The trend of sending employees to work outside their home countries as expatriates has been on the rise. This not only poses significant challenges for these workers, but also presents an organizational headache in managing them and supporting their needs throughout it all with everything from housing arrangements to language training classes while they’re abroad- which can be quite costly if you are not able to attract the right candidates and develop their potential.
Working abroad can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but it’s not for everyone. Living in another country comes with unique challenges that you’ll need to overcome if your goal of working internationally is something worth pursuing
“Working as a foreign national offers many benefits over just being financially stable but there are also some significant drawbacks too.”
In this article we will analyze the best traits needed by someone looking into relocating themselves across borders.
Internationalization challenge
We will see later in this article the set of hard and soft skills needed to succeed and the challenges that the expat should face as being a useful bridgehead in a new market.
Internationalization for any company comes with its perks and drawbacks. That’s why in order to set up everything correctly you should leverage important partnerships in order to succeed.
Having a great PEO service on which you can rely to boost your confidence in expanding in new markets means that the Business Owner can focus his attention on strategic tasks such as defining the Target Operating Model and the company placement in another scenario.
PEO services can assist your venture in a new country from the very beginning to the run activities.
Going global for any company means attacking new profitable markets where businesses can grow, creating new strategic partnerships and finding new clients. In a delicate process where many stakeholders participate and the right person on the field can have a huge impact.
Most of the internationalization processes is based on a series of different activities which cover different areas, for example:
- Export
- New Providers
- New Commercial Partners
The perfect resource hired for this role will be the key figure to succeed. He or she should have a clear overview about the logistics, which are the main challenges for that new market at that precise moment, and how to share company vision with business partners in order to negotiate the most convenient rates for their services.
For companies on the other hand the process of internationalization comes with different challenges that the Chiefs should face before deciding to penetrate in a new market. All the preliminary phases of analysis and business planning are crucial to define the right markets and the right skills for the designed expat.
Expatriation figures in 2022
Companies are still investing in other countries despite the talk about bringing jobs back home. Many companies have announced that they will be expanding their operations into fast-growing regions such as Asia, Middle East and South America
One reason for this shift may stem from an increased awareness or concern over rising costs at home due to recent changes including higher taxes on income brackets along with decreased federal spending which could result both job loss among various industries but also increase prices consumers pay each month
Based on most recent figures from AARO (the Association Of Americans Resident Overseas), there are some 8 million Americans currently working across international borders; however these numbers don’t include military personnel who make up nearly 10% of the global workforce.
The European Union is home to millions of expats who have traveled, worked or simply settled there from other parts around the world. Germany has seen particularly high concentrations with 9% percent representing its population made up by this group – topping rankings across several countries including Spain (6%), Italy (5%)and France(4%).
The skills of an expatriate
The ability to move abroad and adapt quickly is a key trait for any HR looking for an expatriate role. Different study conducted, using psychometric assessment, shows that certain personality traits can predict success or failure in specific roles if picked up early enough during recruitment processes.
The information gathered during many interviews were obtained from employees, managers and peers in their home region.
These studies defined a set of desired skills to show your relentless aspiration to success and to offer the companies the possibility to succeed abroad.
Let’s discover together the most researched character traits:
- In search of adventure: it’s easy to say that success is about hard work, but the truth of it lies deeper than this. For many people who are successful in life they also have a certain adventurousness about them which helps push their limits and explore new possibilities for themselves as well as others around them.
- Integration and Fluency: integration is the act of fitting into a new culture. This can be difficult, but it’s important to remember that you’re not alone in this journey-the people who did it in the past have experienced similar challenges with integrating themselves into a new lifestyle! So, there are ways to adopt that help ease expats’ transition by teaching or showing them how things work. But one golden skill is the ability to fit into a new environment.
- Flexibility: the expat’s flexibility is what makes them so successful in a new country. They can adapt easily and quickly to circumstances or environments that may be different from their home country because of this willingness, which also led many people to rank these two characteristics highly.
In the context of professional and interpersonal skills, the most researched abilities are
- Emotional Intelligence: to be emotionally intelligent is to know the way others feel and act accordingly, even if you’re not local. Being able to distinguish between different social cues or nonverbal communications will allow for better understanding on your end when it comes time to make decisions.
