Ep.33: Reintegration of Repatriates - Influencing Factors in the Context of Communities with Lena Fischer and Stefan Rem

Show notes

Summary: In this episode of the Global People Mobility Insights podcast, guest Lena Fischer, a PhD candidate at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, talks to Stefan Remhof about the reintegration of repatriates and the influencing factors in the context of communities and social networks.

She highlights the challenges repatriates face when returning to their home country and the impact on their job satisfaction and intention to quit. Lena emphasises how important social support and networks are for successful reintegration. She also provides insights on the design of a potential perfect reintegration process and the role HR practitioners play in supporting repatriates. Additionally, Lena also talks about current and future trends in global mobility, including the shift towards virtual assignments and the challenges that come with this.

Key Takeaways:

• Repatriates face challenges in reintegrating into their home country and organization, leading to increased dissatisfaction and potential turnover.
• Social support and networks play a crucial role in the successful reintegration of repatriates.
• The reintegration process should start before the repatriates return, with clear communication and expectation management between the repatriates and the headquarters.
• HR practitioners should maintain and support repatriates' networks, facilitate knowledge transfer, and appreciate the repatriates' international assignments.
• Global mobility trends include the adoption of virtual solutions and shorter-term assignments, but complete replacement of international assignments is unlikely.

Authors: Lena M. Fischer holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, with study experience in Taiwan. She spent three years as a research assistant at TU Chemnitz, contributing to various projects. After a sabbatical traveling through Asia, she joined Mike Geppert's team at FSU as a PhD student in April 2024.

Stefan Remhof is Managing Partner of the People Mobility Alliance and Professor of International Management at IU International University. He has profound expertise in the fields of global mobility, expat management and international assignments.