By Cynthia L. Kemper
International Business Consultant

Feb. 15 - Despite all the concern around global market expansion today, the expatriate selection process for sending company representatives overseas is still woefully inadequate in most corporations. According to Dr. Michael Tucker, president of Tucker International in Boulder, research shows that current evaluation and selection of candidates in many companies still involves poor practices. He offers the following as the most common errors found in corporations today:

Decisions made with little lead time as opposed to allowing sufficient time for careful selection of candidates and cross-cultural training,

Making selections from a single choice instead of multiple candidates,

Perceiving job factors and skill sets as the only determinants without considering intercultural adjustment abilities and spouse/family success factors,

Overseas assignment viewed as a single event rather than part of a candidate's overall career plan,

Financial incentives used instead of emphasizing the benefits of international experience on career and future,

Decision is made by line management rather than an experienced International Human Resources selection team,

Spouses not included in selection/decision making process (employee and spouse should be treated as equal parts of a team), and,

Minimal if any followup after placement of employee in overseas setting rather than implementing a systematic and ongoing evaluation of job and intercultural adjustment success.

Tucker has good reason to pay attention to issues such as these. He has devoted much of his more than 30 years in intercultural assessment, education, training and consulting developing a unique instrument designed to measure the potential adaptability of expatriates and their spouses - before their departure.

"Three of the most critical areas to consider when sending an employee overseas: the family, their ability to adapt to a new culture, and, their ability to adapt to a different workplace, are more often than not ignored,'' explains Tucker. "Unfortunately, these are also the factors which limit long-term corporate success and ultimately cause the most damage to the bottom line.''

The measurement tool authored by Tucker - the Overseas Assignment Inventory (OAI) - measures each individual in a number of areas. It does not assess one's personality, but rather the motivations, expectations, at titudes and attributes necessary for successful personal adjustment to a different culture. The OAI is also designed to help each individual understand how certain attitudes and behaviors can affect the quality of their own intercultural adjustment and their ability to live comfortably and happily in another culture.

Each candidate's OAI profile is first broken down into 15 different categories: motivations, expectations, open-mindedness, respect for other beliefs, trust in people, tolerance, personal control, flexibility, patience, social adaptability, initiative, risk taking, sense of humor, interpersonal interest and spouse communication.

Then, each candidate's profile is shown against a pool of several thousand people by category, indicating how high or low a candidate rates as compared to a predetermined success norm in each area.

The OAI profile is not only a useful instrument for selecting the best candidate, it can be a viable tool to determine how best to prepare a candidate for the crosscultural experience ahead. With the proper counseling and training, people who are weak in certain areas can successfully make the adjustments necessary before they leave their home country - guaranteeing greater success for the sponsoring corporation over the long-run.

During Tucker's 30-some years in the intercultural business, he has determined that well-adapted expatriates almost always:

Accept and respect the local culture,

Gain a great deal of historical and contemporary knowledge about the country and its people,

Develop positive affect or feelings about the country,

Engage in a well-adjusted and balanced lifestyle,

Interact with local people socially,

Communicate effectively, and,

Perform their job well - especially with respect to working with local people.

"The Overseas Assignment Inventory has now been used for over 20 years by Fortune 500 companies. Not only do they report a higher success ratio among their expatriates, they can identify significant financial savings as a result of their success,'' adds Tucker. "But, unfortunately, the high failure rate of expatriates today shows that not enough companies are taking advantage of pre-departure assessment and selection tools.'

' Cynthia L. Kemper is a Denver-based consultant and trainer who specializes in international business issues. Her column appears every Sunday. E-mail her at ckemper@edgewalkers.com.