Managing global talent: solving the spousal adjustment problem

Abstract

Spousal adjustment issues, increasingly career related, are a major reason for expatriate assignment failure. Employer-provided spousal assistance programs have been proposed to address this situation. This field study of 238 expatriate spouses found that those who experience a severe disruption or cessation of employment have significantly lower interaction adjustment to the expatriate experience than others. For spouses with a career orientation to work, females had higher cultural and interactional adjustment than males. Only 18% of the spouses received employer-provided career assistance, and there was no significant difference in adjustment between spouses who received assistance and those who did not. Interviews with 100 spouses indicated that their greatest needs are for networking information to assist with their job search and for a ‘go to’ person for practical settling-in assistance.

Keywords:

• family relocation assistance
• male spouses
• spousal adjustment
• spousal employment
• spousal employment assistance programs

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the SHRM Foundation. However, the interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily represent views of the SHRM Foundation.