International assignments can be an integral part of business development. However, they also tend to have a high level of complexity attached to them — from finding the right person, with all that that entails regarding relevant competency and the ability for cultural adaptation, to the person getting settled and becoming a productive member of […]
Moving abroad for work typically comes with a bit of a learning curve — there is a new language to learn, a different culture to understand and an array of practical matters to figure out. From a safety standpoint, having a deeper knowledge and understanding of the country in which you are working is particularly […]
Johannes Klemeyer, CEO, EMEA operations at Globiana, has always had a passion for foreign cultures, and he’s always wanted to be an entrepreneur. When he got the opportunity to combine the two, he didn’t hesitate to take it. Together with Steffen Henkel, he co-founded crossculture academy (Germany’s first online worldwide intercultural support site) which later […]
I recently went on a cross-country road trip with my oldest daughter. I was helping her move from Florida back to the West coast. Like many, I’ve been dreaming of taking this kind of trip, but have never been able to figure out the timing or decide on the route (it’s a big country). This […]
In an increasingly global world, where people travel and move around the planet to an ever greater extent, and where engaging with people from different cultural backgrounds is commonplace, some wonder about the role of expat coaching in the future. If you add to the picture the ease with which we can gather information on […]
I often return from summer vacation back home feeling a bit blue and unsettled. I find that these feelings hit me the hardest just as we are settling into a routine, preparing to return to school and work. Maybe the blues are really more of a bittersweetness — yes, there is a sadness there, but […]
There is no clear champion when it comes to the challenges an expat partner faces through the course of relocation. Different individuals react differently when confronted with the tasks and circumstances of moving abroad — many find the process to be stressful and emotionally draining, others have an easier time. However, when the relocation dust […]
The past few weeks have taken me from the West coast of the US to the Midwest, and from there to Sweden, only to eventually end up in Spain. It’s been an interesting journey because while all these places subscribe to the same general western culture, there are some noticeable differences in how life is […]
I came across an article this past week titled “A Norwegian City Wants to Abolish Time” (you can find it here) — it caught my eye, partially because it seems an impossible endeavor and partially because the concept of time, and how we relate to it, is always interesting from a cross-cultural perspective. In my […]
The business of managing globally mobile talent is fast-moving and logistically challenging. There are few one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s a world where the needs are varied and new challenges are the norm of day-to-day operations. Whether you are a relocation management company, one of the vendors in the network, or an intercultural services provider, you are […]
With summer around the corner and many an expat getting ready for a trip back home, thoughts about what truly signifies home keep popping up in my head. I have noticed that the longer I live abroad, the more intense my sensory memories of home seem to get, or rather, the more easily my sensory […]
Each year corporate travelers take some 480 million business trips and there are an estimated 56 million business expats worldwide. The cost to a company when these globally mobile people are not performing, or even worse, are doing harm by not knowing the cultural codes of their business counterparts, is great. To be successful in […]