Rewarding Self‐Initiated Expatriates: A Skills‐Based Approach

Abstract

Expatriate compensation is considered one of the most difficult issues in expatriate policy

Using Narratives to Understand the Experience of Career Success amongst Self-initiated Expatriates in South Africa

“…Furthermore, the findings of this study support other studies (Kim et al 2018;Cao et al 2014) of the view that expatriates' sacrifices should be recognised and rewarded to enhance job performance and organisational commitment. Most participants in this study were of the opinion that the institution was not accepting the sacrifices they were making and they felt undervalued (Shortland 2018;Suutari et al 2018).…”

“…Hence, SIEs characterise the concept of boundaryless professionals (Gerli et al 2015;Rodriguez and Scurry 2014). Other previous studies have noted that SIEs are associated with intangible motivators and nonfinancial rewards (Jonasson et al 2018;Kim et al 2018). However, participants of this study perceived remuneration as a form of motivation.…”

“…This quest for career development allows SIEs to move across geographic boundaries (Jonasson et al 2018;Rodriguez and Scurry 2014), despite the challenges that can be encountered (Harry, Dodd, and Chinyamurindi 2017). Another reason for the movement of SIEs could be due to unfavourable conditions in their home country (Kim et al 2018). Researchers argue for the need to continually investigate SIE experiences, especially within host countries, and the impact of this not only on individual career development but also on the lived experience (e.g.…”

“…SIEs face several challenges as part of their lived experience and these eventually impact not only their career development (Chen 2012;Hussain and Deery 2018) but also their experiences in the host country (Harry et al 2017). Challenges within the host country may even result in SIEs deciding to terminate their international assignments (Sarna 2015), which increases the labour turnover (Kim et al 2018). Empirical efforts are needed that seek to understand how SIEs can be assisted to settle in the host countries, not just for their benefit but also that of their organisations (Andersen, Al Ariss, and Walther 2013;Dickmann and Baruch 2011).…”

The impact of HRM, perceived employability, and job insecurity on self‐initiated expatriates’ adjustment to the host country

“…Career development initiatives include having a well‐defined performance appraisal system where the individual may foresee promotion or career enhancement opportunities. Rewards are also important factors for an individual's career and may be perceived as “objective” indicators of one's human capital inside (and outside) the organization they have been advanced as crucial for SIEs’ attraction and retention (Kim, Halliday, Zhao, Wang, & Von Glinow, ). This bundle of career‐oriented HRM practices is likely to be positively related to SIEs’ adjustment.…”