What are the most effective strategies for reintegrating team members returning from working abroad?

Having spent over a decade in Europe and Asia, immersing myself in diverse cultures and environments, my return to the U.S. felt quite surreal. In many ways, I felt like a foreigner in my own homeland. The landscape, both culturally and socially, had undergone significant shifts. It was essential for colleagues and organizations to understand that repatriating after an extended period abroad was not just a geographical transition; it was a profound personal journey for me. My perspectives, values, and skills were enriched and altered during my overseas assignments. My transition came with some reverse culture shock, a sense of isolation, or frustration at times. I appreciated opportunities to share lessons I learned overseas.

While employers struggle to find positions for assignees back home or elsewhere in the organization, assignees have to worry not just about both long-term and immediate career issues, but also about resettling back home with their families. Assignees might have lost their connection to the home country and sometimes face a reverse culture shock. The challenges of repatriation mirror those on departure: the spouse might struggle to find a new job, the children have to change schools, new accommodation has to be found in a home city where costs might have exploded during the assignment. Financial worries might come on top of this stressful situation if wrong decisions are made about savings, currency issues, and pension.

There's usually a reason why an organization sends someone abroad. It's either to grow personally or professionally. This growth has to be acknowledged and should have been factored into the longterm development plan of the team in the first place.

The employees always know that the assignment is temporary but the returning can be more challenging for ones than others. It will depend on their resilience, maturity and willing to return. Transparency on their next steps, attractive compensation proposal and support on their return are basic and it is good to be open to individual needs to make it smooth.

After more than 20 years working in intercultural training for expats, it's time to acknowledge that while everyone thinks repatriation coaching is essential, it is never going to happen. But companies have a duty of care to provide something. A buddy or mentor is a great and cost-effective start - it can start several months before the move 'home' and continue as long as needed. A resource pack is good as well: returnees don't need a social and political update on their home country, but they do need to know how policies and workplace culture has evolved in their absence. Having a returnees page on SharePoint as a resource and place of social learning is a great addition - and again, one that costs next to nothing, once it's set up.

In the organizations that I worked for, foreign assignments were seldom for so long that someone would lose touch with the organization's culture or policies. The bigger problem is rather to be "out of sight" of the decision makers at headquarters while abroad. So the person should revitalize the personal ties with people back home or, even better, not let them weaken during the assignment.

Many organizations invest in training for employees moving to work abroad but neglect to provide similar support for returning employees, not realizing that coming home can be just as challenging for expatriate families as moving overseas. Expatriates should continue to maintain and develop their home network while they are overseas and start planning for their return and next role well before they are due to leave. Training in new developments and policies in the home country is important but I would also recommend engaging a repatriation coach who can support the emotional as well as the practical challenges of returning home when home no longer feels like home.

Remind home country line management to provide training about new procedures and technologies to former assignees who might have missed out on recent developments. Completing skills assessment prior, during, and at the end of assignments is a good way to mitigate skills mismatch and identify potential gaps in terms of competencies, knowledge, or business network resulting from being abroad a long period of time. Encourage “lateral moves” (moves between functions) to open up new career opportunities.

Sometimes beneficial to allow returning expatriates to connect with those about to head to the same market. A soundboard or buddy relationship can be great

Conduct an-depth debriefing with assignees and make sure their input is taken into account by mobility stakeholders. Encourage former assignees to become mentors for employees moving abroad. They can also serve as role models – success stories from women and minorities are important to encourage diversity.

Repatriation should be treated with the same amount of attention as the outbound assignment, and similar relocation benefits should be provided. Anticipate a possible reverse culture shock and consider providing re-acculturation assistance. Follow a structured process and provide guidelines to all mobility stakeholders (including home HR and line management).

I think a well prepared reintegration is one of the key succes factors of an international assignment, where it often goes wrong with employers. It does not start when assignees are back in their home office, but ideally the role upon return is discussed before they go abroad and there is regular contact with the home manager to discuss the assignee's pre set personal development goals. As a manager you can give them a stage to share their expat experience to inspire others, and to keep them connected to the home team (e.g. during home leave). You could also introduce the repat to your own network, to give them a kick start to build up their own network again. Last tip: start the repat process well in advance!