00 global hr news ghr v5i3 web

8/11/2019 00 Global Hr News Ghr v5i3 Web

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/00-global-hr-news-ghr-v5i3-web 1/56

VOL. 5 /ISSU

US

[email protected]

www.globalhrnews .com

SusanMusichWORLD BANK

& INTERNATIONAL

FINANCE

CORPORATION

“...Spouse/family

assistance...need

to get a sense of who the spouses are,

professionally

speaking...”

Read more on page 10 INS ID

Corporate Social Responsib

Corporate Citizenship Awa

Interview w ith Bil l Sherid

Africa – the Destinat

Brazil; Industr y Servi

Global Manag



PUBLISHER’S DESK

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)& International Assignments

The m om entum being generated by C orporate Social Responsibility (C SR) w ithin com pa-nies and w ithin global H R departm ents is nothing short of am azing. G LO BA L HR

N EW S is extrem ely pleased and proud to be part of this m om entum .

The initial G LO BA L HR N EW S C orporate C itizenship A w ards (see the aw ards below ) programresulted in outstanding nom inated program s and perfect exam ples of com panies in the lead:Caterpillar’s International Em ployee A ssistance Program , Pfizer’s Global Health Fellow sProgram , and the excellent UK-based, Pricew aterhouseCoopers Ulysses Program m e.

This edition particularly features the Pfizer Global H ealth Fellow s Program . U pcom ing edi-tions of G LO BA L HR N EW S w ill spotlight the Pw C Ulysses Program m e and C AT’sInternational Em ployee A ssistance Program .

I am pleased to announce that Judson Scruton w ill be taking the

lead on developing our inform ation category, "C orporate SocialResponsibility" (C SR), and Judson w ill also be taking the leadershiprole of the G LO BA L HR N EW S Corporate Citizenship A w ards initia-tive. Judson w ill script and direct the program in London on 28N ovem ber 2007. The Corporate C itizenship A w ards C erem onyw ill be a central part of the conference itself, m ost likely the focusof the luncheon.

Judson and I are delighted that one of the m ost respected nam es in C SR w ill be assistingus in our C SR efforts. David C ooperrider, Professor and C hairm an of the Departm ent ofO rganizational Behaviour at the W eatherhead School of M anagem ent at Case W esternReserve U niversity and the D irector of their C enter of Business as an Agent of W orldBenefit w ill be w riting colum ns for G LO BAL H R NEW S and, as schedules perm it, participat-ing in our conference series and radio show s. W e are delighted he is joining us.

Your ongoing support of G LOBA L HR N EW S and our Corporate Citizenship A w ards isgreatly appreciated.

W ith all best w ishes,

W e pr ov

i d e y o uwi t h n ew s

&i nf or m at i on

F r e

e a c c e s s

•

F r e

e d ownl o

a d

2 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s



Volume 5 / Issue4

CONTENTSCOVER STORY

Susan Musich, World Bank / IFC, 10

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWBil l Sher idan, NFTC, 38

NEWSCorporate Citizenship Awards presented, 6New York Governor appoints Philip Berry, 39

DFA launches Culture Compass, 44Who's Who Legal names Fragomen, 45Desktop Telemedic ine, 49

WORLD TRADE

Brazil - Relocation Industry developing, 22

Currency Fluctuat ion, 25Africa - East Meets West, 36

Africa - Equator ial Guinea, 41

MANAGEMENTInternational Assignment Program Review, 8Guiding Global Management, 28International Employment Company, 29

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYDr. David Cooperr ider, 14

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AWARDSPf ize r, Inc. , 16Pfizer Global Health Fellows Program, 16, 18

EDUCATION RESOURCESFrom Boardroom to Room & Board, 43

LEGALIm m ig ra ti on - EU Requ irem en ts , 24Cross-border Employment Law -

Terminating Expats on Assignment, 47

MOOSE CARTOON, 43

ADVERTISERS

A C E RELO C ATIO N SYSTEM S . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C 3

A C S IN TERN ATIO N A L SCH O O LS . . . . . . . . . . .2 0

A KA - KO RM A N C O M M U N ITIES . . . . . . . . . . . .1

A IRES RELO C ATIO N SER VIC ES . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

A LLIA N C E RELO C ATIO N SERVIC ES . . . . . . . . .50

AW A RD -SU PERSTARS RELO C ATIO N . . . . . . . . .45

BU RG D O RFF REA LTO RS - RELOC ATIO N . . . . . .52

CASE W EATHERHEAD SCHO OL

O F M A N A G EM EN T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

C H A SE M O RTG A G E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

C ITIBA N K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C 2

C O LG ATE-PALM O LIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C 4

C O RT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

D M S M O VIN G SYSTEM S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

EN TERPRISES G RO U P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

EQ U ITY C O RPO RA TE H O U SIN G . . . . . . . . . . . .3 1

FO C A L PO IN T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 2

FRAG O M EN D EL REY BERNSEN & LO EW Y, LLP . .5

FULL C IRC LE IN TERNATIO N A L RELOC ATIO N S . .35

H IFX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

JAC KSO N LEW IS, LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

LIVIN G A BRO A D , LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

M O VEO N E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

O N E W O RLD RELO C ATIO N SERVIC ES . . . . . . .33

O RIO N M O BILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

PASH A C O RPO RA TE H O U SIN G . . . . . . . . . . . .44

SU LLIVA N M O VIN G & STO RA G E . . . . . . . . . . .35

W ILLIS RELO C ATIO N RISK G RO U P . . . . . . . . . .4 2

W O RLD BA N K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

GlobalHRNews 7910 Ivanhoe Avenue, Suite 432, La Jolla, C A 92037

PHONE 619.787.3100 EMAIL new s@ globalhrnew s.com WEB w w w .globalhrnew s.comEDITOR &PUBLISHEREd Cohen DESIGN &PRODUCTIONJill St. M ichael

© C opyright 2007, by Edw in B. Coh en. All Rights Reserved.

ConferencesLOS ANGELES 18 SEPTEMBER

IRVINE 20 SEPTEMBER

CHICAGO 3 OCTOBER

LONDON 27- 28 NOVEMBER

SILICON VALLEY 30 JANUARY ‘08

RIO DE JANEIRO 20-21 FEBRUARY ‘08

SEATTLE late M ARCH/ early APRIL ‘08

DALLAS late APRIL ‘08NEW YORK 1 MAY ‘08

LOS ANGELES SEPTEMBER ‘08

CHICAGO late SEPT/early OCT ‘08

PARIS 3- 4 DECEMBER ‘08

MORE INFORMATION: www.g loba lhrnews.com



6 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

SAN DIEGO ,CA LIFO RN IA — G LO BAL HR NEW S

w as pleased to honor the recipients oftheir first C O RPO RATE C ITIZEN SH IPAW ARD S in New York City on 23 M ay2007. The A w ards recognized three spe-cific corporate program s that either pre-pare em ployees and fam ilies for effectiveinternational assignm ent, or foster exem -plary goodw ill in the international com m u-nities in w hich the com pany does business.

The com pany program s receiving theAw ards w ere Caterpillar Inc. for theirInternational Em ployee Assistance Program ,Pfizer, Inc for their G lobal Health Fellow s

Program , and Pricew aterhouseCoopers fortheir Ulysses Program m e.

The judges for G LOBA L HR NEW S CorporateCitizenship Aw ards w ere Philip Berry, VPG lobal W orkplace Initiatives and CorporateO fficer, Colgate-Palm olive Com pany; AustinFragom en, Partner and C hairm an of theExecutive Com m ittee, Fragom en D el ReyBernsen & Loew y LLP; Dean Foster,President, Dean Foster Associates,Intercultural Consulting & Training; AndrewKittell, Director of Corporate Relations, ACSInternational Schools; Judson Scruton,

Director, New York & London, G LOBA L HRNEW S; and Ed Cohen, Editor & Publisher,G LO BAL HR NEW S.

The C aterpillar “International AssistanceProgram (IA P)”Aw ard w as announced byA ndrew Kittell, w ho highlighted som e ofthe essential facts about the program .

The program w as started in 2004 to assist

their m ore than 1,000 em ployees livingand w orking outside their native country.The program features extensive pre-depar-ture orientation, proactive, ongoing out-reach to em ployees and spouses, educa-tional w ebinars, professional counsellingas needed, and repatriation assistance.Caterpillar’s IAP program recognizes thatexpats and their fam ilies often do not seekthe help they need until there is a signifi-cant crisis. The Caterpillar program invitesinternational assignee fam ilies to accepthelp before a crisis develops. The com pa-

ny cites im proved retention and productivi-ty as a result of the program . Kittell saidthat the C aterpillar program w as “as goodas any I have seen in a decade of w orkingw ith m ultinational com panies.”Accepting the A w ard for Caterpillar w asDr. John Pom pe, M anager, BehavioralHealth Program s.

Pricew aterhouseC oopers’“UlyssesProgram m e”, a global leadership develop-m ent program that w as started in 2001and has sent 80 partners from 32 territo-ries on 26 projects in 20 different devel-

oping countries w as announced by PhilipBerry. O ne of the objectives of the pro-gram m e is “to integrate stakeholder col-laboration into the role of high perform -ance business to create sustainable successfor com m unities and m arkets across thew orld.” An exam ple of this w ould be the2005 Rural Electrification Project in

M adagascar w here four Pw C Partners fro

Russia, France, Indonesia, and the US w eto the A ndapa and Sam bava D istricts ofM adagascar to w ork w ith a U N DP to do social-econom ic study to guide the selec-tion of projects best suited to reducepoverty and create econom ic grow th. Thprogram m e consists of eight w eeks ofpreparation, eight w eeks on location, anda w eek of review and recom m endations,plus follow -up. A m ong the benefits Pw Csees for this program m e is creating “asustainable brand in w hich Pw C is differetiated by the quality of our relationshipsw ith our people, our clients and the comm unity.” Accepting the Aw ard forPricew aterhouseC ooper w as Richard BairG lobal H um an Capital Leader and K ellieRoberts, Ulysses Program m e M anager.

Part of the presentation cerem ony includea look at the sustainability them e as it relaed to Caterpillar. Judson Scruton intro-duced this them e stating that sustainabilitis one of the key w ords in Corporate SociaResponsibility (CSR)—in CorporateCitizenship. He m entioned that if a com -pany is successfully sustaining its em ployeein overseas assignm ents, or using biofuels

its equipm ent, or is partnering w ith suppliers w ho are them selves practicing sustain-ability, or those com panies are learningfrom the leading C SR theories being taughin Business Schools…then the C aterpillarstory dem onstrates this full cycle.”

CONTINUED — PAG

NEWS

Corporate Programs Awarded Global Citizenship Awards

LEFT: PwC's Kelli e Rober ts and Richard Baird; CENTER: Caterp illar ' s Dr. John Pompe; RIGHT: Pfizer' s Rehka Chalasani



MANAGEMENT

International Assignment Program Review:

A Multi-Functional Approach

“Whose respon sibility is it?”

by CHERYL SPIELMA N, Part ner, U.S. Human Capit al Practi ce

and KRIS MORGAN, Senio r M anager Hum an Capital Practice

ERNST & YOUNG, LLP

An international assignm ent program is one of the m ost com plex yet critical pieces of acom pany’s global strategy. It is the vital tool that allow s the com pany to deploy its

talent—w hen and w herever in the w orld it’s needed m ost—in a m anner that is efficientand cost-effective.

Because such program s are often tim e-consum ing and com plicated to put in place, m anycom panies believe they have done w ell sim ply to see that they’re im plem ented. How w ellthey’re im plem ented, how ever, is now affected by the m andates of Sarbanes-O xley for the

review of internal controls as w ell as by the dem ands of a global m arketplace for increas-ingly com petitive assignm ent processes and assignee packages. In short, effective im ple-m entation is not a unilateral function.

W hile com panies understand the im portance of re-assessing their international assignm entprogram s, this second round review can be as com plex as establishing the program in thefirst place, especially w hen the question loom ing large is, “W hose responsibility is it any-w ay?” That in itself is a com plex answ er, as this is a m ulti-functional challenge thatextends beyond the dim ension of global m obility. Leaving out im portant program com po-nents and stakeholders from this essential reassessm ent can m ean the difference betw eena successful and com petitive program and one that fails to m eet the needs of the com pa-ny as w ell as the assignees.

G ranted, there is no single right w ay for every organization to review and m odify its inter-national assignm ent program . A confluence of factors, from tax treaties and m ultinational

agreem ents to increasingly global regulatory requirem ents, point to the need for a cross-functional steering com m ittee, in w hich each m em ber understands the com pany’s interna-tional m obility program objectives, the role each business function plays in the program ,and the expectations for its perform ance in the assignm ent process.

Such an approach helps ensure that as significant decisions are m ade along the w ay, thefunctional groups affected are given the opportunity to provide im m ediate feedback andshape the outcom es of those decisions. M ost im portantly, this approach underscores thefact that the assignm ent program is not m erely a hum an resources function (or com pensa-tion or tax, as the case m ay be). Rather, effective program m anagem ent requires collabo-ration and ow nership on the part of m ultiple key groups w ithin the com pany.

A m ong the m any areas of an organization that m ay w arrant inclusion on the steeringcom m ittee, several are m ore obvious than others—representation from hum an resourcesgeneralists, for exam ple, perhaps from m ultiple global locations, then com pensation, bene-

fits, and payroll, and corporate tax. Beyond these functional groups are four others thatare frequently overlooked but nonetheless im portant in orchestrating a com prehensive andw ell-thought-out international assignm ent program : inform ation technology, corporatefinance, em ploym ent, and expatriate tax services providers, and internal audit.

Inform ation technology is fundam ental to the w orkings of all global organizations.M aking sure a com pany uses its existing technology intelligently, effectively, and efficientlyis crucial, as is m aintaining constant aw areness of other tools available in the m arketplace

CONTINUED — PAGE 34

Cheryl Sp ielman Kris M organ

8 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• AWARDS – CONTINUED

To illustrate this point the presentationincluded looking at the video on the w ebsite of Fairm ount M inerals, a m ajor m inerals com pany that supplies C aterpillar w ithm aterials to build their equipm ent and

w orks w ith them to develop a process foreusing spent sand for fertilizers to grow ncorn for ethanol com panies to producebiofuels. C aterpillar m akes biofuel equipm ent; Fairm ount M inerals buys C aterpillabiofuel diesel equipm ent.

Fairm ount M inerals has a m ajor sustain-ability focus throughout their operation, m ore than $300 m illion dollar operationw ith operations in the U S, C anada, M exicand soon to be in C hina. They have w onnum erous aw ards from m ajor environm etal organizations. Fairm ount M inerals’Vfor Adm inistration, Jack W ym er, w as atthe G LO BA L H R N EW S CorporateCitizenship A w ards program to accept acertificate for Corporate C itizenshipTeam w ork as it related to Caterpillar.

Unlike som e C orporate C itizenship andCSR Aw ards, G LO BA L HR N EW S CorporaCitizenship A w ards w ere chosen from verspecific program s nom inated by the companies them selves.

"W e w ere honored to have such outstanding program s to recognize w ith our firstCorporate C itizenship A w ards. Each ofthese program s m akes a distinctive andvaluable contribution to global m anage-m ent. W e firm ly believe that effectiveglobal m anagem ent m easurably contributto better understanding, hum an develop-m ent and perhaps to w orld peace, and Ibelieve that com panies and their interna-tional assignees and their fam ilies are actually “everyday A m bassadors”living andw orking in the com m unity and com ing intdaily contact w ith local residents, businesses, and organizations," said Ed Cohen,

Editor and Publisher of G LOBA L HR N EW S

The next G LO BA L H R NEW S CorporateCitizenship Aw ards Reception andCerem ony for com panies prim arily locatein Europe, the M id East or A frica, w ill beheld on 28 N ovem ber 2007 in London,England, as an integral portion. Details aravailable at w w w .globalhrnew s.com . ■



COVER STORY

Susan MusichTHE WORLD BANK and

INTERNATIONAL FINANCECORPORATION

GLOBALHRNEWS: About Susan...w hereis your hom etow n?

SM: I w as born in Detroit, M ichigan, andspent half m y childhood there and half inTucson, A rizona. I’ve been fortunate tohave also lived in the Philippines, CostaRica and M exico.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W here did you go tocollege/university? W hat w ere yourm ajor and interests?

SM: I studied for m y undergrad atN orthern Arizona U niversity in Flagstaff.M y degree is in C om m unications, Public

Relations and Journalism . M y interestsw ere really in w riting and photography.Then I did m y graduate w ork at G eorgeM ason U niversity in Viriginia and reallyfocused on the cultural aspects related toan international career transition.

GLOBAL HRNEWS: D escribe any specif-

10 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

ic extra-curricular achievem ents duringthose years?

SM: Aside from bartending to pay for col-lege, I w orked on the school new spaper andalso w orked as a pantom im e occasionally.Can you im agine m e being quiet?! I w as

also part of an honors sorority, but w e spentm ore tim e drinking beer than acting sm art!

GLOBALHRNEWS: A s a young girl,w hat did you dream of doing w hen youw ould be an adult?

SM: A s a young girl, I w as ill w ith heartproblem s and spent m any days in bedw riting about anything that cam e to m ind.W hen I w as in the hospital for severalm onths in H ouston, there w ere specialistsand m edical residents from all over the

w orld—A sia, Latin A m erica, A frica,Europe—w ho w ould com e through tostudy m y condition.

I w as fascinated w ith the diversity of peo-ple, accents, and com m unication styles.

I decided then that som e day I w ould try togive back to the w orld as so m any peoplefrom the w orld tried to help m e. I w antedto see all the places w here these peoplecam e from . So travel, w riting and doingsom ething good becam e m y dream s.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hile in undergrad-uate college years, can you rem em beryour "dream job" aspirations?

