One of the reasons for expatriate failure is the inability of the expatriate to adjust to the socio-cultural environment of target country of deployment. As an International human resource manager, wh

Irrespective of the kind of international employees, even if they are home country nationals(expatriates from parent company's country), third country nationals (expatriates from neither the home or host country), host country nationals(expatriates from host country), inpatriates (expatriates from foreign countries working in parent company’s country), flexpatriates (expatriates on short-term international assignments), international cadre(managers who specialize in international assignments) or commuter assignments employees(expatriates who live in one country, but work mostly in a foreign one), the challenges remain the same. The determination of the kinds of assignments for an expatriate or the categorization of an expatriate may depend largely on the multinational's goals and objectives, which drive international human resource strategic planning and implementation. In aligning the MNC’s goals and objectives with IHRM planning, multinationals must be able to determine if there is an available pool of competent managers for the international position, the readiness of the managers in accepting international assignments, important host and home country laws that may impact international assignments, existence of host country expertise for the assignment, and finally, if recruitment of skilled workers is possible outside the company. Reasons for expatriate failures can be traced to the individual or organization. The individual himself or herself may lack technical proficiency. There also may be lack of motivation, lack of tolerance for stress, lack of emotional intelligence, poor family adjustment (cultural shock),or unwillingness to stay in the foreign country. The organization may fail to provide necessary cross-cultural and language trainings, to select competent people, to provide the technical support, to provide support for expatriate family, and to consider gender equity when selecting candidates for overseas assignments. To address the potential pitfalls, some multinationals hire international consultants to handle the human resource aspects of international projects. Others conduct interviews; use standardized tests of intelligence or technical knowledge, use assessment centers and biographical data, review work samples, and check references. A selection criterion is largely dependent on key elements such as length of assignment, cultural similarity, amount of required interaction and communication, and job complexity and responsibility. Applying these criteria meticulously and effectively may significantly reduce expatriate failure rate. To complement the selection, training rigor(extent of effort by both trainees and trainers in preparing for an overseas assignment) must be high enough to validate required competency for expatriate assignments. However, successful multinationals are those that can capitalize on the opportunities of and benefits from international assignments. International assignments can be beneficial to MNCs, as they help managers acquire skills and competencies employable in developing strategies for the global marketplace, coordinate and control operations dispersed geographically and culturally, provide important information for strategic formulation and implementation, provide opportunities for management development, provide important local market information, and provide important network of knowledge. To assure themselves of the success of international assignments, MNCs must be able to appraise expatriate employment activities adroitly. Unfortunately, it is not easy. Factors that make performance appraisal a herculean task include: lack of fit of international operation in multinational strategy, unavailability of reliable performance data, complexity of economic environments, time differences and distance separation, and differences in home and host country business practices. The problems can be solved by fitting the evaluation criteria to strategy, fine-tuning evaluation criteria and using multiple evaluations with varying periods of evaluation. Notably, selection and retention of qualified expatriates would depend largely on attractive compensation packages. To attract employees to travel for foreign assignments, compensation packages must include cost of living allowance, foreign service premium, hardship allowance, relocation allowance, home leave allowance, tuition for children of expatriates, reasonable accommodation for family members, payment of employment taxes (to avoid double taxation), and other generic benefits, including health and pensions. Amongst others, ease of expatriate funds transfer and help to readjust into home country workforce and social environments must also be provided. Most important, expatriate and expatriate family safety must be guaranteed! A popularly used compensation approach is the balance sheet method, whereby the MNC equates host country purchasing power with that of host country. To strategically coordinate IHRM activities, MNCs apply four types of orientations. These include ethnocentric orientation (use of home country HRM practices in the host country), regiocentric orientation (adoption of region-wide HRM practices), polycentric orientation (each country level organization is treated separately for HRM purposes), and finally, global HRM (recruiting and selecting worldwide, and assigning the best managers to international assignments regardless of nationality). The type of target country market and the strategic objective of the multinational would determine the kind of MNC orientation. This unit lesson has exposed us to the international human resource management environment. However, continuous success in the IHRM environment must include consideration of the role women play. Removing expatriate glass ceiling (organizational and structural barriers preventing female managers from receiving international assignments), protecting and promoting rights of women, addressing discriminatory practices. shedding prejudices against women, and capitalizing on the relational skills of women may be the starting points, amongst others.