but they really never implemented it.They said they could afford the expat

5、 pay.But now localization is definitely much more prevalent, even for the top positions.What do we mean here by localisation?Localisation really means transferring someone from an expat assignment into a local arrangement, including what we call local-plus. This means converting the expat compensati

6、on arrangement into a local package, but possibly with some additional subsidies and allowances like housing, educational allowances for children.The end result is that the package is more aligned with local packages?The salary structure will be based on local structure. The person will be converted

7、 into the local benefits package, including pension, retirement and health care coverage.Usually there will be no more tax equalization, back-to-home-country visits and so on. But it can be difficult to convert immediately into the local arrangement. In some cases, if you look at localized packages,

8、 they are still relatively higher than possibly a local package, but at least they follows the local package in terms of pay structure.Are you seeing many expats accepting local terms or do you see them leaving for home instead?If you 're looking at expats coming from US and Europe, mostrealize

9、that there's no more job opportunity in the home country,and so their only choice is to accept a localized position in the host country.We're seeing within the last three to four years more acceptance, more willingness by expats to localize, recognizing the economic conditions in their home

10、country.Are there instances where US and European expats come here already on localized terms?Absolutely. They are cross- border hires where they' re coming interms of immediately localized or local-plus arrangement, noton an expat arrangement. In certain markets, it's much easielocalize, fo

11、r example in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan,where the pay scale and the benefits are comparable tointernational standards.It is obviously more difficult in emerging markets like China orVietnam, where the local structure is not as comparable.Companies have to make a lot more exceptions incompensatio

12、n for these emerging markets.Can't these emerging markets source from other emergingmarkets like the Philippines?Yes. Also from India, which is one of the biggest export sources.Even expats coming from Australia, thats very common.So if you send someone from India assigned to Vietnam, the paypac

13、kage would be lower than if you send someone in fromEurope?Correct. But even then, they would not be on a complete localpackage. There would be some elements of allowances that' s more like awould be added on top of the local salary. It local-plus arrangement.A company looking at controlling tal

14、ent mobility costs should look at localization and local-plus packages?There 's no question cost containment is one of the drivers. But another part that we also have seen is the fact that the profile of the assignees is no longer just executives. We see a younger generation of people from the W

15、est and Asia that are willing to be mobile. Because of that, they are also willing to accept a less traditional expat package for career development purposes.Some of them would be starting out, with a couple of years of experience, and they are willing to explore and look at opportunities overseas a

16、s part of their career development.These up-and-coming young tale nt don ' t expect a full traditional expat arrangement.But are companies willing to entrust a 28-year-old CFO with financial management in a new market?Oh, no, you wouldn't bring the person is as the CFO. You would bring the p

17、erson more as a middle manager or entry-level manager.There are two types of talent. One you can call the critical/strategic talent. Those positions would be someone with very significant experience as CFO, and they would come in as a traditional expat, with all the perquisites and tax equalization

18、benefits.Then you have a completely different group of talent, what we call the emerging young developing talent. Those would not occupy the top critical positions. They would be going there more for development purposes. Those would be the positions that would be structured as the local plus, local

19、ized package.So you would have a critical strategic talent with traditional expat package, and you may also have a younger talent on local-plus package. The idea is that the younger person will be trained up and eventually take over from the expensive expat?You want the critical talent to go out and

20、 build the business, put in place the operations, the process, and then transition out in terms of transferring that knowledge to the young generation, the younger talent.When companies think about this, they should think holistically.The assignment is also about developing new talent, essentially c

21、reating this new talent pool so that it can help you build up the pipeline.What happens to the international assignee after he or she has returned home? Is that person likely to then go on to greaters less cthings within the company?That was the assumption in the past. I think now it because we do s

22、ee that sometimes expats with internationalassignment going back to home country find it difficult toreintegrate. They' ve been out so long they' ve lost theconnection and the visibility within the home country.You would assume, in a well-integrated workforce planning strategy, the person wi

23、th the international experience should come back and be able to progress, be promoted. Whether thatactually happens, that's difficult to say at this point.Organisations haven't been able to track this carefully to make sure that that 's the workforce movement.This is where we talk about

24、measuring and tracking the ROI.Part of that metric is to look at the overall career progression of people coming back from international assignment. Given that the company has put in that much investment in the individual, do you really get that much in return on that investment?So what 's the a