SM: O n spring break one year a group ofus w ent to M azatlan in M exico (im aginethen only $200 for a w eek in a beautifulhotel on a glorious beach!). O ne day afriend and I took a w alk off the beaten pathand w andered around the streets behindthe hotel strip. W e found a different w orldaltogether—a w orld that didn’t speakEnglish, a w orld that lived in sim ple block

hom es and lacked the m anicured plants,and a w orld that stared at m e because Iw as different from them . I realized thatthe hotel strip I w as staying on w as afaçade and from that point on, I couldn’tlook at M azatlan—or any tourist area forthat m atter—in the sam e w ay again.

I decided I no longer w anted to be atourist in the w orld; I decided I w anted to

be a traveler and learn m ore about w hothese people are, how their lives are diffeent, and how w e all fit together in thew orld. So, I dream ed of joining the PeacCorps to im m erse m yself in a differentw orld and experience it as an insider.

GLOBALHRNEWS: O K, now aboutw ork: W hat has been your focus?

SM: For the last 18 years, I’ve w orkedw ith global program s and internationalprofessionals on their life transition, eitheseeking em ploym ent overseas or seekingsupport in m anaging their career abroadI’ve developed m obility and career pro-gram s throughout m y career and havew ritten several books on career-related anglobal transition topics.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat w as your firsjob in this "field"? Did you like it? W hw ere the best aspects of the job that ledyou to think that indeed this w as thecareer path for you to follow ?

SM: M y first job w as w orking w ith3000+ volunteers and staff each year atthe Peace C orps w ho returned to the Uafter living overseas for 2 years in any o80+ developing countries w orking in buness, education, health and other fields

M any decided to stay in the countryw here they w ere w orking or anothercountry outside the U S. M any m arriednationals from the country w here theyw orked, so I also w orked w ith the dualcareer issue. It w as the Peace Corps vounteers w ho taught m e m uch of w hat Iknow today about international careersand life transitions in developing coun-tries. I w as their student and tried totake w hat I learned from them and turnaround into a program to support theirtransition needs. I loved this job…asthey say in the Peace C orps, it w as the

“toughest job you’ll ever love.”

I knew I w anted to continue in supportininternational career transitions as I founit to be m uch like a puzzle in trying tofigure out how all the pieces fit togetheto m ake it successful. It w as a challengeand it w as fun!

CONTINUED — PAGE



12 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• SUSAN MUSICH – CONTINUED

GLOBALHRNEWS: Looking back to theearly years helping people find overseasem ploym ent, how m uch did it m atter to youif the applicant had a personal study experi-ence abroad w hile in college or high school?

SM: Any experience abroad is extrem elyim portant to overseas em ploym ent. Traveldoesn’t necessarily count unless it’s exten-sive. Living, eating, speaking and m anag-ing the daily life and w ork tasks help onerelate to w hat an em ployer w ants to knowso they can ensure you can “handle”thejob by effectively m anaging your ow n lifeas w ell. There are m any w ays to get thisexperience, but it’s im portant to note thatliving in W estern Europe is very differentthan living in A frica or Southeast Asia.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Do you think thathaving an "international" exposure w hilein the form ative years helps prepare peo-ple for a better, m ore productive career ina "global com pany"?

SM: Absolutely…it m akes it m ore “natu-ral”to adapt w hen globetrotting and thusm aking you m ore productive m ore quicklydue to a faster adaptation process.

GLOBALHRNEWS: How w ould it w ouldm atter?

SM: I’ve m et people w ho grew up asdependents of m ilitary personnel, or chil-dren of diplom ats or kids of staff w orkingw ith global com panies…they all seem tofeel very com fortable w ith the global tran-sition. Then you have those w ho studiedin another country for a sem ester or m ore.A ll of these experiences help one to adaptm ore quickly to global transitions, w hichm akes you m ore productive and, thus,m ore valuable to the com pany.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat organizationsor com panies have you been w orking w ithto apply your special know ledge?

SM: M ost of m y w ork has been at theW orld Bank/International Finance Corpor-ation (IFC), w hich w orks in m ore than 120countries, but I also have w orked w ith

global professionals at the U .S. State D epart-m ent, the Peace Corps, the InternationalM onetary Fund (IM F), the InterAm ericanDevelopm ent Bank, the United Nations, andhave advised other global organizations andm ultinational com panies.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Your specialization?

SM: I have focused extensively on thedual career issue, som ething that m anycorporations and organizations are grap-pling w ith on how to m anage in a cost-effective w ay. I have consulted w ith sev-eral organizations on how to set up aspouse/partner career program to addressthe business need/concern and the budg-et. It’s a fascinating challenge and notthat easy to address.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Briefly, describe a'best practice' situation in w hich theem ployer actually solves the problem .

SM: The W orld Bank/IFC along w ith ourUnited Nations colleagues have had successw ith several program s that w e are im ple-m enting as an intra-agency group (TheW orld Bank is part of the U nited Nations).W e are establishing on-the-ground supportfor job seeking spouses and looking atchanges in policy for dual career couples.W e are also providing online support, w hich

has becom e quite popular.

GLOBALHRNEWS: H ow did youbecom e involved w ith the industry called“global m obility”?

SM: A s w ith m ost people in this industry,m y career som ew hat m orphed into theglobal m obility profession—starting w ithm y job running the career and transitioncenter at the Peace C orps in the 90’s.O nce I started at the W orld Bank in thelate 90’s, I w as asked to develop the

Bank’s first online C ountry Briefing Centerand started w orking on global spousecareer support. Eventually, w hile at theBank, I w as asked to w ork w ith tw o otherstaff m em bers to develop its first-everG lobal M obility C enter to support staffand fam ilies in-transition. This experiencereally introduced m e to the relocationindustry and I’ve been hooked ever since.

GLOBALHRNEWS: How m any peopleand countries have you w orked w ith ?

SM: O ver the past 18 years, I’ve probably w orked "one on one" w ith nearl8,000 international professionals, and ilikely that 4,000 of those w ere spouse

w ho w ere relocating overseas. I’vew orked w ith people m oving into m orethan 140 countries. But w hat has beeeven m ore interesting is that I’ve had thhonor of w orking w ith people w hocom e from m ore than 180 countries.The exposure to different people andtheir backgrounds and their hom e country has provided m e w ith an ongoingeducation of "life" and the experienceshave certainly m ade m y job interestingyes, a challenge on m any days, butalw ays rew arding to m e, both profes-sionally and personally.

GLOBALHRNEWS: O K, now tell usabout w orking w ith diversity... How doethat w ork in relocating people of differennationalities to different destinations?

SM: It’s quite a challenge w ith regard tproviding the appropriate personal andrelocation-services support, understandinand m anaging relevant fam ily issues and particular, the dual career issue. Uniqucultural issues arise, as you m ight expect

w hen m oving one person from a distinctculture, say from Japan into the U S orfrom Japan into Brazil...com paring, w em ust consider aspects of how to m anaga m ove of, say, an A m erican intoA rgentina or into M exico. C onsider for m om ent, w hat it w ould be like to m ovesom eone from the C zech Republic intoIndia, or som eone from India to Prague—and then im agine that the spouse m ay bfrom a com pletely different country suchas Indonesia. There are m any culturalissues that m ust be addressed before theassignm ent and during the assignm ent so

that the international assignm ent is a"success" or a job search is successful. Inparticular, the business etiquette is key toassignm ent success, and a person’s culturorientation m ust be taken into consideration w hen assisting them in understandinthe adaptations they w ill need to m ake tdevelop the appropriate skills for the newbusiness culture.



1Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

GLOBALHRNEWS: How do you nowdefine “global”?

SM: Let us put a new face on “global.”It’s no longer just the Am erican or the Britm oving to C hina. G lobalization is chang-ing that. I’ve w orked w ith a M iddleEastern professional m arried to an Asianm oving to a rem ote A frican destination—and the spouse w anted to w ork. I’vew orked w ith Africans m arried toEuropeans m oving to A sia. There havebeen Latinos m arried to A m ericans m ovingto Paris or Brazil or Sri Lanka. EasternEuropeans are m arried to Asians and m ov-ing to A frica or South A m erica.

The com binations are endless and ofteninvolve three cultures—that of the staff,the culture of the spouse, and the cultureof the destination country. Then throw inthe unique cultural experience and back-ground of the children. Som etim es theyare born in a different country and relateto a country that the parents don’t consid-er “hom e.” The cultural com plexity ofthese fam ilies is fascinating.

Addressing how these cultural backgroundsfit in w ith the country and the spouse’s jobsearch is critical to m eeting the transitiongoals of the couple and, thus, ensuring suc-cess for the goals of the com pany.

GLOBALHRNEWS:In your experiences

w orking w ith The W orld Bank and theother organizations, w hich services arem ost requested by staff… and w hy?

SM: Hands-dow n… it’s a split betw eenthe dual career support and the schoolingissue. Staff w ant and expect their fam ily tobe settled in order for them to either acceptan assignm ent and/or to be productive intheir assignm ent. O rganizations m ust—and m ost know this—address the fam ilyissues because it directly im pacts the busi-ness vis-à-vis the staff productivity, satisfac-tion, retention and assignm ent success.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat is The W orldBank doing to address this concern?

SM: W e have developed a robust supportprogram that runs the gam ut from initialm eetings w ith both the staff and theirspouse/partner, follow ed by strategic w ork

sessions one-on-one w ith the spouse pre-departure and then ongoing support isprovided after the spouse is in-country.

For the spouse/partner career support, w ehave a global netw ork and now w orkclosely w ith nine United Nations organiza-

tions to extend our reach and to create in-country, on-the-ground support to furtherhelp spouses w ith their career.

W e have also trained and developed ourow n netw ork of A frica-based destinationservice providers to support staff.

GLOBALHRNEWS: About the U N(U nited N ations) organizations, how doesthis w ork? Are the scenarios different?

SM: The issue of spouse career, its dim en-sion and its im pact on the organization hasincreased significantly over the last 5 to 8years. As a result, w e decided to develop acom m ittee of HR professionals from each ofthe interested organizations. O ur groupnow includes the W orld Bank/IFC, UNICEF,W orld Food Program m e, UNDP, UNAIDS,UNFPA, UNO PS, W HO , and UNDG .

The com m ittee began by identifying andaddressing com m on concerns about recruit-ing staff into rem ote locations and eventual-ly w e launched the first-ever Africa-w ideSpouse Career Support Program . Now , w econtinue to expand as other UN and EU(European Union) organizations gain interestand have discovered our pro-activeapproach, and the w ay w e develop toolsand resources for spouses “in the field”.

Because of the m easurable results w e havebeen pleased w ith the progress of this col-laborative initiative. Today, w e continue toexpand our services and now have estab-lished focal-points for support in nearly 40countries. W e hope to expand this“reach”annually.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Regarding W orkPerm its, the challenge. You are m ovingpeople w ith defined talents and w orkexperience; H ow are you handling this?

SM: W ith our UN partnership, w e haveour people in the selected countries col-lecting detailed inform ation about thew ork perm it process for spouses seeking

em ploym ent, and this includes inform atioon legal resources in-country for supporton necessary paperw ork for volunteerw ork; and w e w ork together to developstrategies for em ploym ent or careeroptions in countries that don’t allowspouses to w ork.

GLOBALHRNEWS: I can im agine thatyour clients are dem anding; is that correc

SM: A s w ith m ost organizations, ourgreatest challenge is m anaging expecta-tions. Let’s take spouses, for exam ple—particularly those w ith professional back-grounds such as business consultants,law yers, accountants, or m edical practi-tioners, often com e to m y office w ith anexpectation of securing em ploym entbefore they m ove into the destination

country. Realistically, this is rarely possi-ble. H elping the spouse understand thisfact, and helping them m anage the stresof uncertainty w hile keeping them m oti-vated is key. O ur m anagem ent task,indeed our goal, is to ensure that theorganization realizes a “successful”international assignm ent.

Developing and im plem enting the strate-gies, and com m unicating them , w hiledeveloping and m aintaining the best avaiable resources and the “perform ance”new ork are challenging as w ell, but frankly

m uch easier than m anaging expectationsof the “clients”.

GLOBALHRNEWS: D o you have clientcouples w ho w ork for the sam e com pany

SM: These situations vary based on anorganizations’policy. At The W orld Bankthe policy is to offer Leave W ithout Pay(LW O P) to the accom panying spouse, asw ell as a guaranteed re-entry to the organzation. In countries w here it is possible,som e couples m ay both w ork for the W or

Bank, but they cannot report to each othenor w ork on the sam e projects. O ur policieensure there is no conflict of interest.

GLOBAL HR NEWS: W hat can organiztions do to address the spouse careerchallenge?

CONTINUED — PAGE



14 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

Searching for the next big thing forbringing HR into the inner circle of

strategy?

Forget the call for talent m anagem ent andem ployee em pow erm ent. Instead try

advancing corporate social responsibility3.0 or “sustainable value creation”—som ething that com bines earlier notions ofglobal citizenship, C SR, and eco-im agina-tion into one of today’s m ost innovativeand pow erful productivity engines.

Sustainable value creation is em erging asthe business opportunity of the 21st cen-tury, a prim e driver of talent attraction andem pow erm ent of the w orkforce, and tocash in on its vast potentials w ill requirethat HR executives shed old concepts ofC SR as a burden, an obligation, or risk

m anagem ent device.

The new proactive view affirm s som ethingPeter Drucker said w hen I interview ed himshortly before he passed aw ay. W e w ereexploring the proposition that business,the m otor of our society, could be one ofthe m ost positive forces on the planet forbuilding a better w orld, and that w henjudged in relation to the needs of ourtim es, it’s becom ing increasingly clear: w ecannot eradicate extrem e poverty in thew orld w ithout the strengths of businessnor w ill w e be able to address the com plex

needs of clean energy or environm entalrestoration w ithout the innovation, entre-preneurship, and pragm atism businessbrings to the task. But then D ruckerturned the conversation upside dow n,addressing things not as a m oral issue buta business issue. H e said it w ith convic-tion — that “every global and social issueof our day is a business opportunity”.

Indeed let’s look at the top rated stars invirtually every industry. Do you think G E’sEco-Im agination initiative or the fact thatToyota has now surpassed G M and hasannounced that its entire fleet w ill beadvanced hybrid synergy cars by 2010 —

do you actually think these are being doneas charity, philanthropy, or sim ply to realizecom pliance w ith EPA standards of corpo-rate responsibility? Think again.

CSR 1.0 w as all about com pliance and riskreduction, the type of focus m eant toavoid m eltdow ns such as the dem ise ofArthur Anderson and Enron.

CSR 2.0 w as about being seen as a goodcorporate citizen and going beyond regu-latory com pliance in areas such a strategicphilanthropy and the em ergence of triple

bottom line thinking about people, profitand planet. It even introduced the posi-tive potentials of eco-efficiency and realiz-ing cost savings in the process.

But today — let’s call it sustainability 3.0— is all about energizing the w orkforceand supercharging disruptive innovation,exactly the kind that opens new m arkets,creates industries, and attracts investorsand leading talent. W hen a W al-M artannounces that it w ill suddenly be pur-chasing tons of organic, non-toxic cottonw ithin the decade, the people passion ofthe com pany soars and a w hole industryshifts. A trend is m ounting that is biggerthan anyone in H R has ever predicted.

O n M ay 23, 2007, the trade publicationG LO BA L H R N EW S raised eyebrow s bylaunching — it’s the first to the best of m yknow ledge — the first H R-based prize forleadership in corporate citizenship.

It w as a signal event, like a lighthouse,shining a light on a task, agenda, andhuge opportunity for the H R function ofthe future.

O n the surface it is clear. Com panies

everyw here are rushing tow ard the oppotunities of “green everything”-- greenproducts, clean energy, healthy organicfood, clean air, hybrid cars, and the desigof sustainable com panies as great corpo-rate citizens. They are designing factoriethat give back m ore energy to the w orldthan they use. They are helping to eradi-cate poverty through profitable business.They are designing products that leavebehind no w aste, only “food”for the nebiological or technical cycles of productioBut at a deeper level w hat is less visible ithe “how ”of becom ing a leading-edge

star in sustainable value creation.The m ost successful cases of change, suchas those highlighted in the aw ard cerem o-ny, point to one group, an unsung herothat is the key driver of success. In aw ord it is HR. W hy? Because it’s thehum an dim ension of the process of innovation, though less definable, w hich is m oreessential than the technological in becom -ing a leader in sustainable enterprise.

View this article as an introduction to avast, exciting trend — perhaps the m ostim portant to ever hit the HR field. In

upcom ing colum ns w e w ill single out theleaders and pioneers. W e w ill zero in onthe business benefits, for exam ple, howthe pursuit of higher purpose engagesem ployees hearts and m inds in w ays thatm ake their enterprises and com petitive —and profitable — by view ing sustainabledevelopm ent challenges not as burdens

CONTINUED — PAGE

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Business as an Agent of World BenefitSustainabilit y as t he HR Opport unit y of t he 21st Centu ry

by DAVID COOPERRIDER, Prof essor an d Chairman of th e Depart ment of Organ izatio nal Behavior

WEATHERHEAD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

David .Coo per rid [email protected]



CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AWARDS

GLOBAL HR NEWS presented it s Corporate Citizenship Awards in New

York on M ay 23rd follow ing the Conference on World Trade & International

Assignments. Pfizer, Inc was one of the three w inners. The follow ing sec-

tion recognizes and honors the Pfizer Global Health Fellows Program.

Pfizer’s program overview is a model of informed advocacy. The

journal and report excerpts from Al ison Hager’s Fellowship to Rwanda

demonstrate the skill, passion, and humanit y of t he Fellows and show why

Pfizer says that t he Fellows “see the specific needs on t he ground, learn

new skills and deepen their comm itment t o solving t he challenges of global

health care.”

