International assignments can be a roller coaster ride. At times, employees can feel like they’ve hit the jackpot – the benefits to their career and their personal lives, as well as the financial incentives, can be seriously attractive. Yet at other times, the same international assignment and all the complexities involved in making a new life in a new location on a temporary basis, can make the same employee feel like they have hit rock bottom.
Initially, expats and their families often experience a kind of euphoria at the start of an international assignment. Everything is new and exciting, and for the first couple of weeks, it’s like being on holiday! But when reality kicks in, and the day-to-day routine of life and work become the new normal, it can take a long time for expats and their families to adjust. The loss of the support network of family and friends can make the problem even more acute, sending those expats and their families without the right support into a destructive cycle of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.
The holiday season is a particularly important time to look after your assignees’ mental health
The upcoming holidays can exacerbate mental health issues. The Western World is celebrating Christmas, Hannukah, and for Americans, Thanksgiving. It’s a time for families, traditions, and of course, these are important religious festivals for many.
Expats living in countries where these festivals and traditions are not celebrated can feel isolated. This means that the run up to this holiday period is just the right time for employers to take action to support their international assignee population.
How can you support your assignees during the holiday season?
It’s important, of course, to support the mental health and wellbeing of your assignees on all 365 days of the year, but here are five ideas you can implement to support your international assignee population throughout the holiday season.
1. Ensure you have support in place
An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing practical advice and support, as well as counselling, is invaluable. It should be provided for all employees, but it’s particularly relevant for expats.
In addition, a good international private medical insurance policy will usually include some support for mental health issues. Ensure that your organisations’ policy supports your employees and their families should they need it.
2. Talk openly about expat mental health and wellbeing
Many large organisations are doing a lot to remove the stigma of mental health issues, with “it’s okay to not be okay” campaigns that encourage employees to talk about issues they may be facing. Make sure that you tap into this support for your international assignment population. Importantly, educate you assignees on the symptoms of mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, so that they can recognise them and know when to seek help for themselves or family members.
3. Offer home leave payments and be flexible about granting leave
Missing out on important family festivities back home can be hugely disappointing for assignees and their families, especially if an employee is on assignment in a location where the occasion is not celebrated. Ensure that managers understand how difficult this can be for expats and encourage a little flexibility around granting leave at this time to motivate assignees to return home. This is critical if an employee is working abroad on a ‘split family’ basis, where the employee’s family hasn’t accompanied them on assignment. Also ensure that your policies include generous home leave provisions that ensure assignees can afford the airfares home at such a costly time.
4. Have a mentoring scheme in place, and make sure assignees use it
If you don’t already have a mentoring scheme, set one up to encourage international assignees to get to know others from their home countries living in the same host location. It can make a huge difference to be able to share home traditions and festivities with someone who understands.
5. Communicate!
This is critical. There is no point putting structures in place for your international assignee population to support their mental health and wellbeing over the festive season if you don’t tell them about it. But don’t just communicate with assignees, also help their managers understand and empathise with the issues that assignees face, and give them the tools to be able to support their assignees during this time.
Feelings of loneliness and isolation are especially prevalent amongst international assignees, particularly during the festive season. But with a little bit of planning and thought, you can ensure that your assignees feel supported enough to make the most of their assignments over the holidays.
Talk to us about incorporating mental health support in your global mobility programme.