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Reproduced with permission from Mobility magazine, May 2004

Going It Alone: Long-term Unaccompanied Assignment Support

Supporting families that do not accompany an expat is becoming more of a need in today's business climate. Love provides examples from the Foreign Service and the U.S. military on how to structure support and plan ahead for family needs.

By Margaret (Peggy) Love

The year was 1972. A young woman and her two young children were living in New York. The woman's husband, an officer in the United States Army, was serving in Vietnam. While he was gone it was a good time, she thought, to have cosmetic surgery. Something she had wanted to do. What a great surprise for her husband when he returned from the war. It was perfect timing because her mother was able to come and be with the children while she had the procedure.

Who could have known that a horrific turn of events, related to an allergy, would result in the young woman's death during the surgery? Two young children left without a mother; their father in a war zone thousands of miles away; a situation worse than anyone could imagine.

Consider this prediction. As the worldwide geopolitical situation continues to be anything but peaceful, expect to see instances of unaccompanied global assignments grow. More and more expats will relocate without their families. How should corporations handle this situation? Is it the responsibility of the corporation to provide support services for the families that stay behind? If so, what kind of services should be available? All of these questions need to be answered by HR managers so they are prepared for these changes in expat assignments.

Shortage of Support
Global assignments fail because often the families are unprepared and unhappy. Each year the "Global Trends Survey," conducted by the National Foreign Trade Council, GMAC, and SHRM Global Forum supports this conclusion. The top reasons for assignment refusal continue to be family concerns, spouse's career, children's education, and expat lifestyle. Corporations constantly are challenged to examine and reexamine expatriate benefit packages and assignment support services in order to provide adequate assistance for the partners and family members of their employees.

As all international HR managers know, there is no shortage of worldwide services, provided by a huge number of suppliers. The challenge is not finding the companies that provide the necessary services for expat assignments, but rather evaluating the needs of the people involved in those assignments and providing the right services.

In fact, some of the most innovative support programs for expats and families are created and re-created as needed. According to the survey, and other similar studies, corporations in most industry sectors do provide expat support services for partners and families.

Even in this time of global unrest, expat assignments continue to grow. The nature and length of assignments may vary, and families may or may not accompany employees, but the critical challenges of international assignments remain. Corporations must consider support for all family members, whether or not they accompany the employee on assignment.

Even experienced expat families face unknown challenges when they are geographically separated. Support programs to help families conquer the challenges of separation are not necessarily expensive, but are necessary. A healthy dose of basic preparation is the foundation for effective support services and programs.

An Example to Follow
What are some of the hidden challenges? What makes up a good support program? Where should HR managers begin? Corporations facing this challenge need to take a look at how the military and foreign affairs agencies handle this problem. Those government agencies have had decades of experience with families left behind on unaccompanied assignments.

Ray Leki, director of the Transition Center, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, works with Foreign Service families preparing for expat assignments and also with families of Foreign Service Officers who are on unaccompanied assignments.

Leki suggests that a good preparation program covers the most basic issues involved in maintaining long distance relationships and lifestyle—communication, finances, logistics, and emotional support. The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) offers workshops to address concerns in this area. Whether the concerns are practical or emotional, having a good plan in place is paramount.

Major life issues that affect expat life are more critical for families that do not accompany the employee on an international assignment. Maintaining long distance relationships—on both the emotional and logistical side—is tough. At FSI they offer workshops on long distance relationships, the stress involved, and how to cope.

Often an employee gets excited about the high profile aspect of an assignment to a "scary" or remote area. Those assignments may represent exciting professional challenges for the employee but stressful challenges related to separation for the family. It is important for families in this kind of a situation to create patterns of communication that involve all members of the family. Talk to the children. Keep them in the loop as much as possible. Having open discussions about fears, questions, and unknown situations is the best preparation for all family members.

Leki suggests putting together a good basic communication plan prior to the employee's departure. The plan should consist of two parts: emotional and logistical. He recommends keeping the two levels separate. Use a different method of communication for each level if possible—phone, e-mail, or whatever works for the individual family. Implement the plan and stick to it.

Keep this in mind: long distance relationships are tough at each stage but they take on the most importance at the reunion stage. Difficulties are always expected, but the challenges will be more manageable if families are prepared and if they communicate throughout the separation.

Separation is not easy but families learn how to cope. Roles change, rules change, everything changes, so it is logical that when the separation is complete, things cannot go immediately back to the way there were before the separation. Knowing about the changes and challenges is a big part of the solution for coping.

A Military Program
In a similar way to the Foreign Service, the U.S. military has dealt with families and issues related to unaccompanied assignments for many years.

Approximately 10 years ago, the U.S. Army designed a training program called the Army Family Team Building Program (AFTB).

In part, the program was designed to raise the level of awareness of issues involved with military life and particularly "pre-deployment" readiness. AFTB soon became a basic but powerful tool for all military families. Operation Ready, a pre-deployment training component, offers Web-based videos that address coping with stress, practical readiness, and making the reunion (repatriation) work.

Marty Marks, a master trainer for AFTB, Department of the Army, Washington DC, believes the program has helped families at all levels of the military. Even though military families may be "used to" separations, many stressors are there. The difficulties stem from the same challenges that Foreign Service and corporate expats face. Things are different and extremely difficult when families are separated. At least a million reasons are involved and the situation cannot be ignored.

Protecting the Investment
The financial risk that corporations take when sending employees abroad is huge. If family issues continue to be at the forefront of expat assignment success, support services for families must be in place. Programs that support families will help corporations protect the enormous investment they make in their global employees.

Corporations that have an employee assistance program (EAP) already may have the makings of a good support program for families that do not go on expat assignments. EAP counselors should be equipped to address the issues that may crop up, including assessments, short-term help, ongoing assistance, and referrals. The needs of families and the expertise of counselors together can create the basics of good support programs. Such programs can bridge the gap between the employees who are miles and miles away, and the families who are left behind.

A relatively small amount of money coupled with a huge amount of preparation can change dramatically the course of events in the lives of expats and their families. The responsibility rests on the shoulders of the corporations and the expat families they support. At the very least, raising the level of awareness of the difficulties involved in unaccompanied assignments is a step in the right direction. Three areas of focus are key: practical, emotional, and emergency.

Be sure to have sufficient funds on hand to pay all bills, including rent, telephone, utilities, school fees, insurance, club bills, taxes, and other monthly or regular bills.

If all else fails, prepare for the worst. Be ready to handle the hurdles of life. The situation of the young woman in New York, who died while her husband was in Vietnam, was extreme. However, with a good plan and preparation, you can handle the worst and all else will go much more smoothly.

Margaret (Peggy) Love is president and CEO of Full Circle International Relocations, Inc., McLean, VA. She can be reached at 703/448-1902 or e-mail peggy.love@fullcircle.com.