We treat expatriate departures like royal weddings... and we often botch returns like the day after a party. The result: 1 out of 2 returns is a bad experience. This article is your guide to transforming a blind spot in the international mobility companies as a lever for loyalty.
Contents
The unstable HR equation when returning from expatriation
The latest edition of the Expat Communication barometer is a stark reminder of the reality: 43% of returns end in a difficult experience, and 51% of employees say they have not benefited from any support dedicated to repatriation. Their return often feels like a blank page... or a wrinkled one, depending on the extent of the lack of preparation. You've got to admit, it's food for thought - and a different way of doing things.
The illusion of automatic return
Also according to this barometer, 62% of expatriates consider their return to be more difficult than their departure, and 1 in 3 leave their company within two years of their return. These figures show just how vulnerable the return is, both for the employees and for the company.
Because the return is neither automatic nor natural. It has to be orchestrated. And yet, in many ETIs, this return is the great absentee of mobility policies. We often think, wrongly, that an employee returning "home" doesn't need any support, especially if their stay abroad lasted less than 24 months in a country bordering France such as Spain or Italy. After all, they know the company, they speak the language, they know how things work...
I recently spoke to a HR manager at an industrial company with around 1,200 employees in France. He had a very structured approach to departures and outgoing mobility, with a development plan, mentoring and a clear contract. But when I asked: "What happens when they come back? Then: "They return to their job, or an equivalent one...". Nothing formalised. No re-onboarding session, no dedicated HR point, no post-expatriation review. The result? Two senior managers who returned last year left the company. Invisible cost, but real consequences.
What we think is automatic is often what deserves the most attention. Anticipation is not always the first virtue of ETIs: limited resources, operational urgency, and then... that latent turnover which already occupies your nights (and sometimes your nightmares). As a result, preparation for the return home goes by the board: of the respondents to the barometer, only 36 % of expatriates mentioned a plan for their return that had been discussed before they left. And in a context where retaining talent is a strategic issue, treating the return as an HR phase in its own right, or as a strategic toolis not a luxury.
Systemic dilemmas
As a HR manager, you have to juggle :
- Preserving internal equity vs. valuing an atypical profile. How can you integrate employees with unique skills without upsetting the balance of your teams?
- Controlling budgetary constraints vs. securing a high level of investment in these employees. Expatriation is expensive and not capitalising on this experience is a dead loss. But you don't always have the resources for individual follow-up or the tools to manage these returns.
- Preparing upstream (departure) with a return date that is often "to be confirmed" and "return window" options that are changed along the way, which limits your planning efforts. Not to mention the fact that the return does not always come at the "right time" for the company. The team welcoming the new employee doesn't fit in, the organisational structure has changed, and projects and files are not aligned. The result is that employees come back... but you don't know where to put them.
Profiles that don't fit into any box
In my international mobility coaching, I've come across senior executives, young talent, managers in transition, single people or families, bi-national couples, 'repeat' expatriates and first-time expatriates, 'next-gen' managers with expectations that are very (very) different from those of their elders... Given the diversity of the profiles, getting an expatriate employee back can't be as simple as ticking an HR box in Excel. Because you're the conductor... of a brass band whose score you discover as you go along.
The major HR pitfalls when returning from expatriation
Ignoring employees' decision-making and emotional fatigue
Returning home is often a time of accumulated fatigue: trying to adapt, moving house, dealing with unforeseen events, etc. Your employees won't be up to 100 % straight away. But you probably expect them to hit the ground running, while they're still in "landing" mode.
What can be done? Put in place a reintegration airlock, or at the very least, offer a structured breathing space before these employees set out again to achieve ambitious goals by specific deadlines.
Cultivating the golden cupboard syndrome
"She'll go back to an equivalent job, that should be enough". It's a classic mistake to believe that the position offered on return, if it's at the same hierarchical level, will meet this employee's expectations. Having taken on wider responsibilities and been confronted with multicultural or strategic issues, an "equivalent" position on paper may seem reductive, or even a step backwards. Even if it has the colour of a "golden cupboard". In practical terms, how do you (re)welcome someone who, in the space of three years, has changed culture, country, environment and vision of their job? Also according to Expat Communication's 2024 barometer, nearly 30 % of expatriates in ETIs say they have difficulty getting recognition for the development of their skills on their return. So much potential to be developed rather than restricted.