16 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

The Pfizer Global Health Fellowsprogram is a competitive programopen to Pfizer colleagues world-wide who meet the specificeligibility requirements for theassignment as well as thefollowing criteria:

• A strong performance history• A minimum of five years of service with

Pfizer or its affiliates• A strong commitment to volunteerism and

social responsibility

• Experience with disadvantagedpopulations

• Demonstrated flexibility in working inchallenging or difficult environments

• Supervisor’s and HR representative’swritten approval to hold colleague’sposition open for the duration of

the assignment

They are also m anifestations of Pfizer’s over-arching purpose: helping people livehealthier lives. In fulfilling this m ission, Pfizerprioritizes three key arenas: discoveringand developing new m edicines; im provingaccess to m edicines; and finding health sys-tem solutions. The G lobal Health Fellow sprogram has allow ed us to advance all threein a new w ay for us –and for m ultinationalcom panies across industries.

THE CHALLENGE

That overall challenge w as broad: the lack of

access to basic health services in the devel-oping w orld and the devastation w rought bydiseases long since eradicated in w ealthiernations w as dram atically increasing. In the1990s, the pharm aceutical industry w as fac-ing pressure from international advocacygroups to address the overw helm ing needcreated by the AIDS pandem ic in A frica.. Inresponse, Pfizer launched the D iflucan prod-uct donation program to treat opportunisticinfections related to HIV/AIDS. How ever, theneed in A frica w ent far beyond m edicinesand Pfizer leadership w anted to do m ore –to go above and beyond. Thus, in 2002 thenCEO Hank M cKinnell, later supported byG eneral Counsel and current CEO JeffreyKindler, charged his leadership team w iththe task of developing a corporate m odelthat utilized Pfizer’s in-house hum anresources –on the ground.

Pfizer w orks w ith experienced N G O part-ners to identify high im pact, local capacity

Pfizer Global HealthFellows Program

THE FACES

A scientist w orking on a database toim prove patient care at a refugee cam p innorthern K enya. A research m anager bring-ing her skills to bear on an AIDS vaccineclinical trial in Uganda. A doctor assessingtraining for m edical colleagues in Russia.

These are the faces of Pfizer’s G lobal

H ealth Fellow s Program (G HF), an innova-tive public-private partnership that lever-ages our m ost valuable resource –our peo-ple - to address system ic public healthchallenges in developing nations.

N ow in its fourth year, the G H F programselects volunteers from am ong Pfizerem ployees to serve w ith non-profit organi-zations in developing countries. Theirgoal: transfer know ledge and technicalskills to build capacity over a period ofthree to six m onths that w ill be helpfullong after they have gone hom e. The

128 scientists, clinical researchers, financialand data analysts, nurses, doctors, H Rm anagers and others, w hom Pfizer hasdeployed to 30 developing countries, allshare an incredible desire to do good. W iththe strategic guidance, established partner-ships, and technical resources of Pfizer,these individuals becom e pow erful cata-lysts for change.

building assignm ents encouraging em ployees to apply for deploym ents from 3-6m onths. Pfizer pays their salaries and alldirect expenses, w hile m aintaining theirjobs at hom e, and provides grants to N G Opartners to help leverage the w ork of theFellow s. Pfizer identifies assignm ents tai-

lored to local needs that require specifictechnical skills; and em phasizes teachingand training of local nationals.

DISTINCTIVENESS AND INNOVATION

The m ost distinctive features of Pfizer’sG lobal Health Fellow s program is its goalbuilding sustainable capacity through acustom ized approach to local needs and aw illingness to com m it staff for a period oup to 6 m onths. In 2002, Pfizer scannedthe corporate volunteering landscape, yetcould find no precedent for such a pro-gram . A Boston University team of

researchers com m issioned by Pfizer and thU .S. Agency for International D evelopm encalled the custom ized approach “both acore strength and a m anagem ent chal-lenge.”W hile w e found a num ber of corporate program s involving voluntary serv-ice, w e found none that w ent beyond a



1Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

com m itm ent of a few w eeks w ith fullcom pany backing.

A second innovation involved goingbeyond placem ents w ith sm all local grass-roots organizations but also to governm entagencies like the M inistries of H ealth in

Kenya and Tanzania, and large m ulti-lateralorganizations, like U N ICEF and the W HO .The G H F program has enabled Pfizer toopen a new dialogue w ith these criticalstakeholders that has fostered a w holenew level of im proved efficiency andunderstanding of our business and corem otivations.

Finally, Pfizer m anagers innovated sim plyby devising solutions for questions no cor-poration had ever asked. H ow could w ebest identify and respond to local needs?H ow do w e support our partners’develop-m ent of “capacity-building”assignm ents?H ow do w e select partners? How do w ecreate a process for our partners to in-turnselect Fellow s?

The BU assessm ent w as correct. To answ erthese questions w as a “m anagem ent chal-lenge,”necessitating a stream of innova-tive ideas. The result: a program that hasbeen distinctive in both broad philosophi-cal thrust and attention to sm all detail.

MEASURABLE EFFECT ON

THOSE IT SERVES

The G H F program serves a variety of con-

stituents: patients, partners, Fellow s,investors, and m anagers. W e talk aboutsom e in the follow ing section. Here w efocus on patients and partners.

From the outset, Pfizer w as determ ined tobe as rigorous w ith m easuring philanthro-py as w e are in developing m edicine. TheBU assessm ent w as the second of m anyevaluation exercises, tw o of w hich are stillin progress.

O verall, these studies dem onstrate success:of 100 NG O partner evaluations, 79%

rated volunteer effectiveness as “high-im pact.” The program has w on alm ostuniversal support from partner organiza-tions; one partner calculated that it w ouldhave cost it as m uch as $150,000 to repli-cate w hat one Pfizer Fellow had produced.

W e see the usefulness of our GHF Fellow spartly, by the range of w ork they’ve com -pleted. They have helped train clinical and

research personnel in m edicine, pharm acy,and nursing, strengthen laboratories andfinancial control system s, codify best prac-tices, w rite clinical protocols, and designfundraising strategies –and train local staffto continue this w ork.

The Boston University researchers foundthat “over three quarters of the Fellow shipsappear to have im parted im proved skillsand/or enhanced the operations of thePartner Organization.”The research sug-gests that particularly in the one-third ofFellow s w orking to “introduce an opera-tional or m anagerial im provem ent,”Pfizerw as indeed “m oving the needle.”

W e have also sought objective m easure-m ents of the effect on patients. In onecase, a Pfizer Fellow designed a systemallow ing one NG O partner to service20,000 additional m others living w ithH IV/AID S in tw enty new sites –and plansfor seventeen m ore. Perhaps the bestexam ple, though, has been the InfectiousD isease Institute. Funded and co-foundedby Pfizer, staffed in part by G lobal HealthFellow s, this regional training and treat-m ent center currently has over 10,000active patients, and has trained m ore than1,200 health care w orkers from 26 Africancountries since its inception in 2003.

REPUTATION

A t Pfizer w e believe that to serve others isto serve our corporate interests. First, repu-tation m atters. W hen consum ers thinkfavorably of us –as they do w hen hearing

of program s like G HF –they are m ore disposed tow ards using our products. O nesurvey show ed that of custom ers w ho givcom panies a high rating for social responsibility, 94.9% w ill continue doing businew ith it, com pared to 66.6% of those w horate it low . Increasingly, governm ents ar

our custom ers. The w ay w e help peopledrives public opinion and m anages envi-ronm ental risk.

The BU researchers noted another areainvolving reputation: the G H F’s grow ingesteem am ong N G O s. “Im proved corpo-rate reputation in the N G O com m unity isvaluable accom plishm ent,”they concludeW e agree. For these are the organizationthat hold our feet to the fire to serve thopatients m ost in need and challenge ourbusiness practices in m easurable w ays. Bw orking together, w e learn from one

another and together im prove drug discoery and accessibility.

MORALE

But the im portance of the G HF program Pfizer goes beyond reputation enhance-m ent. It is im portant to staff m orale. Fovolunteers and their colleagues, this pro-gram is a m anifestation of their daily comm itm ent that has becom e em bedded inthe fiber of the com pany. Survey resultsshow that for 88% of Fellow s the experi-ence m et “all”or “m ost”of their ow npersonal and professional developm ent

goals. A nd according to the BU team ,CONTINUED — PAGE

Judges’ Note:

Information shown here are excerpts from t he Pfizer Program Overview from their nom-

inat ion documen ts. The GLOBAL HR NEWS Corporat e Citizenship Aw ard judges were

impressed by the length and depth of the commitment shown in t he Pfizer Global

Health Fellows’ assignment s. The Pfizer Fellows appeared well matched to t he projects

and positions requested by the partner organizations. Pfizer has demonstrated a com-

mendable transparency through their w illingness to w ork w ith t hird-part y researchers

and evaluators to document and analyze the development impact of t he program.Pfizer’s program overview is a model of informed advocacy. The journal and report

excerpts from Alison Hager’s Fellowship t o Rwanda demonstrate the skill, passion, and

humanity of the Fellows and show why Pfizer says that the Fellows “see the specific

needs on the ground, learn new skills and deepen their comm itment to solving the chal-

lenges of global health care.”

-- JUDSON SCRUTON



18 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

Alison Hager is a M anager in theC orporate C ontroller’s D ivision in

Pfizer’s M anhattan headquarters. She pre-viously w orked for Pharm acia before it w asacquired by Pfizer in 2003. Her academ -ic background includes undergraduatestudy in m edical anthropology and anM BA in finance. She has served as aboard m em ber for a w om en’s health andcounseling center in N ew Jersey and hasdone volunteer w ork delivering w heel-chairs in V ietnam . In 2006 she applied

for and w as accepted as a Pfizer G lobalH ealth Fellow w ith the A ccess Project inRw anda, a joint venture of the EarthInstitute and the M ailm an School of PublicH ealth at Colum bia U niversity.

The A ccess Project w orks w ith district offi-cials, district hospitals and health centersto im prove the ability of these organiza-tions to effectively provide high-qualityhealth care services to the com m unity.

A ccess Project Director Josh Ruxin from theM ailm an School says that Alison “supplied

a critical resource that is arguably asim portant as the billons of dollars nowavailable for global health care interven-tions — business adm inistration.”

By developing m anagem ent m odels for dis-trict hospitals and health centers, for exam -ple, Alison’s team aim ed to increase thenum ber of patients a local health centercould serve. For exam ple, in the case if of

the M illennium Village Project’s M ayangeHealth Center, the A ccess Project team asable to help the health center go from see-ing 5-10 patients a day to over 100.

Alison says “I can unequivocally state that Igot as m uch back as I gave, if not m ore.W orking in a new culture, facing unusualchallenges and overcom ing low resourcehurdles enhanced m y professional skillsim m ensely. I had to quickly develop cre-ative w ays of vaulting these barriers, w hileat the sam e tim e achieving quick results.O ur w ork to im prove access to health carehad an im m ediacy to it that dem andedquick and sustainable solutions.

“Having now returned to m y role at Pfizer,I experience daily the benefits of w hat Ilearned through m y w ork in Rw anda —consensus building and negotiation areeasier as a result of having w orked w ithdisparate parties (donors, governm ent offi-

cials, health care w orkers, patients) inanother culture; m entoring others througdifficult concepts or processes com es m ornaturally; m y problem -solving approach hbroadened; and problem s that w ould preously have seem ed near-insurm ountable nlonger give m e pause.”

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AWARDS

Pfizer Global Health FellowAlison Hager

Rwandans go about their d aily lives in Kigali.

The Pfizer Global HealthFellows Program (GHF) is

managed by the PfizerWorldwide Public Affairs &

Policy Division. The program

is overseen by Paula Luff,Senior Director for Global

Philanthropy; CharleneShapiro, Director for HR

Worldwide Public Affairs &Policy; and Lisa Foster,

Director for GlobalPhilanthropy. The program is

managed by Rekha Chalasani,Manager, Global Philanthropy;

and, Patricia Bowen, HR

Manager for the GHF program.



1Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

EXERPTS FROM ALISON’S JOURNAL

30 Jun e 2006, 7:30 p.m . EDT

Kigali. Kigali, Kigali D istrict. Kigali, KigaliD istrict, Rw anda. Kigali, Kigali D istrict,Rw anda, AFRIC A. I’m heading to A frica.The w ords don’t have their full m eaningfor m e yet. … I m ust adm it that I am feel-

ing lonely. I am beyond excited to begoing, thrilled about the experience, fairlyconfident that I haven’t forgotten anythingcritical to survival … But nonetheless, I amfeeling slightly sm all and alone in thew orld. I also realize this is probably full-onnorm al. And in no w ay is this causingregret. I know that regardless of thenature of the adventures before m e, thisopportunity w ill be life-altering …A nd Ifeel absolutely honored to be going som e-w here to try and m ake a difference.

8 July 2006, 3:10 p.m. Rw anda Time!!

H ow to get to w ork, w here to buy food,and the inherent com m unication difficul-ties in a country w here people speak eitherKinyarw anda and English or Kinyarw andaand French (and som etim es, but notalw ays, all three) have been a few of thedaily challenges.

Louis, speaks very little English, so our con-versations are usually anim ated, confusing,frustrating, funny, and LO N G !

Tears and Heartbreak If you are EV ER in Kigali, you m ust visit them em orial. It is heart-w renchingly

designed, w ith the outside grounds con-taining the (for the m ost part unm arked)graves of at least 250,000 victim s of the1994 genocide.

The curators and designers pulled nopunches in the design and display of thisexhibit. There are gruesom e photos of vic-tim s, both dead and alive, taped videointerview s w ith survivors, and a 1-2 punch-in-the-stom ach at the end: one room con-taining row s and row s of actual skulls andpiles of actual bones from victim s of thegenocide; the other room containing row s

and row s of photos that fam ilies of victim shave clipped to w ires that run around theperim eter –a room of rem em brance. Theskulls and bones are displayed so that noone, anyw here, ever can claim that w hathappened here w as not a genocide. Therem em brance room is provided to honorthe victim s –from babies to elders. Noone w as spared.

There is still a sense of disbelief here thatthe international com m unity did nothingto stop w hat happened.

Tuesday, 11 July 2006, 11:07 p .m.

Rw anda Time!

Today w as m y first sojourn out of the city.W e had a m eeting in Bugesera D istrictfocused on the m utuelles, w hich are com -m unity-based health insurance program s.They are critical in providing access tohealth services to the poor and m edicallyindigent, but face a m yriad of issues: lowenrollm ent due to poor perception of serv-ices in the health centers and hospitals;non-standardization (prem ium s, services,and m anagem ent vary by tow n); poorfunding; and inability to pay. Unfortunatelyfor m e, the entire m eeting (all day) w asconducted in K inyarw anda, w hich m eans Iunderstood only tw o w ords in 8 hours –

m urakoze (m ur–uh–cozy) and am afaranga(ahm –uh-fuh-ranga), w hich m ean “thankyou”and “m oney,”respectively.

Sun day, 30 July 2006

It has been a busy tw o w eeks! W e fin-ished our drug m anagem ent assessm ent atthe hospital, presented recom m endationsfor im provem ent, and have received thegreen light to start designing and im ple-m enting. Last w eek w as spent in theoffice developing the w ork plan, doingresearch, and preparing for m eetings w iththe district m ayor. The bulk of the recom -m endations center around developing abetter drug forecasting m odel –the cur-rent one entails taking the previous year’sconsum ption, dividing by tw elve, andassum ing the resulting num ber is accuratefor each m onth. The obvious flaw s arethat this does not take into account pro-jected patient increases nor disease trends(e.g., m alaria cases skyrocket in June andJuly but are relatively rare in January). W ew ill also design and im plem ent a betterinventory m anagem ent system that hingesaround tim ely stock review s, increasedsafety stock, and internal controls. W e’ve

just hired three new district health advi-sors, so this w eek or next sim ilar w ork w illbegin in Kayonza D istrict.

Sun day, 3 Sept emb er 2006

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here fortw o m onths already. … I m iss m y friendsand m y fam ily, of course; and I m iss sushi;and I m iss having a w ide array of choices foran evening out –restaurants, theater,

m ovies, dinner parties, m useum s. But Idon’t pine for hom e. Probably because Iknow that sooner than it seem s, I w ill beback in m y old life enjoying all that I’ve beem issing. And also that upon return I’ll bedealing w ith the stresses of re-entry. Thepace of life in New York, the overw helm ing

ness of the num ber of choices, the veil ofnorm alcy –that everything is right w ith thew orld, w hen indeed it isn’t. I w orry thatw hen I com e back, I’ll slow ly begin to forgabout the disturbing poverty affecting m ucof hum anity. O r at least that I’ll be able todistance m yself, and don the veil again. Bm aybe not. M aybe once you’ve seen itclose up and personal, your perspective onthe w orld is forever altered.

Tuesday, 26 Sept emb er 2006

Since m y last entry in the first w eek ofSeptem ber, w e’ve finished the healthcare

assessm ent in M usanze District, w ritten theassessm ent report, and discussed prioritiesw ith district authorities. I’m now inM usanze again, bookending m y m onth.W e’re holding a strategic planning anddonor coordination w orkshop for four dayw ith district authorities, healthcare stake-holders and potential donors. It’s a tangibm anifestation of Access Project’s w ork, andI’m thrilled. Except for a few things: it’sfreezing here; I don’t speak enoughKinyarw anda to get the jokes or participatin dinner conversation; and it’s FREEZING

here. I’m not kidding. I’m shaking as I w rthis on a break from developing the strategplan. W e’re staying and w orking at G orillNest, a quite nice lodge near the base of thvolcanoes. The grounds are gorgeous, theroom s w ell appointed, the food very good

CONTINUED — PAGE

There have been 128 PfizerGlobal Health Fellows.

Positions with partner NGOs

are screened and postedonline, tw ice per year. Fellowsapply to these specific posi-

tions in a com petitive process.Approximately one in six qual-ified applicants per position is

accepted.



