In 2006, Lisa Lord moved to Heidelberg, Germany, to set up a new talent-management team for software giant SAP AG.
Ms. Lord had been working in the U.S. for the German company for two years and was eager to move up the ranks. But a department reorganization split her duties, and by June 2007 she was back in the U.S. with no clear next position waiting for her at SAP.
Spending a few years overseas can vault ambitious employees into senior leadership positions. But companies aren’t always prepared when those workers return home, veteran expatriates and executive recruiters say. Often, the right domestic jobs aren’t open, or management fails to recognize and reward the skills developed during the time abroad, they say. The resulting frustrations can cause some managers to stumble, and even send some out the door.
Read more at Wall Street Journal
Well, that’¨s an old well known story, confirmed by someone I see every day. He worked for a household name Scandinavian Company which shall not be named, however it means “to roll” in Latin and in English it’s the most sensitive part of a woman’s body.
You see, the home office is always right, even when it is wrong. The away office seems to have a different opinion. If you’ve done your stint with the home office, and return to the away office, you are regarded as having been wrong for the previous 3 years whilst believing that you were right. For all of your contributions, you are usually awarded back the old job you had, as long as you apologize for having been wrong for those 3 years.
In seriousness, if you have been away for your slavemasters for 3 years, you are gone and have nothing that interests them—or even worse if you have been answering to the enemy on the other side of the ocean.
On the other side, if you have been out in the field in some remote Place, you have had the authority and responsibility to make fast decisions that get good, quick, and profitable local results with the limited resources you have. You are the one white guy leading the local aboriginies to success. Then, your 2.5 year tour is over, and you go back home with your wife pregnant with your 3rd Child. You are one of 40 such middle-agers looking for an upper level job in the home office. There is a limit to how many gravy jobs are handed out in the hometown. Add to it that your old local friends have moved on.
So, for a person that looks a lot like the guy I see in the mirror every morning, that guy (15 yrs ago) said “Firetruck this chute,” “I’m gonna go back and do something a lot less static.” Lo and behold that person today has risen to become a smart-ass commenter on a site of swarming outcast mosquitoes, and is not looking back.
It’s not valued so much to travel or work abroad there. Other nations value overseas experiences and encourage it. Look at how many Canadians are well traveled or who have studied abroad or worked abroad. This is always seen as a plus when they are welcomed home. Even the Chinese see the value of this and send their young people to schools abroad now, or go abroad to work and open businesses overseas. When they return they are seen as having valuable experiences to contribute which opens up career options to them others who have not gone abroad do not have.
The U.S. has always been suspicious of things outside its border. Jobs, schooling, travel and living abroad are seen with a mixture of intrigue and suspicion. I’m not going to concern myself with why this is so for very much longer. Being insular is not a way to grow towards a healthy outlook on the world.
@AtticusinCanada Michael Ignatieff’s experience working abroad didn’t seem to be valued in Canada. Of course, that was partly politics on the part of the Conservatives for their own advantage–but the Conservatives seem to have struck a responsive chord as the 2011 was literally the worst election for the Liberals in Canadian history. Will be interesting to see if Chrystia Freeland fares any better.
I think the whole problem with Ignatieff was that people saw him as returning to the country only to be PM, having no desire to be here otherwise.
@The Mom I understand your perspective. However, from the perspective of those of us living outside Canada–seriously considering moving back to Canada but ultimately deciding against it–the whole Ignatieff episode set a very bad precedent. I mean Ignatieff aspired to success–the prime ministership–on his return to Canada. Is it so wrong to aspire to success? My own experience–which mirrors that of Ignatieff–on trying to return to Canada is this: if one aspires to success, then one is deemed to not care about Canada but to only be moving back because of one’s own selfish interests. And if one aspires to more modest aspiration, one is deemed to be greatly overqualified to return to Canada. How, exactly, does one move back to Canada and earn the welcome home promised by @AtticusinCanada?
It’s a blatant attempt to discourage Americans from emigrating or ‘outsourcing’ American talent should they choose not to return, IMO. They don’t seem to be aware that FATCA will take care of that.