1. Running head: INTERNATIONAL JOB ASSIGNMENTS
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INTERNATIONAL JOB ASSIGNMENTS
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International Job Assignments
Student’s Name:
Institution Affiliation:
Date:
International job assignment
Companies around the world frequently send some of their
organizational staff abroad to work with affiliates for various
purposes. Employees may be sent to further their education and
develop their organizational performance and management
skills. In most cases, employees are sent abroad to acquire

2. higher experiences in international trade in their respective
companies. When international job assignments are expected to
last for longer periods, the employee’s families may need to
accompany them. Basically, sending employees for international
job assignments is an investment that an organization should
plan and prepare to undertake for it to be successful and can be
done through training, handling reparation and compensation
planning.
Training
A fundamental aspect of successful international job assignment
is to provide training to the target employees. In this case the
target employees are the accountant, manager and an engineer.
This provides them with an opportunity to know what they
should anticipate in the new location. An effective training for
employees should be rigor implying thorough. For long term
employee relocation, the training should be comprehensive as
oppose to short term relocations on job assignments. In cases
when the employee has to fully relocate together with his or her
family an even greater rigorous training is imperative
(Rosenbusch, Cerny II & Earnest, 2015). Training may be
conducted by use of videos showing the culture of the host
country, lectures on trade and organizational operations in the
host nation. For even longer assignments, intensive practical
and empirical training including direct interactions with people
from the host country may be important for both the employee
and his or her family. According to studies, international
assignments are more successful when families of the target
employees are included in training and in consultation (DeNisi
& Sonesh, 2016). Employees on international job assignments
may go through three major types of training:
Documentary training is like a classroom learning session in
which the employees are taught the cultural differences between
them and the people from the host nation. In this kind of
training, the differences are closely examined because they can
be hindrance to successful job assignments in the target
location. Cultural differences can easily trigger

3. misunderstanding and conflicts. Such aspects that differ with
culture include greetings, gender interactions as well as gift
issuance which are common human relations. For instance the
manager, accountant and engineer would be made aware about
how valuable punctuality is for the Romanians.
A second type of training is the cultural simulation training.
This teaches the employees the dos and the don’ts in the host
country. In this kind of training, employees are given an
opportunity to respond to scenarios and practice what they
would do should such situations occur in reality. This is to help
them develop culturally sensitive responses which will
eventually enable them manage situations abroad.
The third type of training is the field simulation training. This
kind of training is aimed at assessing how prepared the
employees and their families are for the task ahead. This is done
by visiting a place with similar conditions as the target location
or relocating the family to an absolutely new area where they
have to make new friends, go for shopping in a new location or
identify transport means and generally explore the new
environment. This provides the employees and their families
with an opportunity to practice what they have learnt in the
training with what is real in the ground.
Handling repatriation
Sending employees to work in a branch outside the country has
become relatively common for many businesses planning to go
global. When sending the employees abroad, it is imperative
that the employer makes sure that their job contacts clearly
indicate what they are expected to deliver and the relevant
changes in roles and salaries (DeNisi & Sonesh, 2016). when an
employee continues to work under the same employer like the
case in the scenario, the employment contract has to be updated
to prevent any kind of conflict between the employer and the
employee. This is primarily significant in preventing the
likelihood of abrupt and unjustified termination of employment
contract, delayed payment etc (Jayasekara & Takahashi, 2014).
Proper job description enhances performance of employees on

4. international assignments.
In handling repatriation, it is important that the employer
considers the business laws and regulations of the host country.
This will provide clear information on working hours, holidays,
cultural aspects etc (Bader, 2015). All of which are factors that
can affect working of the sent employee. In addition, the
employer should also consider complain and grievance reporting
and handling strategies. Also the employer should plan and
communicate continued training for the employees to enable
them develop and grow in their profession. (DeNisi & Sonesh,
2016). This is because training ay requires the sent employees
to travel back to the home country for programs or participate I
similar programs in the host nation. Another factor to consider
is the ability of a sent employee to move to a competitor’s
organization. Such issues recovered based on the clauses
contained in the contract and an employer can easily use legal
means to recover the cost of relocating the employee who fails
to meet the agreement requirements.
Repatriation as a termination option, the employer will consider
the employment contract to decide whether the deported
employees who have returned in the home country should
continue working with the home company in similar position or
in a different position.
Compensation
There are obvious salary changes and payment when an
employee is sent to work abroad. The salary should be
calculated with conversions of the host currency in mind. When
selected for international assignments, employees worry about
stability of their families, their career aspirations and quality of
life as expatriate. Above all, employees worry more about the
level of compensation (Rosenbusch, Cerny II & Earnest, 2015).
The payment should also be specified as whether weekly or
monthly and clearly indicated in the contract. Housing should
also be considered with respect to finding and paying for it.
Heath or life insurance also ought to be documented in the
contract as well as tax reimbursement policy. Bader (2015)

5. advises that the level of compensation and social support are
key determinants for the success of an employee on
international assignment. The employee should be informed
clearly about handling changes in tax within the host country.
The employer should also consider the risks and hardships that
employees are likely to be exposed to and provide them with a
risk or hardship allowance. The safety of the employees should
be prioritized as they work in a new country.
References
Bader, B. (2015). The power of support in high-risk countries:
Compensation and social support as antecedents of expatriate
work attitudes. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 26(13), 1712-1736.
doi:10.1080/09585192.2014.962071
DeNisi, A. S., & Sonesh, S. (2016). Success and failure in
international assignments. Journal of Global Mobility: The
Home of Expatriate Management Research, 4(4), 386-407.
doi:10.1108/JGM-12-2015-0060
Jayasekara, P., & Takahashi, Y. (2014). Improving post-
assignment behavioral outcomes of expatriates. Journal of
Global Mobility, 2(3), 298-316. doi:10.1108/JGM-01-2014-0002
Rosenbusch, K., Cerny II, L. J., & Earnest, D. R. (2015). The
impact of stressors during international assignments. Cross
Cultural Management, 22(3), 405-430.