22 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

Relocation services began to be inform al-ly rendered in Brazil about 25 years

ago, and it w as a necessity for a grow ingpopulation of expatriates that in its m ajori-ty didn’t speak the local language.

The m ain goal w as to give the expatriateand accom panying fam ily a support to finda residence, a school and to learn their w ayaround the new location. The intentionsw ere good, but there w as very little know l-edge on the relocation business itself.

Today, a m ore professional service can befound and the level of professionalism ism uch higher. In the 1990’s, in the early

stages of the relocation as a business inBrazil, the new ly found independent relo-cation com panies’core business, follow ingthe international tendency, w as to providetheir corporate clients w ith high-qualityrelocation services.

G lobalization helped this business grow inBrazil, too. A broader and m ore professional

service becam e available, but the goal w asstill to provide the expatriate and accom pa-nying fam ily a custom ized support for thew hole expatriation process. O f course, therew ere policies to be follow ed and the profes-sional w ould be seeing that the best servicew ould be given for the best price. Service

w as paid by the hour, up to a m axim umpre-approved by the hiring com pany. Theservice rendered w as supported by a reporduly signed by the expatriate.

The range of requested services w as thenm uch m ore flexible, and this w ould allow

the relocation professional to be reallypresent to help the fam ily in the m ost different phases of the relocation process. Aa result of this m odel a custom ized serviccould still be rendered. The independentrelocation com panies follow ing this m odecould act as true representatives of theexpatriate’s needs w ithin the client com pany’s rules and policy. The business w as todeliver quality services to the transfereeand m ake sure the com pany’s policy w asbeing follow ed, keeping the expatriationbudget under control. There w ere no referal fees involved; their sole and only rev-

enue w as from the client com pany and tohave a transferee highly satisfied w ere thegolden rule of the business.

This m odel w as not exactly the one inplace at the sam e tim e in m ost countries,

CONTINUED — PAGE

WORLD TRADE

Industry Servicesin Brazilby ANA M ARIA GIESBRECHT, GMS, Man agi ng Partner

ana.giesbrecht@fo calpoint .com .br

FOCAL POINT GLOBAL M OBILITY SERVICES, Sao Paul o, Brazi l



EMPLOYEESget fast, easy and up-to-date online information, reducingfrantic calls requesting details about a host country.

YOU GET MORE than the best country information; 144 destinations cov-ered plus 72 Business Travel Cities, Interactive Help Desks, Security Links andAlerts, Move Planner, Spouse Career and School Advisor, Visa, Passport andHealth Database, Online Candidate Self-Assessment Tool, plus new WorldHousing Costs.

ATTENTION SERVICE-PROVIDERS: Licensing & Distribution

Programs available.

NEW FOR CHINA: new regional profiles: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin. Three additional regions, including Chengdu, available Spring '07.

Living Abroad Europe • Rue de l’Oiseleur, 2/1

4802 Heusy-Belgium • Tel: +32 (0) 87 77 69 5

[email protected] • www.livingabroad.com

THEMOST COMPREHENSIVEOnline Country Information &Tools for InternationalAssignments

Living Abroad LLC • 501 Westport Ave. #255

Norwalk, CT USA 06851 • Tel: +1-203-221-1997

[email protected] • www.livingabroad.com

LIVING ABROADTHE WORLD ONLINE

24 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

Beginning in 1951 w ith only six m em berstates, the European U nion (“EU”)

today has 27 m em ber states and a popula-tion of 490 m illion inhabitants. Each tim ethe EU expands, the com m on perception isthat nationals of new m em ber states nolonger require w ork authorization for otherEU m em ber states. The reality, how ever, isless straightforw ard, and requirem ents toobtain w ork authorization and residence

perm its m ay continue to apply.

Under the EU Treaty, a citizen of a m em berstate is granted unconditional access to thelabor m arkets of any EU m em ber state asw ell as the unrestricted freedom of m ove-m ent throughout the EU. W hen a m em ber

state first joins, how ever, it faces a transi-tional period during w hich tim e its nationalsare not autom atically given such rights andprivileges, allow ing the existing m em bers toprepare their local labor m arkets for theincrease in the size of the available w ork-force and their public infrastructure foradditional m ovem ent of people.

In the last three years, the EU has expand-

ed rapidly. O n M ay 1, 2004, the EUenlarged its borders to include 10 new“accession”countries: the Republic ofC yprus (not including the Turkish Republicof Northern Cyprus), Czech Republic,Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, M alta,Poland, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.

Then, on January 1, 2007, Bulgaria andRom ania w ere adm itted to the EU . Priorto each w ave of enlargem ent, m ost of th“pre-enlargem ent”countries enacted a“2+3+2 transitional”restriction against tfreedom of m ovem ent for “accession”nationals by continuing to require w ork

and residence perm its of these nationalsfor an initial tw o-year term , an interimthree-year and final tw o-year term . A ftethe transitional period, all restrictions m ube lifted. The 15 pre-enlargem ent EUm em ber countries include A ustria,Belgium , Denm ark, Finland, France,G erm any, G reece, Ireland, Italy,Luxem bourg, the N etherlands, Portugal,Spain, Sw eden and the U nited Kingdom .

A s this transitional period progresses, thEU m em ber states have a patchw ork ofim m igration requirem ents vis-à-vis natio

als of other m em ber states. W hile cer-tain accession states, such as M alta andC yprus, have been granted im m ediateaccess to the labor m arkets of all EUm em ber states, m ost pre-enlargem entstates continue to require nationals of th

CONTINUED — PAGE

LEGAL

The European Union:Imm igration Requirements fo r New Member States

by LANCE KAPLAN, Partn er and NA DIA YAKOOB, At to rney

FRAGOM EN, DEL REY, BERNSEN & LOEWY, LLP



2Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

Going on an international assignm ent is aserious com m itm ent for any em ployee.

As their HR coordinator your roll is to m akesure that the process of relocation and accli-m ation is as sim ple and stress free as possi-ble. W hile m ost corporate H R groups out-source the end to end relocation process to

a relocation com pany that can handleeverything from rem ovals to spousal assis-tance program s, one im portant aspect ofinternational assignm ents has only recentlycom e into the lim elight; currency.

As the US Dollar (USD ) hascontinued to w eaken againstall m ajor currencies such asthe Euro (EU R), protectionfrom currency risk has neverbeen m ore im port for bothindividuals on assignm entand HR groups alike.

For exam ple, let’s assum ethat you helped anAm erican em ployee relocateto Europe on a m ediumterm assignm ent at thebeginning of January of thisyear. In the past 4 m onthsalone the U SD has w eak-ened nearly 7% against,m aking it 7% m ore expensive for anAm erican living overseas because ofexchange rate loss alone.

In addition, if your clients use their person-al bank to transfer their funds they couldlose an additional 1-3% through poorexchange rates and bank fees.

From the perspective of the HR profession-al, currency fluctuations can have a hugenegative effect on your bottom line. If theem ployee earns $120,000 per year andover 6 m onths the USD w eakens by 8% ,

they are loosing around $800 per m onth.These losses are generally reim burse by HRgroups through C O LA paym ents and/orrecalculated salary adjustm ents done byoutsourced com pensation services part-ners. To highlight the im pact of this exam -ple in real term s if you m anage an expatri-

ate population of 20 assignees you arelooking at $16,000 per m onth (or$192,000 per year) in C O LA paym ents ontop of the expenses associated w ith out-sourcing those adjustm ent calculations.

in order to m ake the process as sim ple andcost effective as possible.

Play it safe w ith a ‘RPA’ contr act

Your em ployees can protect them selves frocurrency risk w hile on assignm ent by settinup a Regular Paym ents Abroad contract.This free service allow s them to lock in anexchange rate for the duration of theirassignm ent. They w ill alw ays know howm uch they w ill be paid in their new countrand the transfers are autom ated and costfree for total peace of m ind. Its just likebeing on dom estic payroll.

Choo se the righ t currency partner

A ssignees should consider a few thingsw hen choosing a currency specialist.Q uestions they should ask w hen choosinga com pany include:

•A re there any fees associated w ith the

currency services the com pany offers?•Does the com pany offer highly com pettive exchange rates?

•Does the com pany have a trusted brandnam e in the industry?

•Does the com pany offethe right basket of currenservices for the em ployeepersonal circum stance?

By encouraging yourem ployees to speak w ith currency specialist you cannot only save them tim e,

hassle and m oney on thecurrency transfers, but yocan also help to save yourcom pany tens of thousanof dollars in unnecessaryadm inistrative and com -pensatory costs.

W hether an individual istransferring their salary,

buying a hom e overseas, or sim ply sendinsm all paym ents abroad…w orking w ith acurrency specialist is the sm art thing to do

If you have a specific currency related quetion or w ould like m ore inform ation abouthe services provided by HiFX, sim ply e-m ail: info@ hifx.com or call +1 (415) 678-2770. w w w .hifx.com . ■

WORLD TRADE

International Assignees Beware!by DOUGLAS JOHNSON, M anagi ng Business Developm ent Con sult ant

HiFX • doug .joh nson@hi fx.com

M ore and mo re emp loyees are t aking int ernat ion al

assignment s. But w hat gu idance should you b e

giving t o help t hem p rot ect against currency risk?

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU

GIVE YOUR CLIENTS?

Shop aro und

W hen it com es to transferring funds m ake

sure your em ployees shop around.Currency specialists like San Francisco basedHiFX, Inc. typically provide m uch betterexchange rates than banks, resulting in atangible savings of a few hundred or even afew thousand dollars. In addition to pro-viding better exchange rates, currency spe-cialists can talk your em ployees through thevarious currency strategies available to them

globalhrnews.com



2Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

How ever, looking back, I see how the find-ings are consistent w ith observations m adeby Drs. Schon Beechler and M ansourJavidan in their article Leading w ith a G lobalM indset. Noting the need for an increasingsupply of global leaders, they call for proac-tive developm ent of:

. . . a new and diff erent breed of global

leaders who can take decisions and actions

that f acilitate the development of th e com-

plex netw ork of int ernal and external con-

nections wit h ind ividuals, t eams, and

organizations w ith many diff erent political,

social, and cultural systems.

HR: OPPORTUNITY TO BE

IN THE GLOBAL VANGUARD

For H R professionals, this presents a high-stakes, high-im pact opportunity to be inthe vanguard of global organizationaldevelopm ent. H R professionals are alreadythe “go to”source for policies and proce-dures regulating m ultinational m obility,com pensation and benefits. They are oftenthe CEO s eyes and ears for m onitoringconstituent reactions to strategic globaldecisions. Taking responsibility for develop-ing m ulti-dim ensional, m ulti-nationalem ployees is just one step rem oved.

The unfolding dilem m a, how ever, is howto best tackle the challenge. How m any“global leaders”m ust an organizationhave? W ould it m ake sense for som e m an-

agers to develop a w orldw ide outlookw hile others continue to stick to theirproverbial knitting?

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending onyour point of view , there is no vetted for-m ula, checklist or bundle of hum anresource practices that apply in all situa-tions. Consequently, HR professionals m ustcast them selves in the role of catalyst –supporting, funding and developing A ctionInquiry-style program s that do three things:1) help executives and m anagers re-con-ceptualize “their w orld”in reference to

the realities of the big, w ide w orld; 2)expose m anagers to developm ent experi-ences that alter ingrained, ethnocentrichabits; and 3) facilitate designs of new ,m ore global organizational m odels.

WIDENING FRAMES OF REFERENCE

In fact, w hen HR professionals ask m e todescribe exact steps to developing “globalleaders,”I decline. I em phasize instead

that each organization m ust pursue itsow n ideals of global leadership w ithin afram ew ork that:

· builds shared organizational understand-ing about doing w ork on the w orldstage;

· addresses internal barriers to effectiveglobal operations;· identifies people and positions that m usthave the m ost com prehensive outlook;

· crafts action plans for developing inte-grated and enlightened leadershipbehaviors.

D eveloping global leaders is less about achecklist and m ore about pursuing w hatA ndrew H . Van de Ven, et. al., called“C ycling the Innovation Journey”(Seegraphic) –an organizational process ofexploring divergent ideas and exploiting

convergent view s about w hich ideas toim plem ent.

For one telecom m unications provider w ith alengthy m ultinational history, the vision ofglobal leadership developm ent started w ithexecutive team alignm ent, continued w ithdata collection across m any countries,involved recruiting high-potential globalcham pions, and resulted in revisions tocoaching protocols and end-of-year review s.In contrast, a m id-size engineering com panyw ith a sm aller geographic footprint andbudget constraints opted for a robust 360-

degree profile of current m anagers and peri-odic check-ins to discuss strengths, w eak-nesses, issues and opportunities. An innova-tive financial services organization hired ananthropologist to deliver global “learningjourneys.”The first involved 25 executivestraveling for eight days in rem ote areas ofThailand. About 2,000 m anagers w ent onshorter trips to several different countries.

The approaches are vastly different andhighly-custom ized, but all have one ele-m ent in com m on. They involved creatingforum s in w hich organizations took tim e to

ask tough but necessary questions: Howglobal are w e going to be? A little? A lot?The w hole nine yards? A nd how m ust w echange to get there?

Patricia Shafer is president of Compel

Organizat ional Excellence Alliance, Ltd., and a

Global Management columnist f or GLOBAL HR

NEWS. Contact her at: pshafer@compelcon-

sulting.com. ■

MANAGEMENT

InternationalEmployment Company:Managing a Global Workf orce

by ROY PENDERGRASS

Vice-Presiden t and Manager

Dalla s of fi ce, ORC

roy.penderg [email protected]

Although m ultinational corporations havbeen using international em ploym ent

com panies (IEC s) for decades, they w ere traditionally found in only a few industry sec-tors. In recent years, how ever, aw areness othe potential business value of IEC s hasspread across industry lines, w ith m ore andm ore organizations taking an active interes

in them . Com panies now view IECs as a kestrategic com ponent to be considered intheir overall global com pensation planning

Through m ultiple form s, these em ploy-m ent vehicles offer flexibility in addressinand achieving specific corporate objec-tives. This article w ill provide a briefoverview of how an IEC w orks and pres-ent key issues to be addressed.

IEC AS INTERMEDIARY

In its m ost fundam ental and com m on forman IEC is essentially a payroll com pany.

Typically, it has no incom e other than em ploee costs and fees for perform ing adm inistrative services for the respective parties. To heexplain how an IEC operates, the chart“Bridging the G ap,”graphically represents aIEC as an interm ediary betw een em ployeesand the host-country organization for w hichthe em ployee w ill be w orking. The expatriathas an em ploym ent contract or secondm enagreem ent w ith the IEC , w hich, in turn, hasan inter-com pany agreem ent w ith the host-country organization.

CONTINUED — PAGE

BRIDGING THE GAP

Expatriate ----- IEC ----- Host-country compan

employment contract inter-company agreemeor

secondment agreement



30 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s


SM: I think all organizations w ant to dosom ething—need to do som ething—butdon’t alw ays know w hat to do, or evenhow to do it.

Yet there are a few things organizations cando to get started, such as assessing w hatthe needs are by talking w ith the staff andspouses — holding focus groups is an easyto do thing — to identify the needs and thetype of support they are w anting from theorganization. The com pany needs to get asense of w ho the spouses are, professionallyspeaking. Then the organization needs togo from there to develop an appropriateprogram based on their budget. Program scan be inexpensive and fairly basic, but theycan also be “com plex”w ith a higher pricetag. You don’t alw ays have to spend a lot of

m oney to offer an effective program . Infact, som e of the m ost effective program sI’ve seen often cost less than the career“grant”or “allow ance”funding that m anycom panies provide to spouses/partners.Technology, in fact, is m aking a significantdifference in the w ay cost effective servicescan be delivered.

GLOBALHRNEWS: A ha ! C an yougive us a benchm ark?

SM: The program w e have going w ith

our UN colleagues is very low cost and hasresulted in m any spouses feeling support-ed, obtaining w ork perm its, and gettingjobs. I think that collaborative program -m ing am ong com panies is som ething thatneeds to be explored as it benefits all, hasa higher im pact and reduces the cost forall involved. O ur online service is m aking ahuge im pact in helping spouses to accessneeded inform ation about the jobresources in their country.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Africa has been astrong focus of The W orld Bank. You arepublishing a book… Africa Job Search:Resources, Strategies and BusinessEtiquette for International Professionals.W hy did you w rite it?

SM: First, let m e say that I’m really excit-ed about this book. There have beenm ore than 100 people involved in the

developm ent of this book. It’s the first-ever book on finding a job in A frica.

This book w as originally developed as aresource for spouses and dual career cou-ples in a career transition, but now hasgrow n to be a tool for m any different

populations.Spouses w ill clearly benefit from theunique resources and strategies in thebook, but recruiters w ill also benefit byhaving access to the plethora of resourcesto tap w here they can locate internationalprofessionals in these countries. It’s agreat resource for any com pany w anting tosupport their spouses m oving to A frica —this includes m uch of the oil and m iningindustry as w ell as the international banksand consulting firm s and the num erousm ultinationals entering A frica as a new

destination for business.

The W orld Bank has already had a lot ofinterest expressed in the book. W e hopeand expect it to be helpful to H R and therelocation industry at large.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat m akes thisbook unique –how is it different fromother international job search books?

SM: W hat m any international job searchbooks fail to address are three critical

areas:

(1) the cultural aspect of the business

etiquette in the country;(2) the lesser know n options

for em ploym ent, and(3) the in-country netw orks that

are key to identifying job openings.

The nexus of these com ponents and thejob search is addressed throughout thisbook and has been based on strategiesthat I have used w ith thousands of individ-uals over the years.

GLOBALHRNEWS: H ow can w e getcopies of the book?

