The results have shown that repatriates seek four developmental needs: 1) Psychological support, 2) social integration support, 3) onboarding support and 4) administrative sup-port.
Repatriates value developmental relationships in the form of psychological support, which includes moral support, sharing and exchanging of experiences as well as guiding, and advis-ing. Comparably to what is defined in the literature (e.g. Higgins and Kram, 2001), repatri-ates disclose these ties to be based on trust, empathy, reciprocity and personal bond. There-fore, family and friends – developers who are heavily involved in repatriates’ lives, mainly offer psychological support. As a result, repatriates overcome socio-cultural and family-related challenges …show more content…
In order to develop personally, they need de-velopmental relationships that transfer a sense of belonging, participation in every day life, the feeling of being included and being recognized back in the home country. The necessary support seems to be coming mainly from friends as developers and developees have similar interests based on long-lasting friendship ties. By engaging in shared activities repatriates socio-cultural challenges can be mitigated; motivation increases, repatriates change their mindsets and behaviors and reach more satisfactory social status back in the home country. However, based on the shared views of interviewees, friends alone are not able to sufficient-ly provide social integration support. Therefore, fellow sufferers (Other repatriates - i.e. ex-patriates from the same or another company who have also repatriated back to Switzerland) are vital in repatriates developmental network as they have similar perceptions based on shared repatriation experiences. As a consequence, the shared empathy for one another helps significantly in lessening the feeling of being alone in the repatriation process and fur-ther lessens social-cultural challenges.
The findings show that different repatriates draw support from developers located in Swit-zerland as well as abroad. Hence social integration can also be sought from developers …show more content…
The analysis demonstrates that repatriates appreciate learning and professional development ties that include career development, coaching and mentoring as well as access to social knowledge within the organization. While line manag-ers play a very important role in providing career development and coaching as well as men-toring support, peers are seen as a source to access social knowledge. This is somewhat in line with the findings of Mezias and Scandura (2005) that suggest several mentors to assist with adjustment challenges, but contradicts their recommendation to use peers as a source for mentoring support. Also, the results showed that repatriates value referrals and connec-tions for professional development – especially if an adequate repatriation strategy including a clear career plan is missing in the repatriation agreement. Consequently, the data suggests that repatriates solely seek professional development within the organizational context and see developmental needs as being rational. These findings support Dubrow et al.’ (2012) study which concluded that work relationships predominantly offer career support, advice, and professional development. Ultimately, adequate professional development lessens frus-tration discouragement on the job and is ultimately an essential factor for the repatriate’s decision to stay with the
Repatriates value developmental relationships in the form of psychological support, which includes moral support, sharing and exchanging of experiences as well as guiding, and advis-ing. Comparably to what is defined in the literature (e.g. Higgins and Kram, 2001), repatri-ates disclose these ties to be based on trust, empathy, reciprocity and personal bond. There-fore, family and friends – developers who are heavily involved in repatriates’ lives, mainly offer psychological support. As a result, repatriates overcome socio-cultural and family-related challenges …show more content…
In order to develop personally, they need de-velopmental relationships that transfer a sense of belonging, participation in every day life, the feeling of being included and being recognized back in the home country. The necessary support seems to be coming mainly from friends as developers and developees have similar interests based on long-lasting friendship ties. By engaging in shared activities repatriates socio-cultural challenges can be mitigated; motivation increases, repatriates change their mindsets and behaviors and reach more satisfactory social status back in the home country. However, based on the shared views of interviewees, friends alone are not able to sufficient-ly provide social integration support. Therefore, fellow sufferers (Other repatriates - i.e. ex-patriates from the same or another company who have also repatriated back to Switzerland) are vital in repatriates developmental network as they have similar perceptions based on shared repatriation experiences. As a consequence, the shared empathy for one another helps significantly in lessening the feeling of being alone in the repatriation process and fur-ther lessens social-cultural challenges.
The findings show that different repatriates draw support from developers located in Swit-zerland as well as abroad. Hence social integration can also be sought from developers …show more content…
The analysis demonstrates that repatriates appreciate learning and professional development ties that include career development, coaching and mentoring as well as access to social knowledge within the organization. While line manag-ers play a very important role in providing career development and coaching as well as men-toring support, peers are seen as a source to access social knowledge. This is somewhat in line with the findings of Mezias and Scandura (2005) that suggest several mentors to assist with adjustment challenges, but contradicts their recommendation to use peers as a source for mentoring support. Also, the results showed that repatriates value referrals and connec-tions for professional development – especially if an adequate repatriation strategy including a clear career plan is missing in the repatriation agreement. Consequently, the data suggests that repatriates solely seek professional development within the organizational context and see developmental needs as being rational. These findings support Dubrow et al.’ (2012) study which concluded that work relationships predominantly offer career support, advice, and professional development. Ultimately, adequate professional development lessens frus-tration discouragement on the job and is ultimately an essential factor for the repatriate’s decision to stay with the