At the request of several companies, Global Connection has developed a new support model to help prospective expat partners decide whether to move abroad. It recognises the fact that an expat’s decision to accept a post abroad is hardly ever made at the office. The family’s opinion also matters, and crucial discussions tend to take place at home ‘around the kitchen table’.
New roles in relationship
Global Connection’s ‘kitchen table’ conversations are open, honest, and informal exploratory talks which examine what the expatriation will mean for the prospective expat partner. One partner recently spoke to Global Connection consultant Nynke Fonteijn about her hesitation to go to Indonesia. Nynke: “We discovered that she was having a problem coming to terms with new roles in the relationship she had with her partner. She was leaving for a foreign country with no plan of how she would spend her days, while her partner had a challenging job waiting for him. Identifying the root of her anxiety enabled her to make her own conclusions.”
Realistic expectations
“We don’t aim to persuade partners to go abroad, but to help them form clear expectations,” emphasises Global Connection’s Managing Director Jacqueline van Haaften. “This is in the interest of the potential expat partner as well as the expatriating organisation. An international posting is most likely to succeed when expat partners base their decision to move abroad on realistic expectations.”
