The prospect of living abroad is a source of many types of reactions in people. Some find it an exciting topic, but not something they really want to go through. Others find it a challenging experience, and something they most definitely want to experience. Some people dread the possibility and avoid opportunities at all costs.
Whatever is your point of view about living abroad, today, I wanted to share a little bit about what most expatriates go through, what are the main five adaptation phases, and how they connect with their transition process. I will also go through how their companies and their partners are an essential factor for their success.
During my own expatriation process and talking to hundreds of expatriates, I found out that the expatriation adaptation is a process with a very conformable step for most people. Everyone goes through similar challenges and feels and behaves pretty much the same. And not because expatriates are sheeple – they, in fact, are usually quite brilliant, driven, confident, and self-motivated – but because it is a typical process. Like every process, things can go out of wack or have exceptions. My main objective, though, is to share the main backbone of this subject.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES EXPATRIATES FACE
There are many challenges expatriates can face, and they depend mostly on what the role of the family member is in the relocation process. Kids, for example, face different challenges than spouses or the main family provider. In this post, with the intention of keeping it short, sweet, and instructional, I will go over the main challenges most expatriates face, regardless of their role in the family dynamics.
Here are some of the main stressors expatriates face:
- Adjustment to a new job abroad, in a new location, new office, new teams
- A partner who has to give up a job or a career to relocate
- Long periods of separation from loved ones and friends
- Occupying a new residence and all processual challenges that come with that
- Changing family routine, adapted to new circumstances and resources
- Change in financial status and having to raise credit scores from scratch
- Cultural conflicts and the ability of fitting in
- Change of social environment and social lifestyle
- Feelings of uncertainty, especially if applying for permanent residence in countries that are making this process harder
- Identity loss, uprooting, and sense of lack of affiliation
- The language barrier and learning a new language from scratch
- Feelings of isolation, loneliness
- Money management in a place where purchase power is different and sources of income are also different
- Finding a new network of providers of trust, especially for healthcare, wellness, and food
- Role conflict, especially for partners who had to give up many things to relocate and now have to fit into a new family role
There are two concepts when it comes to talking about expatriation stressors that I’d like to share, before moving on. One is the Crossover effects, and the other is called Spillover effects. The crossover effect is the impact of the attitudes of one expatriate on his partner’s behavior and perspectives, and vice versa. Spillover effects are circumstances or behaviors that happen in a particular domain, like at work, for example, impacting another domain, such as the home. The reason why this is important is that the concepts show that expatriates need care for balance more than those already fully adjusted. In other words, when you are in a big transition such as expatriation, all areas in life must be managed so that spillovers and crossovers don’t happen. In this sense, ensuring all family members are taken care of and feel a great sense of balance during adjusting time is essential.
THE 5 PHASES OF THE EXPATRIATION ADAPTATION PROCESS
Many scholars have developed several different models of cross-cultural adaptation in the expatriation process, differing slightly in complexity, in the emphasis on learning, coping with stress, personal development, and identity transformation.
I want to share with you my own proprietary model developed based on some of these models from some scholars, my own experience with expatriates and coaching them, and my personal experience as an expatriate.
The main 5 phases of the expatriation adaptation process are awareness, research, resources, planning, implementing.
1-Awareness
In this phase, the individual approaches a different place and culture unaware of what they know and don’t know. Things can either be seen as a novelty or as obnoxious and unpleasant. This is usually the time for first contacts, where people learn and gain awareness of how things are. And it’s a phase whereby people are experimenting for the first time, and they will make judgments of how they will accept it or incorporate it. In other words, at this moment, people are gaining awareness about what needs to change in their lives and which things they will want to keep.
During the expatriation process, the awareness phase is significantly linked with the denial stage of the transition process, where things are experienced for the first time, viewed as different from their original country, and denied of value due to that. That makes sense, considering that in psychological terms, we like things and people more when they are familiar to us and similar to what we are used to.
2-Research
The research phase is noted by being a period where people try to understand the differences and what are the possible solutions to accommodate their discomfort in change. It’s basically a stage when people are researching what to adapt, how to adapt, and which resources will be needed, how much things cost, etc.
In the expatriation transition process, this phase is connected with resistance in the early stages and then exploration in later moments. That’s because, during research, there is still a lot of opposition to what they are unfamiliar with. The more expatriates are exposed to how things are and why they are so, the more they end up becoming more familiar with it. This is one of the reasons why getting involved with locals and engaging in local events become so crucial for adjustment. After the initial resistance is overcome, people start exploring and experimenting through trial and error. The more they become familiar with things, the more courageous they become with experimenting with different things.