SM: It’s available on A m azon.com forindividual orders or m ultiple copies can beordered online directly from the W orldBank at w w w .w orldbank.org/publications .

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat’s next for you

SM: I'll continue m y w ork at the W orldBank/IFC . I'll also continue to consult w ithother com panies on dual career and m obity program s.

But an exciting new venture is that I’m cu

rently developing a w ebsite that has extesive inform ation on how to job search inother countries. It’s designed for thespouse in career transition or a studentlooking for international experience. Itshould also be helpful to diversity andrecruitm ent program s to learn m ore abouthe resources out there w here people loofor jobs (because w here people look forjobs are w here recruiters look for people

GLOBALHRNEWS: H ow can people

learn m ore about it?

SM: It’s called Passport C areer and can found at w w w .PassportC areer.com andthere is inform ation on the w ebsite or peple can em ail m e directly for m ore infor-m ation at sm usich@ passportcareer.com .

GLOBALHRNEWS: A nd now for yourow n w ork-life-balance questions: W hatbook(s) are you reading now for entertainm ent or escape?

SM: A re you kidding? I have a 4 and a 6year old…I read a lot of Dr. Seuss! ThouI do find tim e for the occasional book anenjoy historical fiction—particularly w heninvolves an experience in another culture

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat are yourfavorite activities w hen aw ay from w ork?

SM: I love to travel to Costa Rica w ith mkids. W hen w e can’t travel, I love to takethem anyw here new —near or far—andsee the w orld through their eyes. Theyalw ays put life into perspective for m e.They are m y teachers in life.

GLOBALHRNEWS: D o you like to cookIf yes, nam e a couple of your favoriterecipes?

CONTINUED — PAGE



32 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• IECS – CONTINUED

It is possible to establish an IEC either on-shore (i.e., situated and operating in thecorporation’s hom e country) or off-shore(i.e., situated and operating in a countryother than the corporation’s hom e coun-

try). A m enable to com plex hiring arrange-m ents, IEC s can adm inister em ployeescom ing from m ultiple hom e, and going to,m ultiple host countries. How ever, they alsow ork w ell for those organizations thatsend em ployees from a single hom e coun-try to m ultiple foreign destinations.

IEC s can alternatively take the form of asubcontractor or labor broker. Em ployeeleasing (rather than hiring an individual ona full-tim e basis) adds another dim ensionto the em ployee/em ployer relationship.

WHAT PURPOSES DO THEY SERVE?

W ith this basic understanding of an IEC ’sfunction, the next step is to explore pre-cisely w hy com panies use such vehicles asinterm ediaries. In the present com petitiveglobal m arket, im plem enting an IEC canhelp an organization achieve the follow ingm ultiple objectives.

Mob i l i t y . Em ployers, m ore than everbefore, require em ployee m obility at alllevels at any tim e to any num ber of w orldregions. The inherent nature of m anyglobal businesses, particularly those thatare project-oriented (e.g., engineering

firm s), requires sizeable w orkforces thatcan easily and quickly relocate from proj-ect to project and country to country.M oreover, effective global m anagem entand m anagem ent developm ent in m ajorenterprises require sim ilar m obility of theirkey executives and high potential staff toachieve corporate objectives w hile gaininginternational expertise.

By im plem enting an IEC , a global em ployercan reinforce a global m indset in the think-ing and behavior of its em ployees. W ith anIEC , in som e respects, “hom e”is a payroll,

not a country.

Cost savin gs. Staffing internationalem ployees through an IEC can help reducethe im pact of payroll and corporate taxes,as w ell as adm inistrative costs, for theem ployer. For exam ple, it is possible toestablish and structure an off-shore IEC in a

CONTINUED — PAGE 40


SM: No….but I like to eat and try newfoods!

GLOBALHRNEWS: Regarding travel, doyou have a couple of favorite spots…dots-on-the-m ap?

SM: I loved m y travels to Africa and hopeto return som eday soon to explore som edifferent places. I also enjoyed m y recent

visit to Brazil—w hat a fascinating countryw ith lovely people. I’d love to return to thPhilippines one day—I lived there in thelate 80’s as a Peace Corps volunteer andfound the rem ote islands to be tropicaltreasures. A nd, of course, I’ll alw ays goback to C osta Rica—m y kids are half Tico

and it’s a country of unbelievable beauty

GLOBALHRNEWS: I have learned m ucand, you are delightful to interview . Ithank you, Susan. ■



3Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne



34 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• INT’L ASSIGNMENT – CONTINUED

and how and w hen to leverage them . O necan begin to determ ine how w ell IT is fulfill-ing its role in the international assignm entprogram by getting the answ ers to som efundam ental questions:

•Is technology being properly leveraged?•Is there an opportunity to better leverage

existing technology, or w ill new technolo-gy be required?

•W hat system s w ill be used to house im por-tant program docum ents, such as policies,process flow s and m anuals, assignm entletter and secondm ent agreem ent tem -plates, initiation form s, and the like?

•H ow w ill access rights to assignm ent pro-gram inform ation and tools be determ inedand granted?

•H ow can technology be leveraged to initiateassignm ents, notify vendors and service

providers, accum ulate assignm ent-relatedcom pensation, and track assignm ent costs?

Early and active involvem ent from the com pa-ny’s inform ation technology group is critical,not only to assist in answ ering these ques-tions, but also to help identify any additionalsoftw are or technology infrastructure require-m ents and assist in selecting softw are pro-gram s and providers. IT can also initiate andm anage the often lengthy internal review s forensuring that additional technology passesstringent security, disaster recovery, systemcom patibility, and other screening procedures.C om panies m ust recognize that technology

tools and solutions are intertw ined w ithassignm ent program processes. Early involve-m ent of IT representatives helps a com panycraft its assignm ent processes w ith technologysolutions top of m ind, the final product ofw hich is m ore efficient and stream linedprocesses. The efficiencies technology drivestranslate to less tim e spent adm inistering theassignm ent program , and m ore tim e availablefor program adm inistrators and others w hotouch the program to spend on strategic,value-added activities.

C orporate Finance can be the link in deter-

m ining an efficient process for how andw here to charge assignm ent costs. W hencorporate finance is left out, the result, atbest, is an often frustrating and chaoticprocess that can delay assignm ent startdates. A t w orst, costs m ay be charged tothe w rong entity, potentially creating anunw elcom e tax situation know n as perm a-nent establishm ent exposure. D epending onthe incom e tax treaties and local tax rules in

effect, that could m ean unw anted corporatetax liability as w ell as a negative im pact onthe personal tax situation of the assignee.M any com panies lack the ability to properlyrecord assignm ent costs once incurred, w hichcan be problem atic on a num ber of levels.A t the very least, incorrectly recorded assign-m ent costs can result in overstating or under-stating the total cost of the assignm ent pro-gram , and affect m anagem ent’s ongoingability to budget for and control such costs.Even larger problem s m ay also arise, such asinaccurate reporting of assignee com pensa-tion for tax purposes, w hich can result inpenalties and interest for assignees and thecom pany. In a w orst case scenario, asassignm ent costs flow through the financialreporting process, inaccurately reflected pro-gram costs over tim e m ay place the com panyin the situation of having to restate certaincom ponents of its financial statem ents, dueto underreporting and/or w ithholding of

taxes around the w orld. Including corporatefinance in any discussion of changes toassignm ent program processes can forestallm any of these issues.

Em ploym ent and expatriate tax servicesproviders, leveraged appropriately, can dom uch m ore than triage and dam age control.Yet, as com panies review and revise theirinternational assignm ent policies, the m ajorityof the w ork is typically handled by the hum anresources professionals and/or program adm in-istrators. A nd w hen it com es tim e to finalizeassignm ent policies, m any com panies fail tosubm it these policies to their em ploym ent andexpatriate tax services provider for review . Inspite of efforts to stay abreast of them , legaldevelopm ents around the w orld often escapethe notice of hum an resources and assign-m ent program adm inistrators. Yet it is thesearcane issues and their often fluid interpreta-tions—em ploym ent and tax law , specifically—that can have the m ost direct and dram aticeffects on international assignm ent policiesand practices. It is all too com m on for com -panies to bring in their legal specialists onlyafter running afoul of local law . The costlysnafus and oversights that m ay result canoften be avoided by proactively involving the

expatriate tax services provider in the assign-m ent program review process, as w ell as m ain-taining an ongoing program of open and fre-quent com m unication am ong legal, hum anresources, and program adm inistrators.

Internal audit is arguably the m ost overlookedfunction yet the one w hose role has becom eincreasingly critical as the regulatory arena goesglobal. W ithin each com pany, rules and stan-

dards abound and serve, am ong other thingsto increase operating efficiency, ensure legaland regulatory com pliance, and m itigate vari-ous types of risk. Internal audit can be lever-aged throughout the assignm ent programreview process to perform an occasional “pulcheck”and ensure that any new or revised

processes, procedures, and policies are in linew ith com pany standards as they are created.A good exam ple of em ploying internal audit this end is in the verification that proper taxw ithholding w ithin a given country is takingplace. Representatives of the internal auditteam travel to the location, interview local paroll and accounting personnel concerningprocess, roles and responsibilities, and docu-m ent and evaluate their findings for com pli-ance w ith internal controls. Such an under-taking and others like it are considered bestpractice for com panies that are trying to im plm ent stronger internal controls underSarbanes-O xley. W hile including internal aud

throughout the assignm ent program reassessm ent process is best, at the very least, internaaudit should be consulted before processes,procedures, and policies are finalized, so thatnothing is put in place that is in conflict w ithcom pany standards.

Involving m ultiple functional disciplines in thinternational assignm ent program reviewprocess, particularly those functions w ith lesobvious im pact, m ay seem daunting andeven inefficient at first. H ow ever, a m orecom prehensive approach and inclusion ofeven tangential business areas upfront can

generate rew ards in im proved com m unica-tion, reduced risk exposure, and a m ore efficient international program overall.C om panies usually find these rew ards w ellw orth the effort.

Cheryl Spielman is a Partner in Ernst & Youn g’s U.S.

Human Capital Practice, as well as the form er

National Global Equit y and Incentive Solut ion Leade

for t he U.S. Practice. She specializes in global expa

triat e programs and global policy development,

employee leasing structu re creation, technical globa

compensation matters, key global executive retire-

ment t ax planning and global payroll diagnostic ana

sis. Cheryl can be reached by email at Cheryl.spiel-

[email protected].

Kris Morgan is a Senior M anager wit h Ernst & Youn

Human Capital Practice. She has spent mo re than

decade in intern ational and domestic human

resources, w ith experience in corporat e HR as well a

HR outsourcing and consulting. Kris can be reache

by email at [email protected].

“The view s expressed herein are those of the authorand do n ot necessarily reflect the view s of Ernst &Young LLP.” ■



3Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne



36 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

When relocating w orkers into Africa, itis essential to com prehend the reality

of the specific destination country in ques-tion. Africa is a vast continent, and w hilstcertain challenges faced in relocation andim m igration are com m on throughout the

entire area, there are also m any countryspecifics issues and differences in proce-dures that m ust be addressed.

C orporate Relocation Policy often does notcater for these local variations, henceadaptations and exceptions to existing pol-icy are frequently necessary.

CASE STUDY:SPECIFICS OF KENYA (EAST)

& NIGERIA (WEST)A COMPARISON

HOUSING MARKETSimilarities

A s for all countries throughout Africa,expatriate suitable properties in bothN igeria, W est Africa and Kenya, East A fricausually do not com e sm all, they are gener-ally luxury properties w ith several bed-room s and service quarters for staff.

W hen setting budgets for housing, ade-quate funds m ust be assigned to alsocover security provision, w hether this besupplied by the landlord of the property orsourced separately. Properties in both

countries require back up generators tocope w ith frequent pow er failures and reg-ulators for electrical equipm ent to dealw ith resulting pow er surges. In m any areasw ater purifying equipm ent is also required.

Differences

A standard rental property contract inN igeria is signed for tw o years and pay-m ent m ust be m ade up front, the lease

contract being proof of receipt of such fee.

Instead in Kenya regardless of duration ofthe lease, rental paym ents are generallydue quarterly.

It is com m on in Nigeria to include a sub-l

clause should the tenant for any reason

need to pull out of the country before

expiration of the lease, giving the possibi

ty of recouping som e of the outlay.

Costs to rent vary greatly betw een the tw

countries: in Nigeria real estate agencyfees are betw een 5 and 10% of the tota

rental charge (i.e. 2 years) and there is als

a legal fee of 10 –15% on the sam e fig-

ure that m ust be paid to the landlords’

law yer for contract preparation.

Although not required by law , in N igeria,

is highly recom m ended to have an inde-

pendent or corporate law yer review lease

contract clauses and undertake an inspec

tion into property ow nership.

WORLD TRADE

East Meets West In Africa -Similarities and Differences

by ALEXANDER ELLIS, CEO

ENTERPRISES GROUP ® , Rome Italy

[email protected]

Source:The World Factbo



3Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

In Kenya how ever, there is no real estate feefor the tenant, how ever the tenant bearsthe responsibility of paying Stam p Duty,w hich is presently 4 % annual rent andm ust also bear the costs of a law yer’s prepa-ration/ review of lease contract clauses.

As rent is paid upfront, in Nigeria a securitydeposit is not usually required, w hereas inKenya one m onth rent m ust be paid(refundable upon exit provided the propertyis left in the sam e state as w hen consigned ).

Im portant to note is that Nigerian currency(N aira ) cannot be transferred into Nigeriafrom abroad. If therefore, the landlordof a property cannot provide an offshoreaccount or a dom iciled bank account intow hich foreign funds can be paid, paym entm ust be issued by the local rather than for-eign com pany.

Short Term Accomm odation W hereas N airobi, Kenya has a selection offurnished, serviced residence apartm ents,Lagos does not and the short term travelleroften has to stay in one of the m ajorH otels. Dem and is high and advance book-ing recom m ended.

SECURITY

Security is a m ajor issue for expatriates inm any A frican countries, Nigeria and Kenyabeing no exception. C orrect considerationshould be given to addressing the need foradequate security surveillance and protec-

tion, of both residential and corporateprem ises, during transportation etc.

In Nigeria, Lagos has w hat are term ed‘serviced apartm ents’, these are independ-ent apartm ents that are serviced w ith secu-rity surveillance, w hich is charged annualon top of the rental fee. In the PortH arcourt area there are com pounds specifi-cally for the housing of expatriates,although m ost are not open to all as theyare com pany-ow ned. N airobi, Kenya hasspecific areas w here expatriates live, m anyproperties therein include the provision of

24-hour security surveillance. In bothcountries, w hen property w ithout securityprovision is selected, this m ust be sourcedfrom a reputable local supplier, one thatcan guarantee cover w hen guards areabsent for any reason.

IMMIGRATION PROCESS

FOR FOREIGN WORKERS

O btaining regular im m igration status for the

foreign w orker is the starting-point of anyrelocation, and an area w here requirem entsand procedures are very country specific:

In N igeria, order to apply for a W orkPerm it for a foreign, local hire or second-m ent, the local com pany m ust have head-

room w ithin its expatriate quota to supportthe W ork Perm it. In Kenya, no quotarestrictions exist , the docum ent required iscalled an Entry Perm it, but this is not tobe confused w ith a perm it to enter thecountry, rather it is the equivalent of aW ork Perm it ( if obtained outside Kenya,an entry visa is still required )

W ork Perm its for Nigeria are typically grant-ed for a m axim um validity of one year andare renew able annually thereafter. Theaverage processing tim e for W ork Perm its isofficially 2 w eeks from date of filing, but

experience has dem onstrated that in realityit takes betw een 4 and 6 w eeks at a m ini-m um . Filing fees are presently around1,500 U SD O nce the W ork Perm it applica-tion is approved, the Nigerian consulatew ith jurisdiction over the applicant's area ofresidence receives confirm ation of theapproval and the applicant m ust attend theNigerian consulate in order to receive anentry stam p in his/her passport, w ith w hichthe applicant can legally enter Nigeria.After entry, the em ployee is required toapply for a residence perm it. Em ployees

m ust also register w ith the authorities ifthey w ill be staying in the country for m orthan 56 days.

As a rule, all foreigners com ing to Kenya fw ork need an Entry Perm it (norm ally a'Class A - Entry Perm it'). The Entry Perm i

is applied by the H ost Kenyan C om pany

CONTINUED — PAGE

TOP: Scene from open air market in Lagos; BOTTOM : Nairobi skyli



38 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

Bill SheridanNATIONAL FOREIGN

TRADE COUNCIL (NFTC)

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hen did youbecom e involved w ith N ational ForeignTrade Council (N FTC )?

Bill Sheridan: I first got involved w iththe N FTC about 30 years ago w hile w ork-ing as a Senior C om pensation Specialist forC altex Petroleum ( long-running offshorejoint venture of Chevron and Texaco), as auser of NFTC expatriate data. In 1990,w hile w orking as a Senior C onsultant for

A rthur A ndersen w e co-m arketed som eIHR program s w ith the N FTC . I then joinedthe N FTC in 1992.

GLOBALHRNEWS: How /w hy did it occur?

Bill Sheridan: I found the m em bershipof the NFTC to be ready to look at newissues regarding all aspects of internationalhum an resources. W ith m y com bined cor-porate and consulting experience I couldsee how appropriate and innovate externalresources could be brought to the atten-

tion of the corporate practitioners.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat w as your priorposition?

Bill Sheridan: In addition to m y experi-ence at A rthur Andersen I had held seniorcorporate positions, prim arily in com pensa-

tion and benefits m anagem ent at BarclaysBank, A m erican Express, C altex Petroleumand Continental G rain C om pany.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Please describe yourcurrent responsibility at NFTC ?

