Nine Truths About Intracompany Transfers

I have been most fortunate in that I had the opportunity to move from the Netherlands to Sweden, while maintaining my job. But of course, things did not always go according to plan, and this led me to illustrate the nine most important truths about intracompany international transfers - where you work for the same company, and yet everything else seems to change.

This post is an economy-size version of my full-length post on Sm?rg?sjobb, which you can find here.

First: No company is a monolithic entity

When you work in a multinational corporate environment, you might be quick to assume that because there is a direct management line, core strategy and corporate culture and financial structure that the connections between offices of the same company in different countries are pretty strong.

In reality, each office or branch is its own entity, operating independently in the market and the law system of the country it is in. While the overall HQ might be aware of the laws and financial systems in each, they are very unlikely to be able to tell you what needs to be arranged when you move from country to country.

Very large international companies often have an expert, or a team, called "Corporate Mobility" which centers around people who move around for their jobs. The standard here, however, is when people move short-term for a project and need assistance in arranging a visum or the like, or when people move on a permanent basis on the company's request (for example to take up a C-level Management role in one of the company's branch offices). Check beforehand with Corporate Mobility if they can, or are willing to, help you - and what information they might need to do so.

In almost all cases, international mobility means ending your contract with your employer in your old country and starting a new contract with your new country's office. This has all the benefits, problems and caveats of actually leaving your job and starting a new job in another country, even if you keep the same role.

This brings up questions like:

• Will I be subjected to a "trial period" in my new country with the risks that involves?
• Will I lose seniority benefits in the country, even if they are the same in all countries?
• If I were to be fired, or a reorganization takes place, will my full tenure be taken into account?
• How does my salary relate to the standard of living in the target country? Can I live in the same fashion? Can I renegotiate?

Make a list of all of these questions, and check the wording on your contract clearly. Find ways to negotiate keeping the spirit of your existing agreement intact, even if you effectively sign a new contract.

Second: Expect to be over-prepared and feel under-delivered

Each of the major deliverables on your project timeline is going to have numerous dependencies, tasks, research needs and milestones to deal with.

And you, as the instigator of the project, are expected to be its owner, executor and auditor at all times. You will need to realize what steps to take, push for these steps to be taken, and then make sure that they are done correctly.

Take a major deliverable like your new employment contract. You will need to know what should be in that contract, and how it relates to the one you have now. Examples include your new wage, country-specific taxes and employment benefits, memberships in unions, rights and responsibilities, severance rules, and so on. But keep in mind that if the "spirit of the letter" should be that you are keeping your role, you also need to include things that reflect that.

This also applies to things like finding housing, schooling, visa, and organizing the actual move itself. Also consider how much this all is going to cost, and then give yourself a generous buffer to be able to handle unforseen emergencies and costs. Ideally, make sure to have enough saved up to live a month or two in your new country, if there are some delays around getting your next salary paid out.

All in all, without knowledge of the situation and how this compares to you now, you cannot make any decisions. If you only spend a little effort on it, or start late, you are likely to make snap decisions which can end up badly.

Third: Expect to be held up in dependencies

When you plan your move for yourself, find out if there are any major chokepoints that must be addressed for you to move forward. Do you need a visum? Make sure you know everything about visa, its requirements, timeline, your rights and obligations. Without it, you cannot move and everything else turns to loose sand. So focus your energy on this, which is a major blocker.

It might seem like finding a home might be more important, or finalizing your contract for your new employer - and these are critically important - but look deeply at every step of your move and identify where you can get stuck permanently. One step might be a key to doing a lot of other things - it's a bottleneck. One document lacking might block your entry in the country - it's a blocker. You may need to have something arranged before you leave the country, because you cannot do it from abroad.

Identify these and put time and effort in how to get them done, what to do if they don't seem to go through, and find alternatives. Long-stay hotels and AirBnB might substitute for a home in the short run. Maybe a visum for your target country won't work, but a neighbouring country might be more lenient, which might allow you to commute to work until your host country decides to value your presence. If internet is not an option, see if there's an internet cafe nearby. If your contract can't include a clause supporting your long-term continuous employment, see if they are willing to protect individual rights.

Fourth: Your timeline is built from moving in backwards

Don't expect a quick fix. Even when your managers agree, and it would be easy to fix up a new employment contract, there will be a lot of negotiation behind the scenes that you don't know about.

For example, on how your status should be addressed, how to arrange for your costs to be booked, if there are any laws that might hinder your transfer, your eligibility to work in that country, and so on.

It can, and likely will, take months.

This is a good thing, because you need that time to prepare many, many things. Many countries' governments have sites that detail the necessary steps to migrate in or out. You need to read both your country's emigration page and your host country's immigration page. Often there will be deadlines and processing times mentioned, and you need to put those in your plan. Expect to be baffled by difficult speech, language barriers and pages of text designed to intimidate you and make you doubt moving to that country - I think that is by design. Find blogs about this topic by googling the specific subjects you are having trouble with.

Then make your own summary story of what you have to do, what is expected of you, and a timeline for each such deliverable.

Above all, give yourself time. Don't paint yourself in a corner where something must occur on that exact date or else everything falls apart. Give yourself alternative options if possible, or spend some time and find different routes to achieving your result. Having a plan B will allow you to sleep much better at night in the week before the move, I can assure you.

Fifth: You have to start assimilation before your migration

A major hurdle in migration is the assimilation process. This is where you try to fit in, and progressively learn to behave and handle matters like a "native" would.