3-Resources
This phase follows research by mobilizing the resources needed for making changes and adapting to the new situation. If the study was done well in the previous step, this phase becomes more a matter of execution, and individuals who experience shorter periods here are the ones who execute well once research and initial planning were done.
In the transition process, this adaptation stage relates to the exploration process. You find new resources and solutions, put them to the test, and evaluate how well they worked for you. If not, you go back to the research phase and/or mobilize new resources and solutions.
4-Planning
Once you mobilized the resources and solutions that best work for you and your family, the next phase is a planning phase. In this stage, individuals or families plan and budget for their needs, and start making conscious choices that are aligned with the changes that they are willing to make.
It’s a time when they identify how much they should save for their kid’s college, or how much they should put toward an investment or retirement plan.
In the transition process, this stage is aligned with the moment where families and individuals are starting to settle in finally, and feel more adapted to their new reality. They feel they expanded their comfort zone, understand their new reality more, and are more confident to make plans.
5-Implementing
The final phase of the adaptation is when individuals and families feel comfortable enough to implement their plans. What happens is that sometimes they are in stage 4-Planning, and something big happens in their lives, and they regress in their transition to early stages, where sometimes they have to go back to the drawing board and research, mobilize resources and plan again. For example, it could be a sudden sickness of a family member, an injury, a loss, or any other factor that throws them off balance.
However, if nothing happens to hinder families and individuals, they are ready in this stage to implement their plans and make further continuous efforts to settle in and feel more adjusted to their new reality and environment.
If you want to learn more about The Four Phases of Transition, you can read our previous post on the subject.
WHAT HAPPENS TO EXPATRIATES WHEN FRUSTRATIONS ARE NOT DEALT WITH
As you can see, when you become an expatriate, there are many challenges one needs to face. Sometimes, it’s not possible to resolve all challenges in a satisfactory way. Some may become unresolved and end up being ongoing tensions that can have crossover and spillover effects. This could result in several potentially severe issues in the long run, such as:
- Psychological distress, depression and personality disorders
- Increase in alcohol and substance abuse
- A decrease in physical and mental health
- Lower marriage satisfaction up to divorce
- Loss of work effectiveness and inability to maintain employment
- Financial imbalances (especially due to impulse purchases) up to the bankruptcy
- Social isolation and disconnect up to a suicide
Another thing that may happen is that they end up going back to their original countries when they were not fully able to adjust. Many of them think that all these problems will actually go away if they go back. It’s not that simple. Going back is, in fact, another expatriation process. It’s called “repatriation.” Issues developed in the original expatriation process are always brought back to the original country to a certain extent, up to a full extent.
WHAT FACTORS HINDER ADAPTATION
Like with any transition, there are some factors that more often than not hinder expatriates adaptation:
- Lack of preparation and planning
- Inability to budget domestic expenses and/or keep up with it
- Unresolved or unaddressed adjustment challenges with the partners
- Lack of personal support system, like friends to confide with, support groups, professional coaches, etc
- Lack of support from their companies
- Inability to integrate with local communities such as a church, school, neighbors, etc.
- Avoiding learning the local language and keeping oneself in original culture circles
All these factors can significantly hinder the adaptation, but I want to call everyone’s attention to two in particular because they can make or break the expatriation adaptation process.
The first one is the partner. If their success and satisfaction are not fully guaranteed with the same importance as the main expatriate that was relocated, the chances are that severe issues in the whole family will happen due to crossover and spillover effects. Some studies documented that expatriate partners have to integrate more with the local culture as compared to expatriate employee or their children. This also means to say that they need to win the language barrier and make an extra effort to connect with the local reality. Yes, you heard me right. Expatriate partners have it harder.
The second highlight is budgeting. It’s common sense that families who are unable to budget and keep up with their budgets see gloomy days more often. However, this is especially important for expatriates. In the face of such a big transition, financial stability needs to be warranted amidst so many changes. It’s prevalent to see impulse purchase rise when the adaptation process is not going so well. Many individuals use purchasing as a means to scape. What happens is that during difficult transition times, the dopamine levels in the brain might be lower, so a lot of people feel the need to compensate somehow. A lot of people report a great sense of immediate satisfaction with impulse purchases because the act helps release dopamine – which is tied to the reward system in the brain – and this makes them feel good. So having and following a budget does not solve the problem of impulse purchases, but at least it gives families a framework to go by. It also helps measure their effectiveness in financial terms and provides clear direction on where to change and adjust when needed.