25、nswer? Are companies really getting a good return on international assignments?Forty percent of all companies regardless of the region have an average turnover rate of 12% of expats after the second year coming back from an assignment. This is more prevalent amongEurop ean comp anies -63% indicate t

26、hat 12% or more of exp ats leave after the second year of repatriation.Only 28% of Asian companies say that there is at least more than 5% turnover rate among expats repatriated after the second year of repatriation.So Asian companies are getting better ROI than the Western companies. What may be so

27、me of the other key metrics?We talk about career progression or promotion, achievement interms of individual contribution to the local business. There number of metrics that could be looked into.Is there a metric that directly correlate how much was spent on the assignee and how much he or she then

28、brought back to the business?That 's whwate talk about in terms of doing a cost-analysis, looking at the amount that you invest on an individual on an annual basis versus the contributions brought in to the local't it?business.This would be an HR and finance issue, wouldnThat makes sense. If

29、 finance and HR team up to look at the financial implications, this will make a compelling message.Without statistics in terms of showing the cost and ROI, I think it makes it difficult to measure how effective the overall process is.Your survey actually found differences among Asian, European and U

30、S companies in terms of assignment failure.When you talk about family issues and challenges, US companies and European companies consistently list that as akey challenge. A lot of that also has to do with distance and geography, and also dual career, dual income couples.These are much more prevalent

31、 as compared to Asian companies, although more than 50% of Asian firms also list family issues as a reason for assignment failure. It may be not as significant as Europe and US, but significant enough to become one of the key barriers.I think the difference here could be combination of various thing

32、s. We 've seen dual career couples in Europe and US. Most companies recognise that when you have two incomes, by accepting the assignment you end up losing the second income, not to mention the career opportunities of the traveling spouse.That does not make it attractive in terms of the assignme

33、nt.For Asian companies, education seems to be the drawback. InJapan, children have to be in a Japanese educational system abroad, otherwise it would be difficult for them to leave and then be able to come back to the traditional educational system.A lot of Japanese expats thus decide not to bring th

34、e family along.According to the Towers Watson survey, only 14% of Asian companies provide support for the family as a means of minimising assignment failure. Why so low?I think it' s because of the traditional practice in Asia that the focus is just on the assignee. Family often comes as a secon

35、d thought. This support for family is recognised more by US andEuropean companies.But it tends to be very much just basic support. Among allorganisations on a global basis, it's not as strong as it could be.Because of cost reasons?I think to some extent, but I think it is more to do with the foc

36、us on the assignee. Once the family gets to the new country, oncethey settle down, the company does not really get involved to the local environment.anymore. It 's up to the assignee's spouse to accpltimate and adaSometimes, particularly in certain markets and certaingeographies, it's ve

37、ry difficult for the spouse without a career to integrate into the local culture. There could be some innovative approaches to solve these family issues.What advice can you give to the potential long-term expatriate?From my personal viewpoint, as an expat myself, I think the first thing is to look a

38、t the opportunity from a more positive standpoint, focusing on it from a career perspective and not looking at what kind of package you will be getting. Look at the assignment as a great opportunity for development and exposure.Secondly, going down to the nitty-gritty in terms of looking at the pack

39、age, be realistic in terms of your expectations. You need to have a good knowledge and awareness of what the current market practice is on expat assignments, whether you can expect a full package or a lesser package. Do your homework ahead of time, and come in with realistic expectations.'t lose

40、Thirdly, it is important to make sure that you keep in contact with the regional office or headquarters, so you don visibility when you go back to the home country. When youhave home leave, it's important to always stay in touch.'s not necessarily trueSometimes expats have the expectation th

41、at if they go out, people will take care of them. That anymore. You have to take some initiative in terms of looking at opportunities, exploring, working closely with the HR function, as well as your reporting manager, to ensure that your contributions are recognised, and that you know what the plan

42、s are when you go back, in terms of reintegrating into the home country.You need to really push and try to get as much as possible and trying to make sure that the process is in place. Even if the company says it 's difficult, at least keep the dialogue open throughout the process. Make sure dur

43、ing the performance review that concerns and issues are being raised and addressed.When is it justified for someone to turn down an international assignment?There will be times when you have to say, no, the opportunity is not there for me. You need to look at your own personal development, at what the assignment is and your own current position in the home country. You have to see how the assignment best fits your skills, your position, your career development.