Managing global talent: solving the spousal adjustment problem

Abstract

Spousal adjustment issues, increasingly career related, are a major reason for expatriate assignment failure. Employer-provided spousal assistance programs have been proposed to address this situation. This field study of 238 expatriate spouses found that those who experience a severe disruption or cessation of employment have significantly lower interaction adjustment to the expatriate experience than others. For spouses with a career orientation to work, females had higher cultural and interactional adjustment than males. Only 18% of the spouses received employerprovided career assistance, and there was no significant difference in adjustment between spouses who received assistance and those who did not. Interviews with 100 spouses indicated that their greatest needs are for networking information to assist with their job search and for a 'go to' person for practical settling-in assistance.

Career coordination strategies among dual career expatriate couples

“…Studies on expatriate partners show social support for dual career families is an essential factor in a successful international assignment cycle (Van Erp et al, 2009). However, there is often a lack of organizational support for DCCs facing such challenges (Cole, 2011). Up to now, the solution to this dilemma has principally been a private one, relying on couples reconciling the mobility demanded by their careers with the family's need for stability (Rusconi & Solga, 2007).…”

Unpacking differences in psychological contracts of organizational and self-initiated expatriates

“…The barriers claimed by OEs from accepting an international post may not equally apply to SIEs. Family related issues are considered to be an important factor for OEs to decide whether or not to accept international assignments (Cole 2011). Conversely, SIEs may decide to work abroad to pursue a romantic relationship, or to follow a spouse who already works in the same host country (Doherty et al, 2011).…”

Precarity, Imagination, and the Mobile Life of the ‘Trailing Spouse’

“…Previous research specifically studied accompanying partners’ adjustment , usually harder if compared to the employee, who generally continues to rely on the workplace as a possible anchorage in the host country (e.g., Ravasi, Salamin, and Davoine, ). Other studies described spouses’ emotional and practical support as a relevant aspect in assignees' effectiveness (Harvey ; Lauring and Selmer ; Cole ). Accompanying the partner in mobility has long been associated with the image of a nonworking and dependent “wife” (Fechter ), whose domestic work was incorporated into corporate ideologies (Callan and Ardener ).…”

“…This situation can require their partners to engage in a mobile working life, to reinvent themselves in the new place, or in some cases to quit their job and take care of family duties. These partners are commonly called “trailing spouses, ” a category that is attracting an increasing amount of research (Callan and Ardener ; A. Fechter ; Walsh ; Lauring and Selmer ; Cole ; Cangià ).…”