Infographic Insights #3: The cost of a failed assignment can be 40x base salary

Infographic Insights

in a recent blog post, I shared my infographic which presents some of the research around relocation success or failure. The infographic illustrates why organisations relocating staff and their families need to support emotional wellbeing for relocation. In this blog series, I’ll be exploring some of those infographic statistics individually.

Today’s Focus

The data for today’s focus comes from Padraig O’Sullivan, a business coach who was quoted in the article Dealing With A Failed Assignment As An Expat.

 

My take on the data

To some, 40 x base salary initially sounds like a high estimate. There are two things to consider when thinking about the estimate. First of all, this estimate is given for executives earning above US $250,000 per year. Secondly, when you take into account the costs of relocation plus a failed assignment, the costs soon add up. Just take a look at the following scenarios to consider where the costs may be incurred:

  1. The cost of repatriating an executive and their family sooner than expected in the event of a failed assignment

  2. Factoring in lost productivity when the executive is still at work. It’s reasonable to assume that failed assignments don’t happen overnight, but instead there would be some difficulties experienced for the weeks or months beforehand which would negatively impact job performance.

  3. The costs of recruiting and relocating a replacement for the executive. Finding the best candidate for an overseas assignment can be challenging and take time. If the role is empty for a while, there’s a productivity cost to the organisation which only increases as time passes.

My recommendations

My hello/goodbye programme is designed to focus on emotional wellbeing to support for families throughout the relocation process. Higher emotional wellbeing tends to reduce the risk of failed assignments, which potentially saves a great deal of money and stress for a number of people.

To hear more about how I can help your family or the families in your organisation, do get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

Dr Sarah Whyteemotional wellbeing for relocation, relocation, organisations, family support