WHAT FACTORS FACILITATE EXPATRIATION SUCCESS
There are a few things that facilitate the expatriation process. Some are intrinsic to the individuals, and some are extrinsic. For the intrinsic aspect, there are individual characteristics and personal background.
Intrinsic - Individual characteristics:
- “Locus of control” or an individual’s belief system, and the factors to which that person attributes success or failure
- Self-esteem and which strategies an individual developed to maintain high levels of esteem even in the face of challenging times
- Communication ability
- Open-mindedness
- Willingness to explore
- Extroversion and the ability and desire to connect with people
- Agreeableness
- Emotional stability
- Strong self-motivation personality
- Social efficacy
- Self-efficacy
- Sense of humor
Intrinsic - Personal Background:
- Past foreign experience, such as international travels, exchange programs, etc
- Past expatriate experience
- Education opportunities that provided knowledge, articulation, and flexibility
- Cultural intelligence based on acquired knowledge
- Favorable opinion about the overseas assignment
- Cross-cultural training and/or language training
- Host country language proficiency
Extrinsic:
- Pre-move visit
- Certainty about the duration of the assignment
- A good network of resources and providers in the host country
- Support from the expatriate’s company prior and during expatriation
- Support from host country nationals
- Solid budgetary plan prior, during (and after if applicable) expatriation
- Financial support from expatriate’s company or other resources
- Step by step expatriation plan
- A sound support system (both breadth of support and depth of support)
- Network with other expatriate partners and families
- A certified professional coach that will help align values, create plans and help implement them
- All the members of the family committed to the move
- All family members need to make an effort to socialize outside of the family, especially with locals
- Active involvement within a church, school, youth organization, employing organization, health or welfare organization in the host country helps family members to adjust quicker
One important thing to note is that successful movable families should be adventurous, have a good sense of humor, and have strong communication skills within all family members. The higher the ability an entire family has in pulling in the same direction as one, the higher the chances of expatriation success. Also, a strong family leader proved to be extremely important.
MASTERY ORIENTATION MINDSET:
WHAT CAN YOU GAIN FROM EXPATRIATION
It’s undeniable that an expatriate assignment offers growth opportunities for all family members. Families become closer; individuals gain great cultural awareness; children become closer to their parents and, at the same time, more resilient and flexible.
Whenever one has a mastery orientation, in other words, a drive to learn and master oneself (instead of performance orientation, in other words, a focus on the outcome), you gain and grow. When you focus on development and learning, gains can be endless in an expatriation experience.
When can you say an expatriate is well adjusted? Haslberger and Brewster (2009, p. 387) defined adjustment as follows: “Expatriates shall be called adjusted to a facet if they are effective in dealings in the new environment (in their own eyes and in the eyes of their hosts), perceive themselves as adequately knowledgeable about the local environment, and feel neutral or positive emotions overall.” Adjustment, or adaptation, in this context, can be seen as the process in which one manages change, accepts and engages in new experiences, and new challenges.
The main gain from an expatriation experience is that you expand your comfort zone and become a person with richer experiences, broader interests and knowledge, and nobler and more valuable personality. As you can see, it’s challenging to get there, but the rewards are unlimited.
Companies also have a lot to gain. They can create and develop multicultural leaders that will understand markets quicker, will adapt faster, and will lead by example with more empathy and more focus on growth and development. And since companies have such an exceptional role in supporting the expatriation experience, it becomes a win-win opportunity for them to back their employees going through this process. And as you may know from game theory, win-win scenarios are those in which gain is maximized not only to those involved but also frequently to other bystanders. If you are a company helping an expatriate grow, you are actually helping many more.
One final note: if you are an expatriate and read this far, you know precisely how challenging it was (or it is) for you to adjust. So before we part, I just want to commend you for accepting the challenges and facing them head-on. I want to congratulate you for being brave and courageous to go out of your comfort zone, sail in new waters, and try new experiences. I also would like to commend you for being open-minded and willing to learn.
You see, once you become an expatriate, you touch the lives of many more people around you throughout your journey. All of them also learn and grow with you somehow. So I want to commend you for being you and making a difference in the world.
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