For some, this is a quick process, for others it may never complete. This relies greatly on three major factors:

• Reasons for migrating to your host country
• Differences of culture between your home country and host country
• Your efforts and willingness to assimilate

If your reasons for migrating are purely economical, for example, and you expect to return home in a decade or two, you have few reasons to fully assimilate. You'd be happy with being considered that "quaint, well-adjusted foreigner" and call it a day. But if you want to live here the rest of your life and have a productive social life, often you need to go much further.

Language, as well, can be a hindrance or a benefit. If your native language is not related to the host country's - let alone if it uses another script, you're going to be in for quite a shock. English might work well, but if you want to feel comfortably at home here, it really pays to invest in learning the language, and that means working hard.

My advice here would be to start studying the language a while before actually moving. Use sites like Duolingo or Memrise to get some basic vocabulary, watch language- and kids' shows on Youtube, perhaps have some basic conversations with people native to your target country that are living in your own country right now!

When it comes to assimilation, if that is your goal, you need to first become aware of the target country's culture and learn it - way before leaving. That's the "Cold" level of preparation. Then, you have to be willing to adapt your way of thinking and mannerisms to their culture to a degree. You don't have to agree with everything and become "more native than natives" but at the very least respect how that culture came to be and pick your fights wisely when it comes to what parts of your cultural identity you want to maintain ("Warm" preparation). Third, you need to test after you arrive what things you do might block assimilating and fix them - the "Hot" level of preparation.

Sixth: You will encounter your country's stereotype

You're not aware of it at a conscious level in most cases, but each country has a particular stereotype in the eyes of other countries, and they are not always positive. Like any form of discrimination they are often low-level and invisible to the people who practice them. However, these still color your interactions with others, so you have to be aware of them.

You know how your own culture works, presumably, and would be very wise to have knowledge of the culture of your host country - and specifically the differences you need to keep in mind. But if your country members have a particular reputation in that country, you have to learn this as well and be prepared to deal with it in a constructive fashion.

Be aware that this goes in reverse too; if you make assumptions about the people in your host country without having actually met them, you might make things harder on yourself. Try not to get guided too much by other people's experiences and recounting of experiences (after all, those who are wronged or blessed are more likely to write about it) but stay your own course based on what you've seen for yourself.

Seventh: Your loved ones and children migrate too

It can be all too easy to focus on your job and the practicalities of the move (arranging transport, goods, a place to live) without considering that you're maybe not the only one moving. It can be scary to move, but even more frightening is moving without being aware or involved in the process.

If you're moving as a family, especially with children, it pays to get everyone onboard as soon as possible, and give people ways to familiarize themselves with the process. Make assurances on what is arranged to satisfy their interests, or have them research and arrange these things for themselves. Being aware is better than being taken along for the ride, but being involved is the best way of reducing your own workload as well as improving the overall quality of the move.

For children, treat it as an adventure and allow them to look into things they want to do. The first year or so, treat it as a big holiday. Yes, they go to school and do homework as always, but try to prepare extra time to walk the neighborhood, visit places, try different hobbies, go to theme parks and zoos. This ensures that they feel grounded in their new location. Get them involved in learning the language if they don't speak it, and ask them to find new words for you to learn. Chances are that when you arrive, they'll speak the language better than you do, and that will help tremendously in getting acclimatized.

Eighth: Trial and error will come your way many, many times

People who join the company from their own country already have a staggering amount of base knowledge, and on top of that will receive a full onboarding package when they are hired. This will tell them what their responsibilities and rights are, structure and tooling of the company, who to contact for what, how to report their time, declarations and holidays.

Many practical things which you might not get because the expectation is that, since you moved from another office of the same company, you know all these things and the tooling and structure are the same. But most often they are not, leaving you to scramble after the fact to correct mistakes or fill in overdue information.

Accept that errors occur and sometimes you need to fix things that have gone unspoken for a long time. Be conservative with your saving to soak up any financial consequences, and don't push things that need doing forward on the calendar.

Ninth: You will feel at someone else's mercy often

You have to realize that from the company's point of view you are given a favor for allowing you to move while maintaining your current role, and this gives them a lot of negotiating power. It's harder to negotiate your salary with the host country having a higher standard of living and the average salary being higher. After all, "you are the one who wanted to move here, and we have allowed you, so you've used up your credit". You don't really hold any ace cards, because if they refuse, what will you do? Halt your migration? Quit your job? All highly unlikely.

This means that you're going to feel sometimes like you're not in control, and others decide when, how and if you're going to successfully complete your movie. When you've invested heavily in research and preparation, this can feel like a cold shower.

Never be afraid to ask a second opinion if you think something is going wrong. Find people who went through the same process and ask them of their experiences. If you're not sure about an answer you got from an organization by phone, contact them again by phone and email and ask the same question again.

If you feel a process is being postponed or pushed to the brink over and over again, voice your powerlessness to your manager or the people involved. Those in charge of running the process might sometimes forget the importance to those who are experiencing it, often due to familiarity with it and a lack of sensitivity caused by repetition. Reminding people involved that they are impact a Human life often helps to bring perspectives back in line.

Don't try to bear the weight of everything on your shoulders, and see if others can help you. Months of work can amount to nothing if the stress causes you to break down. Remember that the move itself does not mark the end of the process, but that period of comfort and rest once all the administrative circus dies down and you return to "business as usual".

Conclusion

Nine solid statements to keep in mind when you are planning an international transfer, whether you keep you job in the process or are starting anew. My original post had quite a few examples of my own move in it, so feel free to check that out if you want to know where I went right (and oh so wrong!) on some of these counts.

Questions? Sharing your own experiences? Feel free to leave a comment below!