Using technology to de-stress on international assignment

International assignments can be an overwhelming source of stress for business travelers and their families. To help, HR departments should consider offering online services in the areas of career services, cross-cultural training and employee assistance programs (EAP).

Whether the assignment is long- or short-term, the employee will generally have a number of challenges to contend with that go hand-in-hand with working away from the home office. Add to this the stress of working and living within the rules of a foreign culture, and individuals often feel pressures that can have a negative impact on productivity.

Often, the intrepid business traveler is reluctant or unable to cross the time zones to seek help from the corporate HR team back home. They feel it’s too complex a process to initiate and that an admission of problems may reflect poorly on their ability to do the job. Or support services can be hard to access.

Through the use of online services, businesses can offer troubled employees assistance 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. As the number of providers that offer comprehensive online services increases, so does the view that technology is a time-saving and cost-effective solution for the stress experienced by employees on assignment or business travel.

Career services
It’s not uncommon for the international assignee to be generally out of touch with head-office HR in the home country. According to a recent survey, 68 per cent of companies do not even guarantee expatriates a job upon their return.

As a result, it’s not surprising that respondents also ranked career management as being one of the most critical and stressful challenges for international assignees. Hence, even if the assignment is a short-term business trip, HR professionals should consider using technology to provide ongoing contact and support.

Outsourced online career services give expatriates and their spouses the opportunity to upgrade skills while on assignment. Online career services can also provide information about continued learning, and help plan employment strategies without forcing the user to pour through hundreds of job sites. Other suggestions for HR include establishing mentoring programs prior to the assignee’s departure so that the assignee feels in the loop and supported by head office when she departs.

HR could also develop an online newsletter to keep expatriates and business travelers informed of company updates and policy changes while away.

Cross-cultural training

By now it is widely understood that cross-cultural training is primarily aimed at facilitating a successful adaptation process — including the acquisition of cross-cultural awareness and business skills such as ethics, etiquette and conflict resolution.

In fact, the inability to adapt is one of the most common factors in assignment failure. So while it’s true that cross-cultural training should occur prior to the business assignment, the assignee would be well served to have access to cross-cultural training material before entering potentially high-stress situations.

Online coaching courses would come in handy before a negotiation or attending dinner with a client. Technology-enabled services that can be reached on a 24/7 basis allow the end-user — in this case the assignee — to be self-sufficient on an as-needed basis.

Stress counselling for the family via EAP

Family concerns such as partner dissatisfaction rank as the most common factors in assignment failure. The accompanying spouse’s inability to find adequate employment, the struggle with culture and language barriers that affect the whole family, and child-care and elder-care issues for those on the assignment are immense sources of stress for all involved.

Yes, an international employee assistance program can provide access to counselling and referrals, but EAP and work-life resources that are available online around the clock can provide “instant” access to an abundance of information, tips and hotlinks to helpful Web sites that allow the user to de-stress and defuse. An online EAP and work-life program can offer timely, self-serve solutions to many of the troubles that plague the business traveler.

Stress management programs for the employee

Time and again, people working abroad discover there are a myriad of issues and conflicts that complicate international business assignments. These issues are leading causes of stress, and manifest in symptoms such as poor concentration, tension, irritability, depression, insomnia and fatigue.

Stress can affect an individual’s work, health and relationships. Combine all of these factors and the international assignee is at risk for low productivity — and the assignment itself at risk for failure.

Online stress management programs are self-help resources that help the individual understand and address the issues at hand.

For example, a business assignee living in an overpopulated city abroad may not realize that noise, crowding and pollution are major contributors to the stress he is experiencing. An online stress management program will generally ask the user a series of questions to determine the underlying causes of the stress and then provide strategies for coping with it. Programs such as these allow the employee to be proactive so that stress and its impact can be minimized and even avoided, and the employee’s time can be spent more productively.

Limitations

While online assistance can go a long way in helping employees succeed on an international assignment, it’s unlikely online de-stressors will ever replace person-to-person assistance. For one thing, because learning styles differ amongst individuals, not everyone will be able to learn how to cope with stress online.

For many, learning requires interaction, feedback, direct communication, movement and even auditory stimulation. It’s also considered conducive to learning to exchange ideas with peers in the program, and even develop relationships with them.

Other limitations also exist. Connectivity (or lack thereof) is a problem in some remote locations, which presents a challenge for those who wish to access the Internet while on an assignment or trip. Online assistance should be used as an enhancement to a face-to-face program, or coupled with coaching and consultation assistance over the phone.

Cross-cultural training in particular should happen prior to the trip, but those companies that can’t provide cross-cultural training could use online coaching as an alternative method of providing support and training for employees, giving them the opportunity to review and revisit the training material, and to develop a more in-depth knowledge of host-country specific information.

The global economy and information technology have significantly changed how society lives and works. No matter what business, or where it’s located, time has become a precious commodity.

Technology allows instant access to a wealth of information, resources and services that let the business traveler de-stress in a timely and self-sufficient manner so that he or she can get back to the job at hand. And while technological solutions to stress can never replace the prevention and intervention services provided by face-to-face counselling and learning, a combination of the two can result in speedy and thorough problem resolution, and give an immediate time-saving return-on-investment to business travelers — and ultimately the organizations that employ them.

Louise O’Grady is vice-president of global relocations support services for FGI, a provider of online HR solutions. She can be reached at [email protected] or (905) 886-2157.

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!