Acutely aware that partners are critical to the success of an assignment, Global Connection set out to get a clearer idea of how partners feel about current and future assignments in the time of Covid-19.
Glaring oversight
In recent months, the Global Mobility industry has been busy trying to find out how Covid-19 has and will continue to affect the mindset of expats. But from my own observations, there has been too little discussion about how expat partners and partners of international hires might be feeling as a result of this pandemic. This, for us at Global Connection, is a glaring oversight.
Significant impact
Previously, we conducted a survey that revealed the well-being of the expat partner has a significant impact on the well-being of the expat and the success of the assignment. A fulfilled expat partner is more likely to complete an assignment and start the next one with more confidence.
A new survey
For all of the above reasons, we felt it was imperative to conduct a survey to see how partners (including partners of international hires) in our community are feeling right now about expat life in the time of Covid-19. With 1,008 participants completing the survey, we believe this enthusiastic response alone indicates that partners greatly appreciated this opportunity to share their concerns and experiences.
An extra dimension
The data and numbers we have gathered tell us a lot. But we also gave partners ample opportunity to elaborate as we strongly believed that their written comments would add an extra dimension. In my opinion this has been vindicated by the candid feedback we received, some of which we have included in the survey report. These comments will certainly help any interested parties to better understand how Covid-19 might be affecting partners’ enthusiasm for current postings and/or willingness for relocation in the near future.
Interested in this survey?
Suffice to say, we believe that the results of this survey show that capable partner support programs are more important than ever in a time of much uncertainty. However, we would urge Global Mobility experts to make their own analysis. In this newsletter you can read some of the key first findings. Should you be interested to dig deeper, you can request a copy of the survey report through this link.