- Organisation: expats who live and work in a foreign country often have to deal with multiple tax systems, both at home and abroad. Furthermore, they need to keep track of their visa paperwork so that it doesn’t lapse during these busy times.
- Leadership: leadership skills are not something that everyone has naturally. But, even if you lack these essential qualities, there is still hope for success! You can learn and grow into the kind of leader who inspires others with your words – even if it doesn’t come easily at first glance or sound quite natural in front of an audience (which we all know every person feels). Natural Leaders or Become Leaders have an extra gear to succeed as expats than other candidates.
Why only soft skills aren’t enough to succeed as expats.
The person in this position should have a good understanding of the industry they are working within and how it affects local markets. They will also need knowledge about technological advancements, which allows them to adapt those same products for different regions around the world with ease while collaborating between geographic areas.
The expat needs to be aware of competitors and markets in order for them to do their job well. For example, if an expat is sent from the US on a mission across Middle East they must understand how different dynamics affect business there when compared with other parts or countries around world because even though knowledge about specific products remains similar every place has its own set up which might not match what the expat is used too, so it’s important that the designated resource keeps himself informed throughout any assignment
Going much deeper in detail about the most sourced hard skills, there are:
- Technology: In the digital age, there are more opportunities than ever before for people who have skills in software engineering. These jobs appear on almost all lists of desired positions by employers around the world – it’s difficult to find one without them! A lot has changed since we first started working with computers back at creation day; now our every action must be accounted for online whether you’re browsing social media or sending emails.
In a world where technology is growing day by day, it’s no surprise that there are more jobs out on this side of things. In fact according to Career Addict in 2018 demand for software developers was high across 24 countries including China and India. The position that can earn you, on average $ 69583 in the US and £ 30675 pounds sterling is still listed as a needed skill across several countries, with shortage of talents in US, UK, Canada, Japan, China or Australia. The demand for tech workers is so high that it’s not surprising to see salaries increasing and more vacant positions opening up each day. Tech jobs include IT Data analysts, web developers or cybersecurity specialists; all of which have experienced excellent growth over the past several years in their respective industries as well. - Research and Development: Job seekers with research experience in natural and applied policy, economic policy or social sciences are all highly sought after by companies. Recruitment company “Hays Specialist Recruitment «says that several sectors suffer from skills shortages when it comes to hiring Researchers who can support their R&D needs. This is supported by the fact these types of professionals feature prominently on many lists, such as those seen in Canada’s capital region where demand seems especially high among individuals looking into R&D, or in Australia where it seems to be no shortage when it comes down how much these managers are worth, giving them the possibility to command high salaries across all industries.
- Engineering: Engineering is one of the most sought-after career paths around. Doctors, lawyers and even actors will tell you that there’s no better job than being an engineer. That may sound like hyperbole, but it really isn’t – engineering can provide incredible opportunities for people who enjoy problem solving as well as creative thinking with their hands on some cool projects every day.
- Independently from the specialization engineers of any kind (Electrical engineering, civil engineering, electronics or mechanical) are the future and the global shortage of engineers means that this job will be around for years to come.
- According to research from The Engineer in the UK, the average salary for expats engineers is £47,896 (58000 euros) per year. This includes everything from civil engineering to much more specialized jobs like petroleum or geo-environmental engineering which are both high demand careers with skyrocketing salaries right now.
Conclusion
The most important task when recruiting for a new position is to find someone who will be suitable and passionate about the job. This means creating an interview process and assessing their skills according to what you need in your company, which can take some time but also help avoid mistakes from being made during this crucial phase of recruitment.
In this article we analysed the best qualities for expats that companies should seek to maximize their chances of success.
The key to filling open positions is making sure that potential employees share at least some common strengths with those already working there – this will help ensure harmony inside an organization and boost morale among staff members as well.
Nevertheless a balanced proportion of soft skills with trainable hard skills are the perfect mix for those who are looking to bring their career overseas and at the same time a great boost for any company looking to go global.
