Retaining repatriates—the role of career derailment upon repatriation and how it can be mitigated

Abstract

This study draws on relative deprivation theory to investigate the effect of career derailment upon return from an international assignment on repatriate retention, thereby also considering factors which can mitigate this relationship. The results from a hierarchical linear regression analysis of data from 292 repatriates indicate that career derailment upon repatriation decreases the former expatriates’ intent to stay. However, this effect is weaker when individuals perceived that they had promotion, autonomy and compensation advantages relative to colleagues who lack international assignment experience and when they were provided organizational repatriation support by their assigning organization. With these findings, this work lays the ground for strategies to improve the retention of former expatriates despite restricted career opportunities in the home organization. Thereby, it helps firms to realize the long-term benefits of international assignments.

Keywords:

• Repatriation
• retention
• career derailment
• relative career advantage
• organizational repatriation support
• relative deprivation theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.