As one HR Director of a services company with 400 employees told me: "The most complicated thing? Finding a place in the organisation for these atypical profiles. Without targeted support, you quickly lose much sought-after talent. Because neither she nor you want to find yourself in the situation of being forced to recruit externally while the under-utilised ex-expatriate is considering leaving the company... Rather than looking for "equivalence", plan several scenarios, worked out in advance with their future line managers. And offer to co-construct the return project: objectives, scope, prospects, so that the returnees feel that they are playing an active role in their internal repositioning.
Maintaining confusion about status
In addition to the vagueness of their job title, most expats return with a blurred status: former local, ex-expat, future boss who's gone up in the world? Teams no longer know exactly where to place them hierarchically or symbolically. They too have to make room for the "returnees", and are not always prepared: higher expectations, complexity of profile, need to (re)get to know each other. This creates the risk of awkwardness, mutual misunderstanding and even latent conflict. And that's where the problem lies. Because you want to welcome without over-valuing, integrate without creating "special cases", recognise international experience without frustrating those who haven't had the opportunity. It's a balance as subtle as group choreography on quicksand! This creates tensions, jealousy or a form of ambiguity that undermines the authority and legitimacy of those who return.
So it's not a question of rolling out a red carpet, but of laying the foundations for a controlled professional reintegration. This involves concrete organisational solutions, such as updating the rules for title/grade mapping or the eligibility criteria for a reintegration bonus. It also involves targeted HR tools: structured re-entry interviews, a reverse onboarding programme tailored to a 'returnee' who has acquired seniority, clear communication on the role, missions and strategic interest of the career path, and even transition coaching to support the return to work. Not to be 'different', but to do the right thing.
Ignore the loss of internal visibility
During expatriation, internal networks evolve. On their return, employees can feel isolated, with former mentors and colleagues who have left, and new promotion channels. "We often underestimate the importance of internal networks that have evolved during expatriation. Rebuilding these links is a key issue, especially in our human-sized company", a HR manager from a medium-sized industrial company once explained to me. Without rebuilt networks and the interest of colleagues in the experience abroad, they can feel marginalised, especially in SMEs where international mobility remains the exception.
Include feedback in HR indicators
Without a clear plan and clear indicators, the return becomes like a jigsaw puzzle: everyone has the pieces, but no one knows what picture needs to be pieced together. Few ETIs measure the real impact of the return with a retention rate at 12 and 24 months, the development of skills, the level of post-return satisfaction, or even the effect of the return on a team's collective performance. But you can't improve what you don't measure. Putting these KPIs in place, even through a series of pragmatic questions, is an important step in objectivising results, anticipating weak signals and adjusting support systems. For example, with KPIS for 12/24 month retention rates, % returns with a co-constructed position, repositioning time, number of post-return feedback sessions held, post-return Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), etc. This analytical monitoring also makes it possible to demonstrate the strategic value of managing expatriation returns to General Management, in order to legitimise the renewal of targeted HR investments.
Ignoring the misalignment with the corporate culture (which has evolved)
The return is a reintegration, sometimes even a professional re-socialisation. Employees return with different reflexes, new methods, different expectations, sometimes a broader vision - and a growing lack of understanding of an organisation that has itself changed differently. Digitalisation, new tools, new managerial rituals, new values, a new relationship with control or delegation... Returning employees can feel culturally out of step, even in a company they know well.
The famous "reverse culture shock" is no myth, even when you return from a French-speaking country such as Switzerland, Belgium or Luxembourg. In 2024, nearly 80 % of expatriates acknowledged psychosocial difficulties on their return, and for SMEs without large HR teams, the temptation is great to "let the storm pass". However, the diversity and depth of these episodes require personalised support and alignment of local management around the challenges of the return, as part of a "structured briefing for managers and executives" type of process that sets out realistic expectations for 90 days and explicit recognition of what has been learned.
Not passing on the benefits of expatriation
International experience often remains buried on employees' CVs. We don't capitalise on what they have learned: new practices, global vision, adaptability, multicultural management... We miss out on the potential for transferring knowledge to local teams.
