International Assignments
Global DISC ™ supports organisations to develop more nuanced candidate selection practices, ensuring that employees yield the greatest return on investment for a given international assignment.
International assignments are fundamental for organisations to compete in the global marketplace. The most successful employees and leaders are sent on international assignments to transfer their technical and managerial knowledge or exploit local opportunities while at the same time gaining valuable international work experience and advancing their careers.
Most companies do a fine job of identifying candidates with the necessary knowledge and experience to fill a position abroad. Preliminary data on their eagerness in taking a potential international assignment, overseas study/travel/work experiences, foreign language skills, an immigration background and the like are considered too. Leadership skills can also be a decisive factor.
Unfortunately, sending the most technically competent or effective candidates abroad, without a proper assessment of whether they are likely to succeed in the culture of the target country, leads to many costly failures. Consequently, organisations achieve few of the benefits of international assignments but pay all of the costs.
But individual candidates also take a loss. While an international assignment can be a significant development experience, broadening horizons and instil a global perspective, considerable stress is involved in relocating to a new country and coping with the personal and professional challenges.
Consequently, unsettled candidates do not perform to their full potential. They might fail when confronted with a foreign cultural environment.
“Diversity is the greatest asset or liability. Ignoring their cultural and personal differences in a multicultural world destroys performance, leveraging them makes organisations profitable and sustainable. Solutions created before globalisation are not designed to address the people challenges of the 21st century, that is what Global DISC™ was created for. It is the ideal solution to create an inclusive environment supported by measurable and repeatable results."
How To Optimise The Candidate Selection For International Assignments
In a best-case scenario, international assignments are a win-win for organisations and their people. However, international assignments can also gloriously fail if candidates and target countries are a mismatch. Global DISC ™ corporate solution supports organisations and candidates planning for international assignments in many ways:
Ability To Cope With Change And Cultural Adaptation
First of all, the Global DISC ™ assessment measures personality traits needed to cope well with change and cultural adaptation during international assignments. It reliably predicts how individuals will respond to the personal and professional challenges of living and working abroad. The assessment results support the selection of the most suitable candidates.
Personal Strengths And Risk Factors In 50 Countries
Global DISC ™ also identifies the strengths and risk areas for individual candidates in up to 50 different target countries. The assessment compares an individuals’ profile with the cultural profile of a selected target country. Candidates can be matched to specific countries, but are also provided with specific advice on how to adapt best using individual strengths and improve potential cultural weaknesses. Coaching or training opportunities can be tailored based on the Global DISC ™ assessment results to meet needs prior to and during an international assignment.
Future Leadership Planning
Global DISC ™ can support the future career planning of global leaders. If an individual is strongly culturally intelligent, they will be suited to many different international assignments. Those who are less culturally flexible, may be better suited to fulfil just one or two assignments in countries with a culture that is similar to their home country.
Spouse/Partner Risk Factors
Moreover, Global DISC ™ can help to identify any potential family risks of an international assignment. By offering the spouse or partner of each candidate to take the Global DISC ™ assessment, they can understand better how likely they are to thrive in a specific country. This knowledge may influence their personal choice, your choice of candidate but can also help to provide the best support right from the beginning.
Support For Receiving Offices
Last but not least, Global DISC ™ can be beneficial to the receiving office abroad. By letting future team members take the assessment prior to the assignee’s arrival, the team building process can be profoundly facilitated. With the Global DISC ™ Fast-Teaming Passport, colleagues in the receiving office can adjust to work effectively with the new co-worker from day one and will appreciate incoming skills more.
Global DISC ™ supports organisations to develop more nuanced candidate selection practices, ensuring that employees yield the greatest return on investment for a given international assignment. With over 20 years of experience in crosscultural business and our global network of vetted trainers, coaches and consultants, we can provide you with a full-service implementation of Global DISC Corporate Solution plus individual coaching and training options on demand. Make your company a winner in the global marketplace!