Mental wellbeing key for oversea workers
International health insurer AXA has said that it believes that mental health and wellbeing is key to ensuring a successful overseas work assignment. New research from the company has said that more than two-thirds of companies are worried about international assignments failing due to the mental health problems of staff. According to the survey of 250 multinational companies, 11 per cent of assignments are cancelled due to personal problems, whereas only eight per cent are cancelled due to commercial reasons. Of those assignments cancelled for personal reasons, AXA found that over half are cancelled because of an employee’s family concerns, whilst a further 42 per cent are cancelled due to the employees own ill health.
“Helping staff maintain good mental health and wellbeing should be as important as physical health for companies sending people to work on international assignment,” said Tom Wilkinson, CEO of AXA’s global healthcare team. “While working in another country can be tremendously exciting and rewarding and can help staff accelerate their careers and gain better pay and promotion prospects, it can also be challenging and isolating without the right support network and packages in place.”
Working abroad also increases the stresses of work relationships, the research found, with 43 per cent of staff saying that that hostility towards foreign workers has increased since they arrived in the country they are working in. The US seems to experience the worst relationships with foreign workers, with four out of five expatriate workers feeling an increase in hostility towards their foreign counterparts.
Wilkinson added: “Ensuring that staff are prepared for the reality of life in another country and that they have the appropriate health screening and care packages and language and cultural training is key to ensuring that more international assignments work for both employers and their staff.”