I came across an IT project manager who had returned after three years in the United States, where he had managed agile teams in a highly competitive environment. His HR department offered to involve him in an internal transformation project to roll out collaborative tools, by giving him the role of internal mentor to the junior project managers.
Ignoring the issue of long-term reintegration
"The return is the end of the assignment, so you have to close the HR management quickly. This line of reasoning ignores the importance of long-term follow-up. Integration crises and demotivation often appear several months after the official return. Cultural, professional and social reintegration takes time; without support or a dedicated integration programme, the ex-expat can remain outside the group, questioning his or her professional identity. To build loyalty and motivate returning employees and recreate a sense of belonging, regular follow-up can help: milestones, cross-feedback, development prospects, recognition of achievements. Depending on the EY 2023 report on international mobilityCompanies that invest in post-return monitoring report a significant drop in staff turnover and better integration of former expatriates into internal networks.
The return is as much a sprint as a marathon. It's over the long term that we see the quality of the reintegration and the impact on loyalty.
Coaching to make the post-expatriation period more secure
The 3 benefits of support
Bringing back French employees from expatriation is like receiving a fragile parcel: if you don't manage the unpacking properly, there will be breakage. There are, of course, many 'hard' levers that you can put in place to improve the reintegration of expatriate employees, in relation to job architecture, grade classification, the return pay policy, mobility clauses, etc.
In line with my expertise, I discuss here how the international coaching can help you map expectations upstream, clarify promises and devise return paths that avoid disappointment, or even the flight of the best employees. This type of system helps to transform a risky phase into an opportunity for growth, for both employees and the company:
- Facilitating reintegration by helping employees to understand and adapt to changes in the company.
- Enhance the skills acquired by identifying how international experience can enrich current projects and dossiers.
- Preventing disengagement by providing a space for reflection on career aspirations and goals, over different timeframes.
In an ETI context, where resources are often limited, modular and hybrid approaches can be put in place: distance coaching sessions, short formats targeted at the transition period or even systems combining guided self-diagnosis and time for exchange with a coach. In addition, there are a number of proposed conditions for the success of such support: sponsorship of the return by a senior manager, a timetable aligned with HR milestones, sharing of lessons learned with the team. When properly integrated into the overall HR strategy, coaching contributes not only to the individual development of employees, but also to strengthening the corporate culture around international mobility.
And when it comes to the classic question of return on investment (ROI), there's no doubt that the cost of an unwanted departure is immensely higher than the investment in a few hours of coaching.
6 coaching questions to ask yourself
- Have I ever 'lost' someone of value after returning from an expatriation... without really seeing it coming?
- What post-return monitoring systems have I put in place to detect any difficulties with professional reintegration at an early stage?
- What would I like directors/managers to understand about the specific needs of employees on their return?
- Who owns the knowledge acquired abroad... and how is it actually passed on and used within the organisation?
- What concrete levers can I activate today to actively prepare for the return, involving both employees and their managers?
- How can I personalise the welcome and professional repositioning?
6 coaching questions to ponder for a successful return from expatriation
On your return, coaching can help you to accept this readjustment process, to better understand your aspirations and to redefine your objectives in this transition. If you are returning to your new job, individual coaching helps you to identify sticking points and to reconnect with your company's local culture, while making the most of the international experience you have gained. It gives you the keys to finding the balance between your desire for change and the reality of the company. It is a useful key to avoiding the trap of a passive reintegration, which leads to demotivation and resignation.
Here are a few questions to help you prepare for your return from expatriation:
- What motivated me to leave and come back?
- What values and perspectives have I developed abroad that could enrich my life and career back home?
- What are my personal and professional expectations of my return?
- What will I miss most about my experience abroad, and how can I continue to nurture that part of myself when I return?
- What is my relationship with my culture of origin now, and how can I reintegrate these roots while respecting the evolution of my own identity?
- In what situations am I afraid of not being understood or not fitting in?
In conclusion
international mobility is an adventure... which deserves a good script right to the end, not just a good script for the departure episode.
This is all the more true given that for an ETI, the return from expatriation is an opportunity to stand out in its recruitment market by displaying a policy of valuing mobility and taking into account the diversity of career paths.
As HRDs, your role is crucial in anticipating, supporting and promoting this transition.
Among the HR issues that need to be thought through differently are anticipation, reintegration and loyalty, as well as collective pride and cross-functionality.
