Richard came to Thailand for a 6-month international assignment last year. He immediately fell in love with the lively streets, food markets, nightlife, and the amazingly rich culture different from his own. Richard quickly found friends, both fellow expats and locals, and was very content in his work, learning from the different working cultures. When he finally returned to his home country, his bank balance was better than before he left, and he was full of captivating stories.
His friend Benjamin, inspired by Richard’s stories, came to Thailand and had a very different experience. He hated the noisy streets full of cars and people. Simple shopping tasks were frustrating, as the sellers were descending on him. He also hated the inability to communicate properly, so relied on more expensive goods and services, draining his money. Benjamin found himself unable to get along with the colleagues or make friends, due to his communication issues and decreasing confidence. There was no interest in travel or learning as he felt isolated and irritated. Once returned, he was glad and never wanted to go to international assignments again.
Both of the assignees are from the same place geographically, with similar work and family backgrounds. But each of them had such a different story of success. Why is this so? Because different personality types affect the likelihood of success in their international assignments. And this is actually confirmed by science.
Science explains
There was a study from Florida Atlantic University called “Personality and expatriate adjustment: A meta‐analysis”. It shows that the personality characteristics of expats play a big role in how well they adjust to the new place and the probability of successful completion of the assignment.
“Oftentimes, expatriates have difficulty adjusting to this new environment. They can suffer poor well-being, experience conflict between their work life and family life, perform poorly and turnover,” said Michael Harari, a co-author of the study. And a Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Management Programs in FAU’s College of Business, “All expatriates are different. Maybe some are more adept to adjusting effectively where others aren’t. We wanted to understand what characteristics of expatriates make them more or less likely to adjust effectively.”
Michael with other researchers organized a meta-analysis around the framework of the FFM (Five-Factor Model) of personality. Many contemporary personality psychologists believe that there are five basic dimensions of personality and are often referred to as the “Big 5” personality traits. It includes broad factors of:
Harari says that three out of five of these traits seem to play a more important role. According to the research, the most successful assignees tend to be emotionally stable extraverts with openness to new experiences. As extraverts are usually better at forming larger and denser social networks, this helps them with emotional and informational support. Emotionally stable expats are much more even-tempered. That’s why they are not as affected by culture shock and other stressors that can be possible on assignment. And people with an openness to experience often enjoy the sense of novelty when overseas, as they are more excited by ambiguity.
An expert weighs in
We asked a professional expat psychologist and coach, Gabriela Encina, to take a closer look at what these big five personality traits are and their impact on assignees’ life. Gabriela works specifically with people who move overseas and perfectly understands how they feel before, during, and after their assignments.
Openness. A certain level of openness is not only helpful but necessary for assignees. Embracing this trait while abroad will not only help them get past specific fears and challenges but help them make the most of their time in their new country.
Conscientiousness. It’s a beneficial trait when it comes to prioritization and creating new routines and habits. Conscientious tendencies help when it comes to making the most of the day and finding a balance between work life and travel.
Extraversion. People high in extraversion gain energy by being around others and are excitable, talkative, outgoing, and even assertive. It’s easier for them to make friends in an unknown country, learn and practice languages, etc.
Agreeableness. Assignees with a high score for agreeableness will be more trustworthy, cooperative, and empathic.
Neuroticism. Assignees may encounter high levels of stress once relocated. Neuroticism means relocated persons may exhibit a high level of emotional intelligence that makes them more relatable to people, leading to others seeing their authentic truth, helping them more easily forge meaningful connections.
This is an extracted version of the full article by Gabriela Encina, which you should read here.
To the HR professionals
It is a huge responsibility to make sure an assignment goes well at every level. This requires making the right choice of candidate, as it affects them, their family, the job, the company and reflects on you. Companies must choose wisely and make the right choice, which requires the HR departments to understand the staff well. Also, there is an element of responsibility on the potential assignee, to see how truly suitable they would be.
You can utilize the “Big 5 personality test” to see if a potential assignee would be well suited to an overseas assignment. It is useful for HR departments as well as potential assignees as it gauges the five traits we described to estimate the suitability.
Once you have chosen the right person, we will help you with everything else to make your life easier. Clearmove’s cutting edge technology streamlines the relocation process for both assignees and HR professionals. Click the button below to find out more.