Extraction-Industry Experience
For a multinational company working in Oil exploration, refining and distribution, I managed a wholesale change to the way in which its processes for supporting expatriate workers were integrated and delivered.
My customer sought:
- To support its expatriate-workers’ needs
- — whether expressed or not
- To ease the discomfort and disruption that international moves cause
So as:
- to retain employee goodwill
- to reduce ‘churn’ of overseas staff
- to assure their effectiveness
For an employer to maintain the effectiveness and goodwill of its people who are posted overseas, it needs to pay particular attention to the way its support services are publicized and delivered.
Not only are there concerns about the individual; the employee may also need to consider a partner and family. In fact, my customer was pretty good at supporting things like:
- Interim accommodation
- Schools and partner support and
- Logistics, like packing and shipping
But I found that where the process was lacking was in supporting less obvious needs. Very real employee concerns here touched tricky issues such as:
- Religion and freedom of association
- Same-sex partners
(difficult when you pride yourself on not asking) - Alcohol
(there was far more mis-information on this subject than good facts) - The role and treatment of women
- Dietary needs
(some cultures have no concept of ‘vegetarian’)
And so my approach meant a change in the way that information was made available as well the quality and depth of this information.
The web and beyond
Of course, a self-service solution like the company’s intranet was part of this new approach. But we had particular difficulty where information could not be placed in the public (or near-public) domain. This information was often the most valuable as it necessarily spoke unpalatable truths.
We developed a black-box-and-key approach, where a host of information was made available — much sourced from external agencies — and access was granted to the whole lot. Monitoring (anonymous) use of the information helped us understand what was valued and what was not, and to develop the approach to create a truly valuable one-stop shop. Proof of our success came in waves:
- First, employees said they were better informed before taking up assignments
- Then, employees said they were happier (than the last cohort) when they were abroad
- Employees stayed longer in post
- Fewer assignments were expensively terminated in their first three months