When You Say,"We'll Keep You Whole," Do You Mean It?

Abstract

Setting realistic expectations and sending the right message to employees are critical elements in effective expatriate management. Setting real-istic expectations is important because it is imperative that an employee separate the finan-cial aspects of the compensation program, over which the company has control, from non-finan-cial aspects of the assignment, such as cultural and geografphic differences, over which the com-pany has no control. The words employers choose and the message they send to expatriate employees are of great importance. When an employer says, "We'll keep you whole," the phrase means different things to different people and can create unrealistic expectations in the mind of expatriate employees. It's crucial to explain exact-ly what the employer will and will not provide, and what the company expects from the employ-ee, not just what the employee can expect from the company.