Bill Sheridan: M y prim ary role is to facil-itate the exchange of experiences andideas am ongst the broad range of m em -bers from NFTC sponsor em ployers. W hilethe m ajority of NFTC sponsors are M ulti-N ational Corporations our m em bershipalso includes the m ajor global accountingand law firm s, as w ell as the top tier inter-national hum an resource m anagem ent andbusiness consulting firm s and relocationm anagem ent service providers.

GLOBALHRNEWS: How does your role"m esh" w ith the N FTC lobbying efforts?

Bill Sheridan: The prim ary m ission of theNFTC for over 90 years has been advocacyfor open m arkets for cross-border trade,investm ent and the m ovem ent of business-related people. O n the IHR side w e provideinput to such agencies as the Social SecurityAdm inistration (on bi-lateral social securitytotalization agreem ents), the InternalRevenue Service (on Section 911 and othercorporate tax issues), and to the StateDepartm ent and Hom eland Security on the

need for sensible adm inistration of business-sponsored im m igration legislation andadm inistration. M y colleagues in ourW ashington DC office focus on such areasas free trade agreem ent negotiations, w hichusually include business-related im m igrationfacilities and on corporate tax issues that arepart of bi-lateral tax agreem ents.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat are som e ofthe top issues facing m ultinational H Rleaders ?

Bill Sheridan: The shortage of skilledtalent in alm ost every sector of the econo-m y ( high tech, research and developm ent,engineering, oil and gas exploration, etc.).D em ographic patterns in W estern Europe,N orth A m erica and Japan are forcingM N Cs to source and develop talent fromnew places (ie Eastern Europe)to supportgrow th in em erging m arkets. Related to

this is the better coordination of m anpower planning/career developm ent w ith theusage of cross-border assignm ents.

GLOBALHRNEWS: A s a follow -up quetion, are som e industries facing m ore diff

cult circum stances in places they need tosend people?

Bill Sheridan: Yes indeed. For exam plethe current and foreseeable energy andresource bubbles are leading oil & gas anengineering & construction com panies intw estern Africa, Central A sia, offshoreIndia. This business im perative is bum pingup against shortage of skilled talent, andthe retention of talent that a com panym ay already have. Besides m onetaryincentives sm art com panies are developinnew w ays to hold onto business-critical

staff. O ne good exam ple is FluorCorporation w ho’s them e is ATTEN TIO NEQ UA LS RETEN TIO N , a sim ple soundingconcept that does require a lot of attentiand m anagem ent support but one thatcan give them a com petitive edge.

GLOBALHRNEWS: H ow do you view"Leadership" relative to m ultinationals,corporate strategy and "w orld trade" anInternational Assignm ents?

Bill Sheridan: For the first tim e in years

w e are hearing m ore about the develop-m ent of global business leaders. Severalyears ago one of the m ajor internationalsearch firm s, Lam alie AM RO P, co-sponsorea survey w ith H arvard Business Schoolw herein several hundred C EO s around thew orld w ere asked about their business andhum an resource priorities. Regardless ofhom e-country the CEO s overw helm ingidentified global business leader develop-m ent as one of TH EIR priorities.

The sam e study also included a large number of high potential em ployees. A t that

tim e there w as a significant gap betw eenw hat the CEO s articulated and w hat highpotential em ployees saw happening per-sonally. This study w as conducted beforthe DotCom bubble-bust. Then for a fewyears cross-border assignm ents w ere rareused for career-developm ent. N ow thathe global and U S econom ies are stronge

CONTINUED — PAGE



3Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

• EAST MEETS WEST – CONTINUED

and issued to it. The Entry Perm it is nevera docum ent of the transferee/em ployee.W hen applying for the Perm it, the hostKenyan C om pany has to provide clear evi-dence that the post in question cannot begiven to a Kenyan w orker and/or w hatsteps w ere taken to advertise the post inKenya to ensure no suitably qualified localperson could be found for the post or for

training for the post.

The im m igration authorities consider appli-cations periodically, so delays can be long attim es, w ith the average tim e for processingpresently being 2 –3 m onths. A govern-m ent fee equal to approx 1,500 U SD is tobe paid annually upon issuance of the EntryPerm it and the Im m igration O ffice can alsorequire a security bond of the sam e value.O nce an Entry Perm it is approved, theTransferee can com e to K enya w ith a visaand w ill have to report to the Im m igrationAuthorities w here a special Pass is entered

into his/her passport. From this tim e onhe/she has legal residency status in Kenyaand can start w ork.

A fter the foregoing, the foreign w orker isrequired to obtain an Aliens ID Card.

For N igeria, the w orker m ust not be in thecountry from tim e the application for aW ork Perm it is subm itted until the visa is

NEWS

Philip Berry appointedVice-Chair of CUNY Board

N EW YO RK — State of N ew York G overnor

Eliot Spitzer has appointed Trustee PhilipA lfonso Berry as Vice-C hairperson of TheC ity U niversity of New York Board ofTrustees. Philip Berry has been a m em -ber of the Board since June of 2006. AVice President and Corporate O fficer w ithC olgate-Palm olive, he is a graduate ofBorough of M anhattan C om m unityC ollege and Q ueens C ollege, and alsoholds an M .B.A. from Xavier U niversity andan M .S.W . from Colum bia U niversity.

G overnor Spitzer said, "Philip Berry’s 'glob-al perspective' is broad and extensive. AtC olgate-Palm olive, he has had responsibili-

ties over the com pany’s 'G lobal W orkplaceInitiative' and has w orked throughout A siaand Europe. Vice Chairperson Berryserves as C hair of the New York C ityDepartm ent of Education’s H um anResources A dvisory Panel, as a m em ber ofthe CU NY Business Leadership Council and

as a trustee of CU N Y’s Construction Fund.He is also a m em ber of M ayor Bloom berg’sEducational Advisory Panel."

Philip Berry said, “As a product of CU N Y,I’m looking forw ard to bringing m y com -m itm ent, passion, skills and global per-spective to help the U niversity realize itsvision and I hope to continue using m ybusiness background in global initiatives tobenefit the University."

The C ity U niversity of N ew York is thenation’s largest urban public university.CU NY is com prised of tw enty three institu-tions: eleven senior colleges, six com m uni-

ty colleges, the W illiam E. M acaulayHonors C ollege at C UN Y, the G raduateSchool and University Center, the C UN YG raduate School of Journalism , the CU N YSchool of Law at Q ueens C ollege, theCU N Y School of Professional Studies, andthe Sophie D avis School of Biom edical

Education. The University serves m orethan 226,000 degree-credit students and230,000 adult, continuing and professioneducation students. C ollege Now , theUniversity’s academ ic enrichm ent programfor 32,500 high school students is offeredat CU NY cam puses and m ore than 280high schools throughout the five boroughof the C ity of N ew York. The U niversityhas launched an on-line baccalaureatedegree through the School of ProfessionaStudies, and a new Teacher Academ yoffering free tuition for highly m otivatedm athem atics and science m ajors w ho see

teaching careers in the city. ■

issued at the N igerian consulate in countryof residency; w hereas in Kenya, the indi-vidual can be in the country during theprocess. They can enter Kenya w ith a visi-tor's visa ( obtained applied at the Kenyanem bassy or High C om m ission in theircountry of residence, or at the Yom oKenyatta Int'l airport of N airobi ) andthen change status w hilst in the country.They can begin w orking how ever once theEntry Perm it is approved and passport

endorsed w ith the Entry Pass.

For Kenya, accom panying fam ily m em bersrequire a 'dependants pass', this m ust beapplied for together w ith m ain applicant'sEntry Perm it.

For N igeria, accom panying fam ily m em bersshould apply for an entry visa as fam ilym em bers at the sam e tim e the w orkerapplies for the STR visa (subject to regula-tions visa) at the em bassy, after approvalfor the W ork Perm it has been granted.

CONCLUSION

The above is just a sm all sam ple of som eof the country differences that exist. W ithsom e 54 countries w ithin the African con-tinent, the diversity is enorm ous. N ot onlyare procedural differences to be consideredbut also cultural differences, w hich have agreat bearing on behavior w ithin the w orkplace, m anagerial styles and com m unica-tion betw een foreign and local staff.

Alex Ellis is the CEO and cof ounder of

Enterprises Group, Italy’s premier Relocation a

Immigrat ion Company. Alex has an extensive

background and vast experience in the f ield o

Relocation , wh ich has allow ed Ent erprises

Group t o quickly become the largest company

in it s sector in Europe.

In addition to this, Alex has been elected as th

President of EuRA (2006-8) for the second yea

EuRA, the prof essional body for relocation ser

ice providers across Europe takes charge of

industry trends, training programmes and net-working throughout the EMEA region bringin

togeth er the best service providers once a yea

for an industry event, w hich in 2008 w ill be in

the m agical Rome.

Alex’s mot to has always been to of fer tot al,

straight forw ard and uncomplicated relocation

and immigration services that continuou sly sa

fy to day’s demand ing bu siness world . This vis

has lead to Enterprises Group’s massive expan

sion into all of A fri ca as well as various new

destination s in Europe. This level of growt h i

due prim arily to A lex’s focus and sharp busine

sense that allow h im t o identif y the real reloc

tion needs of t he world’s leading companies.Alex is highly respected and sough t aft er as a

public speaker wit hin th e relocation indu stry

and is often quoted in various publications du

to his unrivalled know ledge and experience

regarding today’s needs and issues w ith in th e

world of int ernational assignment s.

Alex hold a PhD in Int ernational Business and liv

in Rome with his wife and tw o children. ■



NEWS

WorldatWork fundsgrants f or Total Rew ards

SCO TTSDALE,A RIZON A — W orldatW ork, the

total rew ards association, has announced itw ill fund grants for applied research in thefollow ing areas: The concept of “totalrew ards,”w hich includes all of the tangibleand intangible rew ards that em ployers useto attract, m otivate and retain em ployees;

•Com pensation;•Em ployee benefits;•W ork-life;•Perform ance & recognition; and,•D evelopm ent & career opportunities.

W orldatW ork has com m itted a total of

$100,000 in 2007 to fund research.“Nothing like this has ever been donebefore for the specific purpose of totalrew ards,”said W orldatW ork PresidentA nne C. Ruddy, CC P, C PCU . “W e expectthis new endeavor to result in valuable,practical inform ation for our profession,our organizations and our w orkforce.”

W orldatW ork (w w w .w orldatw ork.org) is aninternational association of hum anresources professionals focused on attract-ing, m otivating and retaining em ployees.Founded in 1955, W orldatW ork provides

practitioners w ith know ledge leadership toeffectively im plem ent total rew ards –com -pensation, benefits, w ork-life, perform anceand recognition, developm ent and careeropportunities –by connecting em ployeeengagem ent to business perform ance.W orldatW ork supports its 30,000 m em bersand custom ers in 30 countries w iththought leadership, education, publica-tions, research and certification. ■

40 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• BILL SHERIDAN – CONTINUED

talent pools are sm aller, and long-termneeds are increasing m ore attention isbeing placed on leader developm ent.

W e have heard directly from com panies in

the Energy Sector (m ajor Oils, O ffshoreDrillers), Engineering & Construction,Accounting Firm , Telecom m unications, HighTech, Consum er Product, Chem ical andConsulting Sectors that business opportuni-ties abound outside the em ployer’s nationalboundary and to sustain that grow th col-leagues w ith a depth of international expe-rience is the rule not the exception.

GLOBALHRNEWS: ... and now letslearn m ore about you... in your off-w orktim es... W hat are your favorite foods?

Bill Sheridan: Really good burgers andpom m es frites.

GLOBALHRNEWS: Do you like to cook?

Bill Sheridan: Not really

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat book are youcurrently reading?

Bill Sheridan: The Biography of Sherlock

H olm es.

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat book did yourecently finish reading?

Bill Sheridan: “1491”about pre-C olum bus A m ericas

GLOBALHRNEWS: W hat is the m ostrecent "H ollyw ood" film you have seen,in a theatre or D VD?

Bill Sheridan: The D eparted

GLOBALHRNEWS: And w hat are yourfavorite activities w hen not w orking?

Bill Sheridan: Prow ling around antiqueshops looking for an A ntiques Roadshowtreasure. ■


form that does not require the w ithholdingof an em ployee’s U.S. FICA (FederalInsurance Contributions A ct) contributionsor the em ployer’s FICA m atch, or that allowthe IEC to accum ulate corporate earnings

but pay taxes only on rem ittances.Cost cont rol and allocation. An IECabsorbs all expatriate costs for pay, benefitrelocation, and so on, w hich (plus approprate adm inistrative fees) are billed out to thuser host-country com pany. Thus, revenueequals cost, resulting in no profit or tax forthe IEC . W ith the centralized cost visibilityafforded by IEC s, user com panies can bettem anage these expenditures.

Defense against “ permanent establish-

ment.” Using an IEC as an interm ediaryhelps the com pany address com plex tax

issues, such as a perm anent establishm ent,w hich is generally defined as a branch orsom e other taxable presence (e.g., an agenin Country B) through w hich the business oan enterprise of Country A is pursued. Intreaty term s, it is the starting point for taxinan enterprise of a partner country.

EXAMPLE:Coun try A Corpo ratio n sends emplo ye

to w ork in Count ry B.

If th e emplo yees remain em ployees o

Count ry A Corporation w hile working

Count ry B, the w orldw ide earnings o

Coun try A Corpor atio n may be subjecto Count ry B taxes. If, on t he ot her

hand, Count ry A Corporation employe

are transferred t o an IEC w hile

w orking in Count ry B, Count ry A

Corporatio n m ay not have a permanen

estab lishm ent f or t ax purpo ses

in Count ry B.

Therefore, only Coun try B earning s

are subject t o Count ry B t axes.

Equi ty of employment t erms and cond

tions. G lobally m obile em ployees are

often of varied nationalities and originatefrom quite different com pensation, benefand tax system s. The structure of an IECallow s equitable em ploym ent conditionsregardless of em ployees’hom e-country ogins, as w ell as considerable flexibility forhandling desired benefit plans, if any, andsocial security contributions. Also possible

CONTINUED — PAGE

send yourN E W S2 us

[email protected]



4Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

While the thrill of the challenge and theprospect of engaging w ith a new cul-

ture are the reasons em ployees ultim atelyaccept an overseas role, they m ust firstensure their loved ones are w ell prepared forlife abroad. Because over half of all relocat-ing em ployees travel w ith their children, andachieving stability, security and consistencyfor the entire fam ily m akes a big differenceto the success of an assignm ent.

Parents facing relocation are increasingly

considering boarding schools as an option.So, w hen are boarding schools the rightoption for the child of a fam ily you arerelocating? A nd w hat should relocationprofessionals suggest parents look forw hen they consider a boarding school edu-cation for their children?

A FIRM FOUNDATION

The m ajor advantage of boarding schoolsis the consistency, not only in term s ofeducation but also socially and em otionally,that they can offer children in w hat w illinevitably be a tim e of transition. The

consistency of placem ent is a crucial bene-fit of boarding schools, and can be espe-cially im portant for children w ho need sta-bility during an international relocation.N ot only w ill boarding quickly integratechildren into their new host culture, butalso provide continuity if parents findthem selves having to relocate again in afew years’tim e.

CHOICES OF STUDY

For fam ilies relocating abroad, internation-al boarding schools can be the best option.N ot only w ill they have a m ore cosm opoli-

tan atm osphere than traditional boardingschools, but their staff is accustom ed tohelping children from a variety of culturesadjust to their new hom e. W here parentsare likely to be globally m obile over theduration of their child’s education, it’s criti-cal to look at schools w hose academ ic pro-gram s w ill stand up anyw here in thew orld, such as the International

Baccalaureate program m e or advancedplacem ent program –both of w hich arem ore com m only taught at internationalschools.

The IB Diplom a is one of the m ore recog-nisable international qualifications, butw hat it offers, and the benefits it can pro-vide for students w ho have internationallyrelocated, can be confusing to parents,m any of w hom are still in the dark aboutw hat actually differentiates the IB from

other high school curriculum s.

University entrance is a key concern form any parents. The IB D iplom a is recog-nised by leading universities around thew orld as one of the m ost dem anding qual-ifications available to students and isrenow ned for its breath of study. The IBrequires students to study six subjects,w rite an extended research essay, under-take a ‘Theory of Know ledge’course, andparticipate in a com m unity service m odule.W ith this course of study, a child w ho hasboarded w ill find them selves not only

arm ed w ith the right academ ic qualifica-

tions but also the ‘soft’skills and acum ento succeed.

GUT INSTINCTS

O nce parents have chosen the type ofqualification they w ould like their child tostudy, next com es the m ore subjective tasof choosing the right boarding schoolatm osphere for their son or daughter.G enerally, fam ilies w ill know w hether aboarding school is right for their child w itin m inutes of entering the facility.

H ow ever, it is im portant for parents to paparticular attention to the facilities theschool offers - this is w here a child w illspend m uch of their tim e so it is vital toconsider w hether it can offer a ‘hom e frohom e’. W hen m aking such a transition,children need the support and structure ounderstanding and caring adults andanother im portant indicator is the studen

to supervisor ratio. W hat’s as im portant that boarders feel they w ill be challengedand active during both school and non-school hours, so the school m ust haveenough staff to be able to run a w ide program of activities and events. To do thisalso requires the facilities for students toparticipate in sports, after-schools clubs,and evening and w eekend activities.

A QUALITY ALTERNATIVE

A lthough no school w ill ever be the sam eas a conventional ‘hom e’, boarding schoosuch as ours w ork hard to m ake students

CONTINUED — PAGE

EDUCATION RESOURCES

From the Boardroom to Room & Boardsubmitted on behalf of

FERGUS ROSE, Head o f M ark et in g • ACS COBHAM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL



44 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• ROOM AND BOARD – CONTTINUED

feel at hom e, and m ake changes such assw itching room m ates or dealing w ith casesof hom esickness to help the students adjustas quickly as possible. The very ethos oftoday’s international school com m unity

counters m uch of the traditional stereotypeof the pedantic, often im personal, rigidboarding school environm ent of the past.

