One outspoken expat complaining about service delivery can cause an International HR manager to worry their whole system may be flawed. But the Expat Technology Forum has developed a way for IHR to evaluate itself based on metrics, rather than anecdote. Continuing Expatica HR's series of reports on the ETF's annual Congress.

The Expat Programme Performance Metrics (EPPM) is an online questionnaire that looks at how effective service is delivered to expatriates throughout their assignment.

The EPPM is designed to be used by organisations on an ongoing basis to evaluate the expatriate's experience before, during and after the assignment, said Cees de Soet, a Netherlands-based consultant who formerly ran Heineken's international personnel department.

"When you incorporate [the EPPM] however on a continuous basis in your expatriation process, it will be a more natural good practice to check the quality of the service of the various parties (internal and external) involved in the expatriation process," said De Soet. "It gives you continuous feedback of the quality of the service so you can see results of changes you have made."

Depending on the number of expatriates sent abroad each year, De Soet said the survey should be sent out quarterly or every six months. For example, expats sent abroad in the first quarter should receive an EPPM survey on 1 July which would include the sections "Overall, Pre-Assignment and On Arrival". A year later, they can be given the second part, "Overall and Ongoing Support". And once they have been repatriated, they should receive the "Repatriation and Conclusion" section.

During a presentation about the EPPM at the ETF Congress, De Soet highlighted some of the general conclusions from the six companies that have already used the questionnaire.

For example, in the pre-assignment phase issues most important to expatriates include pension and social security, tax implications, contract details and education for their children in the host country.

When accepting an assignment, an expatriate is confronted with new information and issues from a range of sources, including HR departments in both home and host countries as well as International HR staff. Using the EPPM, companies can clarify if information dispensed by the various departments throughout this period was accurate, sufficient, accessible and well-communicated.

"When the expat indicates that the information was seriously inadequate or below expectations, there is a follow up question asking why this was the case," said De Soet. "Where relevant there are structured answer categories like the information was: inaccurate, insufficient, not accessible or poorly communicated. Using categories makes the benchmark possible. Respondents can also add other comments in an open way."

Though expatriates are usually given all the information they will ultimately need, the question is, do they get it when it is relevant to them? And are there resources readily available to refer to in the future?

De Soet noted that companies with one clear international assignment centre have scored best on the EPPM.

"Over time expats learn where to go for what kind of information or service," De Soet said. "But certainly in the beginning expats benefit from having one clear address to go to for all their questions — even when this assignment centre directs them to another party."

Among the companies to use the EPPM is Hydro, a leading energy and aluminium supplier based in Norway that operates in 40 countries.

In deciding to use the EPPM, several objectives were articulated. IHR managers wanted to provide an objective and consistent measurement of expatriate services globally. They were also committed to identifying key service delivery issues and gaps as well as to benchmark with the competition.

Before beginning the process, managers also asked themselves some questions. Were they prepared to spend time making improvements? And are happy expats more productive in their jobs? Answering yes to both, the EPPM surveys were issued for the first time in 2003 to create a benchmark. Since then, the EPPM has been incorporated as part of the tracking system for assignments.

Survey results were discussed by international, corporate and line HR offices and used to determine 15 areas of improvement, said Per Barbakken, Hydro's director of international assignment services.

Barbakken outlined some of the action items during a presentation at the ETF Congress. They included requiring a pre-assignment briefing, establishing a mentoring system in the host country and clearly defining the purpose of the assignment.

Barbakken was surprised to learn from the results that there is no correlation between "dissatisfaction with services and happiness with the job." 

"Plus that all companies in general struggle with demonstrating who is responsible for services, etc., during an international assignment," he said.

The EPPM also enabled Barbakken and his colleagues to identify areas of strength. For example, Hydro's Oil & Energy subsidiary showed good marks in repatriating its employees and has the potential to serve as a model for other entities.

Since introducing the EPPM last year, Barbakken said Hydro has seen an improvement in service delivery, particularly with destination support.

In general, using the EPPM has taught him "‘spot reaction' should not influence the development of expat policies and processes." 

October 2004

[Part III of this four-part series looks at the role management systems can play in improving the assignment process]

Jennifer Hamm is a freelance journalist based in the Netherlands.