U nlike traditional boarding schools, inter-national schools w ith their cultural andnational diversity give great value to chil-drens’natural curiosity, cultural accept-ance, and a strong sense of individualism .A t AC S Cobham w e have students of 32nationalities boarding w ith us and w eundertake m any activities to celebrate theirrespective cultures.

Boarding at an international schoolencourages children to develop their ow nsense of identity as w ell as to appreciatetheir place in an increasingly globalizedw orld. Now is a better tim e than ever forinternational relocators to recognize thebenefits that boarding schools can bring toboth relocating children, their parents’

piece of m ind and, w hen relocation w orksand is a success, to their organization’sbottom line.

ABOUT ACS

ACS International Schools were f ounded in

1967 t o serve international and local communi-

ties. The schools are non-sectarian and co-

educational (day and boarding), enrolling

approximately 2,300 students aged 3 t o 18

years. w ww.acs-england.co.uk ■

NEWS

DFA Culture Compass©

launched

N EW YO RK — D ean Foster Associates andLiving Abroad LLC announce the launch ofthe DFA CU LTU RE CO M PA SS © . Today'scom plex global w ork environm ent requiressophisticated intercultural com petencies:defined as the ability to navigate the m yri-ad and very different w orkstyles, expecta-tions, behaviors and perceptions of w orkthat different countries can have aroundthe w orld. The D FA CU LTURE CO M PA SS©

is a unique on-line tool that em pow ers yoand your organization's global staff to dojust that by Recognizing, U nderstandingand Strategizing around the interculturalrequirem ents inherent in global w ork.

Because these three stages are essentialfor the developm ent of intercultural com -petencies w hen w orking across cultures,the C ULTURE C O M PASS© consists ofTH REE parts, each designed to help develop each of these three com petencies:

1.REC O G N IZE your ow n cultural positionw hen it com es to w orkstyle preferencein com parison w ith over 90 countriesaround the w orld.

2.UN D ERSTA N D how and w hy your cultual w ork preferences m ay be differentfrom those of colleagues in over 90countries around the w orld.

3.STRA TEG IZE how to navigate these diffeences for im proved global w ork success

For more inf o please cont act Living Abroad, L

at 1.203.221.1997 or visit

www .livingabroad.com/compass.html; or con-

tact Dean Foster Associates at 1.718.2 87.9 890

or [email protected]. ■



4Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

Kathy Paddock, CRPVice President - Relocation Services

E-MAIL: [email protected]

1-8 0 0 -8 2 1-14 11

M EM B ER S :

WO RL DWI DE ERC • INRELCO • RD C

Online Homesearch-Assistance

http://www.c21superstars.com

• ACCREDITED WITH MAJOR RELOCATION COMPANIES

• CERTIFIED RELOCATION AGENTS; ON- GOING EDUCATION COURSES

• FULL-SERVICE RELOCATION DEPARTMENT

– Rentals– Area Tours and Maps

– Expert Community and School Guidance

– Personalized Info-Kits and Cost of Living Comparisons

– Spouse Employment Guidance

– Mortgage Services

– Group Move Expertise

• FINE HOMES & ESTATES DIVISION

• CENTURY 21 SUPERSTARS #7 IN U.S.

• CENTURY 21 AWARD #1 FRANCHISE IN U.S.

Largest Century21 in the USACovering Southern California’s

Orange County • San Diego Co unt y • Riversid e County

NEWS

Who’s Who Legal namesFragomen firm Law Firmof the Year – 3rd timeN EW YO RK — Fragom en D el Rey Bernsen &Loew y LLP has been nam ed globalC orporate Im m igration Law Firm of theYear 2007 in the W ho’s W ho LegalAw ards. This is the third consecutive tim ethe firm has been recognised in this w ay,having w on the aw ard every year since itsinception in 2005.

W ith the benefit of m ore than ten years ofindependent research, W ho’s W ho Legalused the thousands of nom inations it hasreceived from clients and private practiceprofessionals to pick out the pre-em inent

law yer and firm in 27 practice areas. Thew inners w ere form ally announced in TheInternational W ho’s W ho of BusinessLaw yers 2007, a com pendium edition of allthe individual W ho’s W ho Legal publica-tions w hich w as released in A pril.

Editor-in-chief Callum Cam pbell said: “It isan outstanding achievem ent to w in theW ho’s W ho Legal; The International W ho’sW ho of Business Law yers CorporateIm m igration Law Firm of the Year Aw ard fora third consecutive tim e. Fragom en’s contin-uing success dem onstrates its consistent

and unparalleled level of individual and col-lective talent in this field. W e have no hesi-tation in declaring Fragom en Del ReyBernsen & Loew y LLP the w orld’s leadingfirm for Corporate Im m igration expertise”.

W ho’s W ho Legal lists only the leadingpractitioners in each field, based exclusivelyon the findings of a six m onth independ-ent research process. Ten partners fromthe firm across tw o countries and five U Sstates received sufficient nom inations fromtheir clients and peers to be included inthe Corporate Im m igration chapter of the

publication. The firm had m ore featuredpractitioners in this area than any other,and Austin Fragom en features am ong them ost highly regarded individuals in theresearch overall.

The aw ards are based on a num ber of fac-tors, including the feedback received in theongoing research process, past perform -ance in the research and the overall aggre-

gate num ber of w eighted votes cast intheir favour. In addition to identifying theleading firm and individual in each practicearea, the aw ards also recognise the overallleading firm in 48 countries and five U Sstates. The book is distributed free ofcharge to thousands of corporate counsel

and private-practice law yers from aroundthe w orld. The inform ation is also avail-able on w w w .W hosW hoLegal.com .

In 2006, Who’s Who Legal’s parent company

Law Business Research was recognised by The

Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the area of

international t rade, having demonstrated sign

cant grow th in overseas earnings and commer

cial success. These awards are the most pres

giou s a British company can receive, and are

made annually by the Queen on t he advice of

the Prime Minister, assisted b y an advisory commit tee drawn from government , industry and

commerce and the trade unions. In addition,

Who’s Who Legal is also the of ficial research

partner of the Internation al Bar Association.



RIO DE J ANEIRO

SOUTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE

World Trade & International Assignment Management

http://www.globalhrnews.com/b4/b4conf.asp?cid=57

20 & 21 FEBRUARY 2008

Produced in association with Pricewat erhouseCoopers, Chestnut Global Partners,

Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy, AIRINC, Living Abroad, Dean Foster Associates,GLOBOND, Focal Point, Living in Brazil, SetUp Global...(to date)

HOTEL SOFITEL, COPACABANA BEACH

LONDON

EURO - ATLANTIC CONFERENCEWorld Trade,

International Assignments, and Corporate Social Responsibility ™

http://www.globalhrnews.com/b4/b4conf.asp?cid=46

27-28 NOVEMBER 2007Produced in association with CITIBANK, Chestnut Global Partners, ACS International Schools Ltd, Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy, Primacy Relocation, AIRINC, ORC,

Living Abroad, Full Circle International Relocations, Willis Relocation Risk Group, Equity Corporate Housing, Dean Foster Associates, InterCultural Management Associates,

Orion Mobility, The Apartment Service, GLOBOND...(to date)

THE MAYFAIR HOTEL, STRATTON STREET

and

Cordially Invites You to

For more information, please contact [email protected]



4Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

Am erican corporations w ith expatriateem ployees w orking at foreign sub-

sidiaries should tread w ith caution w henterm inating the em ploym ent relationshipw hile the em ployee is w orking overseas.A pproaching the term ination decision onthe assum ption the em ployee is coveredonly by U.S. law m ay expose the com pany

to significant legal risks. This articleexplains som e of the issues w hich theU .S.–based decision-m aker should considerbefore m aking a final decision to term inatethe em ploym ent relationship of expatriateem ployees w hile on foreign assignm ent.

1. WHICH LAW APPLIES?

Do not assum e that U.S. law governs theem ploym ent relationship w hile the em ploy-ee is overseas m erely because the expatriateem ployee signed the international assign-m ent agreem ent in the U .S. or the interna-tional assignm ent agreem ent expressly

elects the law of a U .S. state to govern theagreem ent. Instead, the general rule is thatthe dom estic em ploym ent law of the hostcountry applies, because it is w here theem ployee w orks. Under international regu-lations such as the Convention of Rom e,U.S. law w ill govern the em ploym ent rela-tionship under an express choice-of-lawprovision in the international assignm entagreem ent only if U.S. law affords theem ployee greater legal protection than thedom estic law of the host county. The realityis that foreign em ploym ent law s typically

afford em ployees greater protections thanU.S. law and, as a result, a substantial riskexists that a foreign court w ould not perm itU.S. law to trum p the em ploym ent law ofthe host country.

Furtherm ore, if the expatriate em ployee isa U .S. citizen and the foreign subsidiary isa U .S. corporation or a com pany controlledby a U .S. corporation, she w ill also be cov-

ered by the anti-discrim ination protectionsof Title V II of the C ivil Rights Act of 1964,the A ge Discrim ination in Em ploym ent Actof 1967, and the A m ericans W ithD isabilities Act of 1990. By express dic-tate of C ongress, these three federal anti-discrim ination law s have extraterritorialapplication, m eaning the expatriate

em ployee is protected against discrim inato-ry conduct in the host country to the sam eextent the conduct w ould be prohibited inthe U .S. In addition, to the extent the hostcountry’s dom estic law prohibits w orkplacediscrim ination, the expatriate em ployeem ay enjoy double legal protection againstdiscrim ination w hile w orking overseas,both under dom estic and U .S. law .A ccordingly, the U .S.–based decision-m aker should carefully consider the pro-tected categories under U .S. and the hostcountry’s law and w hether the term ination

of the expatriate em ployee m ay expose thecom pany to disparate treatm ent undereither jurisdiction’s law s.

M oreover, the host country’s anti-discrim i-nation law m ay protect the expatriateem ployee against a broader range of cate-gories than U .S. law . For exam ple, foreignanti-discrim ination law m ay protectem ployees against discrim ination on thegrounds of their lifestyle or physicalappearance (France), language (SouthA frica), responsibilities as a carer(A ustralia), and property status (Latvia).

2. MAY THE COMPANY TERMINATE THE

EXPATRIATE EMPLOYEE AT-WILL OR

MUST THE COMPANY HAVE A “GOOD

REASON” TO TERMINATE THE EMPLOY-

MENT RELATIONSHIP?

The em ploym ent law s of m ost overseascountries protect em ployees against“unfair dism issal.” The protection againstunfair dism issal typically applies to all

em ployees (in the U K and South A frica) om ay exclude only a very lim ited category em ployees, such as the m ost senior executive em ployees (for exam ple in G erm any)Like the U .S. Fam ily M edical Leave Act,em ployees m ay have to w ork a qualifyingperiod for the com pany before they enjoyhost country’s protection against unfair d

m issal. In the UK, for exam ple, the qualfying period is 12 m onths of em ploym enAs explained in point 1, given the generalack of em ployee protection under U .S lawagainst unfair term ination, an expressstatem ent in the international assignm enagreem ent that the em ploym ent relation-ship w ill continue to be at-w ill m ost likelyw ill not be honored by a foreign court. (Ithe U.S, only the State of M ontanarequires term inations to be “for goodcause”). A ccordingly, the U .S.–baseddecision-m aker should consider w hetherthe reason for term inating the expatriate

em ployee’s em ploym ent w ill pass m usterunder the dom estic law of the host country. In particular, if the reason for term intion is unsatisfactory w ork perform ance,dom estic law frequently requires sufficienproof that the em ployee w as m ade aw arof the short com ings in perform ance andgiven a reasonable opportunity to im prov

3. THE EMPLOYMENT LAW OF THE

HOST COUNTRY MAY ALSO REQUIRE

SPECIFIC PRE-TERMINATION PROCE-

DURES; HAS THE COMPANY COMPLIED

WITH THE FAIR PROCEDURAL REQUIRE

MENTS UNDER DOMESTIC LAW?As part of the protection against unfairdism issal, the host country’s em ploym entlaw m ay im pose specific pre-term inationprocedures to effect a valid term ination.For exam ple, in France, the em ployee m ufirst be invited to a m eeting to discuss hepotential term ination before any notice o

CONTINUED — PAGE

LEGAL

Cross-border Employment Law –Terminat ing Expat riate Emp loyees While On Foreign Assignm ent:

Understandin g The Crit ical Considerat ions And Legal Risks by E. JOHAN LUBBE, Part ne r • LUBBEJ@jackson lew is.com

JACKSON LEWIS LLP • Tel: 1.914 .514.6114



48 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

m ent contract or a free-standing agree-m ent in term s of w hich the em ployer andem ployee agree to subm it all future dis-putes or controversies to final and bindingarbitration, effectively w aiving the em ployee’s right to a trial in court.) In m ost for-eign countries, the parties m ay only agree

to subm it an already existing dispute toarbitration, but not all future disputes.The em ployee can, therefore, decidew hether it is in her best interest to subm ia specific existing dispute to arbitration.A ccordingly, if the term inated em ployeedecides to challenge the term ination in aforeign court, the foreign court w ill m ostlikely perm it her to continue the case andnot stay the proceeding because of a pre-dispute arbitration clause.

W hen deciding to term inate the em ploy-m ent relationship of an expatriate em ploy

ee w hile w orking overseas (as opposed tom erely recalling the em ployee to the homcountry), U.S.–based hum an resource professionals should carefully consider all thepotential pitfalls. D o not sim ply assum ethat because the person is U.S. nationalw ho w as sent from the U .S. to w ork overseas, that the term ination decision can beapproached on the sam e basis as term inaing a local Am erican em ployee. Ratherinvest extra tim e in m aking the decisionand considering all the above issues, especially the requirem ents of the host countrem ploym ent law s.

In series of fo rth com ing art ic les in

GLOBAL HR NEWS, we w ill keep t he

readersh ip in f ormed o r new develop-

men ts and tr ends in cross-bor der

emp loym ent issues. ■

AND ANALYZED ALL ITS CONTRACTUAL

OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS THE EXPATRI-

ATE EMPLOYEE?

The international assignm ent agreem entm ay not be the only source of the com pa-ny’s contractual obligations to the expatri-ate em ployee. If the expatriate em ployee

is a foreign national w ho originally trans-ferred to the U.S. from another country oris a U .S. citizen-senior executive, theem ployee m ay still have another em ploy-m ent contract w hich m ay be in suspendedor “sleeping”m ode. It w ill behoove theU.S.–based decision-m aker to obtain copiesof all em ploym ent contracts w ith theem ployee and to review sam e for anypotential continuing contractual obliga-tions. In particular, a sleeping em ploym entcontract m ay require the paym ent of sever-ance pay or extended notice except if theem ploym ent relationship is term inated for

a num ber of narrow ly-defined grounds.Ensure the com pany com plies w ith all itcontractual obligations.

6. WE’LL TAKE OUR CHANCES AND

TREAT THE EXPATRIATE EMPLOYEE SIM-

PLY AS AN AT-WILL EMPLOYEE; WHAT

CAN BE THE DOWNSIDE?

The dow nside can be significant. The com -pany m ay find itself litigating a term inationsim ultaneously on tw o continents. First, inthe host country’s em ploym ent tribunals onw hether the term ination w as fair underdom estic law . Second, defending an

em ploym ent discrim ination case in a U .S.federal district court and relying on w it-nesses w ho are located overseas. And, ifthe com pany chose to ignore local law (byassum ing the em ploym ent relationship isterm inable under the A m erican doctrine ofem ploym ent at-w ill); litigating a term ina-tion decision in a foreign court m ay be avery unpleasant and expensive experience.

7. BUT, WE DON’T HAVE TO LITIGATE IN

A FOREIGN COURT BECAUSE OUR INTER-

NATIONAL ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT

INCLUDES AN EXPRESS ARBITRATION

PROVISION; ANY DISPUTE REGARDING

THE EXPATRIATE EMPLOYEE’S TERMINA-

TION SHOULD, THEREFORE, BE

REFERRED TO ARBITRATION (IN THE

U.S.), CORRECT?

Not necessarily. W hile pre-dispute arbitra-tion clauses are generally enforceable inthe U .S., they are not enforceable in m ostother countries. (A pre-dispute arbitrationprovision is a clause typically in the em ploy-

• X-BORDER EMPLOYMENT– CONTINUED

term ination m ay be issued. In G erm any, itis insufficient to give notice of term inationby phone or via an e-m ail com m unication; apaper-and-ink docum ent is required. Failure

to com ply w ith the procedural requirem entsis typically seen as an equally serious viola-tion of the em ployee’s rights than an insuffi-cient reason to justify the term ination.Accordingly, the “pink slip on Friday after-noon”approach sim ply w ill not w ork.

4. THE SOLUTION IS RECALLING THE

EXPATRIATE EMPLOYEE TO THE U.S.

AND TERMINATING HER HERE, COR-

RECT?

N o, not so easy. If the international assign-m ent agreem ent reserves the right of thecom pany to term inate the foreign assign-

m ent at any tim e and recall the expatriateem ployee to the U .S. as the hom e country,it is a good start, but not the com pletesolution. Read the clause again: it m ostlikely only reserves the right to term inatethe foreign assignm ent, and does notexpressly refer to term inating the em ploy-m ent relationship. (M ost expatriate candi-dates w ill m ost likely not accept a foreignassignm ent agreem ent w hich gives thecom pany the right to freely fire them atany tim e w hile out there!) Further, thinkagain if the com pany is tem pted to saynothing about the planned term ination,

recall the expatriate em ployee under thereserved recall right, and then term inatethe expatriate em ployee as soon as shearrives back on U .S. soil. (The purportedtheory w ill be that the em ployee is term i-nated in the U .S. under a resum ed em ploy-m ent at-w ill relationship). The term inatedexpatriate em ployee m ay be able to chal-lenge the recall in the courts of the hostcountry on the theory that she w as recalledto the U .S. under false pretenses and onlyto circum vent her legal protections againstunfair dism issal afforded under the host

country’s em ploym ent law s. A ccordingly,consider assigning the recalled expatriateem ployee other projects in the U .S., w ait afew m onths and then term inate theem ploym ent relationship; the investm ent ofa few m onths salary m ay be a good invest-m ent rather than litigating an unfair term i-nation dispute in a foreign court.

5. HAS THE COMPANY CONSIDERED

SILICON VALLEY

Global HR Conference

30 Jan '08

- mark your calendar -

[email protected]



4Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

• EUROPEAN UNION – CONTINUED

accession states to obtain authorization prioto w orking in their jurisdictions. Severalaccession states, such as H ungary, have recrocated a w ork authorization requirem ent fnationals of pre-enlargem ent states. A nd

som e states have elected to increm entallyrelax the w ork authorization requirem ent asthe transitional period unfolds, prioritizingthe categories of w orkers that w ill be granted access to local labor m arkets.

A lthough nationals of m ost of the new EUm em ber states do not enjoy unconditionaaccess to local labor m arkets of pre-enlargm ent m em ber states, m ost are able to travfreely throughout the EU on the basis of anational valid ID and no longer require resdence visas for long-term adm ission.Previously, nationals of the new m em berstates w ho planned on staying longer than90 days in a pre-enlargem ent m em ber sta(excluding the U K) required a residence visThis residence visa w as necessary to obtaina residence perm it, w hich served as a formof identification. N ow , nationals of m ostEU m em ber states m ay enter another EUstate, regardless of length of anticipatedstay, w ithout a visa and no longer need toshow a residence visa for a residence per-m it. In addition, m ost EU states continueto require all foreign nationals (EU as w ellthird countries) to com plete som e form ofregistration w ith local authorities for stays

longer than 90 days.H um an Resources professionals w orkingw ith personnel in Europe should be aw arethat nationals of new EU m em ber statesm ight require w ork authorization forem ploym ent in other EU m em ber states.Furtherm ore, m em ber states m ay change ow aive requirem ents w ith little advancenotice; im m igration policy in all m em berstates rem ains influx. A s the transitionalperiods continue and the EU’s enlargem endeepens, these requirem ents w ill eventualcease. In the m eantim e, accession doesnot autom atically confer all benefits andprivileges of belonging to the EU .

Lance Kaplan is a Partner w ith Fragomen, Del

Rey, Bernsen & Loew y, LLP, the world’s leading

supplier of glob al corporate imm igration solu

tio ns. Nadia H. Yakoob i s an At to rney based i

the firm ’s San Francisco off ice.

C opyright © 2007 by Fragom en, D el Rey, Bernsen &

Loew y, LLP. ■

NEWS

Desktop Telemedicine introduced by On Call,Goodw ell TechnologiesReal-time physician visit, impro ving ex-pat healthcare

SALEM ,NEW HAM PSHIRE — G lobal m edical and travel assistance com pany, O n C all

International, announces a partnership w ith G oodw ell Technologies, Redm ond, W ash., to

introduce an innovative com m unications tool for use by its expatriate clients and O n Call

staff physicians and nurses. G oodw ell Technologies is know n for developing next-gener-

ation, real-tim e com m unications and transaction netw orks.

U nder the alliance, O n C all has begun w ork w ith G oodw ell to im plem ent the G oodw ell

TrueVisit platform , w hich w ill allow its expat clients to com m unicate directly w ith O n

C all physicians and nurses by just a click of the m ouse. U sing a secure Internet connec-

tion, abiding by stringent HIPAA regulations to protect privacy, O n Call clients in rem ote

parts of the w orld w ill be able to use video and audio capabilities being deployed today on

m any PCs, coupled w ith G oodw ell’s real-tim e transaction platform . This technology plat-form is tailored to allow clients to engage in healthcare “visits,”or, real-tim e physician and

nurse consultations, and includes diagnostic tools, patient education m aterials, full visit

docum entation capabilities, along w ith secure m essaging.

The O n C all/G oodw ell desktop telem edicine service w ill integrate corporate and personal

healthcare resources located “back hom e,”providing com fort for expats and their fam ilies

in need of “W estern”m edical practices. A dditionally, expats w ill appreciate the ease of

scheduling m edical visits at convenient tim es w ith 24/7, 365 days-a-year access to O n C all

physicians and nurses.

“W e are proud and very excited to team w ith G oodw ell in pioneering this type of health-

care transaction for our grow ing num ber of client com panies w ith expatriate em ployees,”

said M ichael Kelly, O n C all president and C EO . "N ot only w ill this service help to avoid

crisis situations w hich could result in hospitalizations, evacuations or w orse, it w ill save ourclients tim e and m oney on their expatriate assignm ents. W ith the increasing num ber of

people using video-conferencing in their day-to-day business interactions, coupled w ith the

grow ing num ber of U .S. corporations w ith overseas assignm ents, there’s never been a bet-

ter tim e to bring forth this kind of technology and accessibility to our m arketplace.”

“The opportunity to use our platform to im plem ent desktop telem edicine services for a

leading global assistance com pany like O n C all creates a w inning environm ent for all,”said

John C ofano, president and C EO of Goodw ell Technologies. “Expats already use video

and Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies to talk to business associates and fam -

ily at hom e. A nd, as international business and leisure travel keeps pace w ith the

Internet-savvy baby-boom er generation, w e envision that m edical groups, w orld-w ide, w ill

eventually include this type of service as a key elem ent of their clinical practice.”

Headquart ered in Salem, N.H., On Call provides custom ized medical, travel, security, concierge and

insurance products t o the travel, financial services, in surance, and direct marketing industries, 2 4/7,

365 days-a-year. It serves more t han seven million consumers through clients such as Holland

America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrit y Cruises, and Carnival Corpo ratio n, which includ es Carnival,

Costa, Princess, Cunard, and Seabourn Cruise Lines. On Call International is a member of the

International Assistance Group (IAG) and specializes in delivering h igh t ouch service to it s consumer

and corporate clients including aero-medical evacuations anywhere in the w orld. For furth er informa-

tion about On Call Internation al, visit www.oncallinternational.com. ■



50 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s

• BUSINESS AS AGENT – CONTINUED

but as opportunities. But m ost im portantw e w ill feature the how , the next practices,such as appreciative inquiry and the sustain-able design factory, and the strengths revo-lution in the m anagem ent of change.

Please join us in this exciting new series.W rite us. Tell us your stories. Suggestleads. And be ready to m ove tow ard a newera of hope and inspiration: sustainability3.O is all about a new business “sw eetspot”of trem endous business opportunityand trem endous societal benefit.

It’s exactly w here H R should be. ■

difficult. C ustom ization becam e an outdatedpractice. M ost client com panies no longersee this as a necessity. A fter all, w e are livingthe tim es of globalization. But are w e infact? Som e destinations can be very chal-lenging, even for the m ost experim entedexpatriate, and som e service custom ization ism andatory to achieve good results duringthe repatriation process.

A t the sam e tim e, Real Estate agencies, m ov-ing com panies, language training institutesand other service businesses w ere startingtheir ow n relocation com panies, so theycould keep the direct relation w ith their cor-porate clients and not have to go throughthe independent relocation com panies. Thisnot being their core business and, by far, nottheir m ajor source of revenue, they couldkeep their prices dow n. To keep theiraccounts, the independent relocation com pa-nies had to cut costs in order to m aintain

com petitive prices. There is no doubt thatcutting costs is im portant to every com panyto m aintain their com petitiveness in an ever-changing m arket; but there are som e costsavings that w ill only prove ineffective in thelong run w hen the dam age is already done.

To m ake things w orse for the independentrelocation com panies, the requests for pro-posals are not m ade by the com pany’s HRs asthey used to be. The H R outlines the necessi-ty and hands the selection and negotiation toprocurem ent. A ccom plishing their role,obtaining low prices is then the key factorfor the procurem ent’s final decision. W hat

are the consequences? The product to bedelivered w ill m ost certainly not fulfill theexpectation of the H R team or the needs of

the expatriate. This m ight not be detectedearly in the process, but w ill definitely surfaat a given tim e.

H igh-quality services have a price.Investm ents in efficient technology, trainedpersonnel, ethics and respect for the expatrate –not as a profitable figure but as a

hum an being that is going through a highlystressful situation –w ere and still are key fators to deliver a high-quality level service. Thunderstanding of this and that at least somdegree of custom ization is necessary, so theservice to be rendered can indeed fit therelocation process, should be taken into consideration during a selection of the relocatiocom pany. The independency to represent thcorporate clients and their transferees is alsa key factor that should not be overlooked this process.

Savings and relocation services do not alw am atch. Both the client com pany and the recation com panies m ust analyze w hat isinvolved in this decision. The first one has tunderstand the risk in buying focusing m ainon price, and the other has to realize thatthere is a lim it to be draw n to conquer aclient and that quality in services cannot besacrificed just for the sake of obtaining orkeeping an account. ■

GLOBAL HR NEWS RADIO

is now

“on the air”

• BRAZIL – CONTINUED

but it w as adequate to the needs of an expa-

triate population that didn’t know the lan-guage and culture in Brazil. The fact that theaverage Brazilian didn’t speak English orSpanish w as also a decisive factor to m akethe old m odel the ideal one at that tim e.

A s globalization w as grow ing, the m odel inuse in Brazil had to be adjusted to the inter-nationally accepted m odel, and packagesw ere put together follow ing the client com -pany’s international policy in order to unifythe service offered to the com pany’s transfer-ees all over the w orld. Services w ere stan-dardized, not allow ing m uch room for

changes according to specific fam ily needs ordifference in country’s culture that couldm ake the arriving fam ily’s adjustm ent m ore



5Volume 5 / Issue 3

G lo b a l HR Ne

em ployees have to serve –and gottenresults. Are they sm all, m easured againstthe enorm ity of disease in the developingw orld? Absolutely. But for those w hoselives it has touched, the effect could not bbigger. M oreover, w e believe that by servinas an exam ple, m any m ore thousands of

corporate em ployees can express their neeto serve –and by extension increase theim pact of the G HF.

Even now , as Pfizer undergoes a tim e ofrenew al, change, and adjustm ent to corebusiness challenges, the com m itm ent tothese program s rem ains firm . But am ongthem , the G H F program has becom e a coporate flagship, in part because it w as thfirst corporate program of its type, butm ore so because it helps us to address som any of our core responsibilities – to ouinvestors and as a good citizen.

The thousands of people w orking forAm erican corporations w ant to be agentof change. They have the skills. Theyhave the passion. They lack only theopportunity. Program s like the PfizerG lobal H ealth Fellow s Program can providopportunity for them , their com panies --and the global village that is our w orld.

For further inform ation on Pfizer’s G lobalHealth Fellow s program , please visitw w w .Pfizer.com and go to C aring forCom m unity. ■

w ould volunteer overseas–if there w ereonly a w ay.

Corporations, w ith their deep reservoir ofexperts, global infrastructure, com m unica-tions ability and em phasis on m anagem enttraining offer that w ay. For that reason w ehave already shared our experience w ithother com panies through the BrookingsInstitution, Building Blocks International andthe Business Roundtable, and conducted anevaluation so the U N G lobal Com pact couldintroduce the idea to others.

For the Brookings Initiative, 20 corporatem em bers recently nom inated Pfizer to leadthe Corporate Affinity W orking G roup,w hich encourages other corporations toraise the quantity and quality of their inter-national volunteer effort. O n behalf of thegroup, Pfizer is sponsoring research intoBest Practices in the corporate sector, and

producing a C D tool kit to help other com -panies establish sim ilar program s.M eanw hile, com panies –Becton D ickinsonis one -- have consulted w ith us as theyhave developed program s of their ow n.

CONCLUSION

Pfizer’s ability to develop innovative m edi-cines depends on how w ell w e evaluateresults. That is w hy w e are so proud ofthe G lobal Health Fellow s program . W ehave created an innovative effort that fusesPfizer’s business needs w ith the passion our

• PFIZER GHF – CONTINUED

69% of supervisors report higher pride inthe com pany because a group m em berw as a Fellow .

NEW SKILLS

Finally, the program provides a m echanismby w hich our colleagues can return hom ew ith skills and insights that inform Pfizer’sbusiness processes. They see the specificneeds on the ground, learn new skills anddeepen their com m itm ent to solving thechallenges of global health care. Upon herreturn to Pfizer, one Fellow w orking inm alaria in Kenya w as prom oted to m anagePfizer’s new clinical trials in East Africa.Another returned to w ork in developingnew access program s in child health andm alaria. G lobal Health Fellow s transfervaluable know ledge, prom ote good w ill, and

learn skills that are good for our business.ADAPTABLE TO OTHER

BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITIES

The G HF offers a m odel that can be adopt-ed - and adapted - even by sm all com paniesin the U nited States w ho m ight w ant toaddress developm ent issues at hom e. O nereason is that Am ericans w ant to help. ABrookings Institution policy paper reportsthat in 2005 about 50,000 A m ericans vol-unteered abroad. M eanw hile, data fromthe Brookings Institute InternationalVolunteering Initiative show s m any m ore

• PFIZER GHF: ALISON HAGER– CONTINUED

But the altitude and the onset of rainy sea-son have conspired to m ake the days andnights aw fully cold. Back in Kigali I’m sureit’s as w arm as ever; am azing that such asm all country has such range of clim ate.

I’ve acquired a new kitten. W e m oved toa new office recently, and there w as a tiny(fits in the palm of m y hand), dirty, starving

kitten there that the guard told us hadbeen left by his m other. The m other cathad taken the other four kittens, but leftthis one.

Tom orrow I’ll be visiting a local orphanageto help feed and change the infants, andjust to hold them –they’re starved forattention. It’s alw ays a rough day, butw ell w orth it. I just have to rem em ber to

w ear clothes I don’t m ind having coveredin baby bodily fluids!

Tuesday, 26 December 2006

M y non-traditional Christm as w as spentw ith new friends –a m ellow , relaxing,gratitude-filled tw o days. N o C hristm astrees, no presents, just good people and alot of reflection on the state of the w orld.

This experience has been one of the m ostam azing of m y life. I w on’t deny thatliving in a developing country has m orethan its share of frustrations, but theexperiences and lessons have beeninvaluable. M y w orld view has certainlybeen forever altered.

I leave you w ith this as I prepare to leaveRw anda –W ishing all a peaceful, joyousand blessed N ew Year. And I look forw ardto seeing you again very, very soon. ■

R I O !South American

Conference on World Trade &

International Assignments

20 & 21 FEB '[email protected]



52 Volume 5 / Issue

G lo b a l HR New s


are uniform policies, pay structures, perform -ance m anagem ent system s, and so on.

KEY ISSUES AFFECTING IECS

O verall, the advantages provided by the fac-tors just discussed –m obility, cost savings

and control, defense against perm anentestablishm ent, and equity –greatly facilitatean em ployer’s flexibility and responsivenessto staff needs, operational requirem ents,and long-term com pany strategy. W hile sup-porting the needs of both em ployer andem ployee, how ever, IEC s do present severalsignificant issues that need to be addressed.For the m ost part, these issues fall w ithinthree m ajor areas: legal, finance, andhum an resources.

Legal. A n IEC m ust have “substance”to beview ed as a legitim ate interm ediary. Forinstance, a registered com pany w ith staffperform ing real w ork is an exam ple of sub-stance. A registered com pany w ith only apost office box for an address but no w ork-ing staff, how ever, lacks substance.

Finance. The location of an IEC either on- oroff-shore is a determ ining factor in how itw ill be treated for tax purposes by hom e-and host-country governm ents. O ne m ustconsider the potential im pact of tax treatiesand social security totalization agreem entsthat correspond to the em ployees’hom e-host countries, as w ell as any applicable for-eign exchange and securities exchange regu-

lations. A ll of these issues play an im portantrole in deciding w here to locate an IEC toachieve the em ployer’s desired objectives inrelation to overall cost, budgets, tax liability,benefit requirem ents, and so on.

Human Resources. Em ploym ent by an IECcan involve severing som e ties and links tothe individual’s hom e country. For exam ple,IEC em ploym ent m ay prohibit participation inhom e-country benefit plans, but m ay stillrequire the paym ent of hom e- and host-country taxes and, if applicable, IEC countrytaxes. It is also im portant to consider pay lev-els, the currency in w hich that pay is deliv-

ered, and benefit provisions –all of w hichm ust reasonably align w ith the expectationsof sought-after em ployees. O verall, the term sand conditions of em ploym ent offered by theIEC m ust be com petitive enough to attractand retain necessary skills in sufficient quanti-ty to be effective w ithout being excessive.

INVESTMENT BEFORE PAY OFF

Since an IEC is inevitably a com plex entity,

establishing and im plem enting such a vehicle

requires considerable investm ent in tim e and

expense before the em ployer can reap the

benefits of cost efficiency. Extensive research,

analysis, and in-depth discussion w ith tax

and legal experts are essential to determ ine

the m ost appropriate type of IEC and the

optim al location for best results.

O nce designed, im plem entation of an effec-tive IEC requires a good com m unication plan

because it affects em ployees’pay, benefits,

retirem ent, and taxes, as w ell as corporate

tax structures. C onsequently, a clear under-

standing of the full im pact of an IEC on

em ployer and em ployee alike is im perative

prior to im plem entation.

C om panies w ith large-scale, global em ploy

m obility needs have found IEC s useful in

resolving m any of their m obility issues. For

such organizations, the required investm enhas returned value and proven its w orth. A

interest in these em ploym ent vehicles seem

to be increasing, one w ould expect m ore a

m ore global corporations to find value in th

investm ent of tim e and m oney as w ell. ■

00 global hr news ghr v5i3 web

Documents