Multi-patriates march ahead unlocking human power

The incessant waves of change in established and emerging global markets require us to be more adept and agile and innovative — or sink.

In one of the companies I know, 75 nationalities work in a corporate centre of 3,000.

What does this tell us of the demand and supply sides of the global labour markets? More importantly what individual team and collective characteristics are necessary simply to get things done effectively and efficiently?

Looking ahead are there of ways of searching for the consistencies in the early experiences of potential multi-patriate employees, then building more formal testable assessment techniques to attract and deploy these folk?

Equally important is the need to sustain their commitment through identifying the key drivers of their perhaps differential engagement in the workplace of course.

Sample group

Investigation of a sample group of reasonably successful Multipats who had experienced moves to different cultures, languages, faiths, and locations at least three stages of their early and later working lives, showed that the qualities they self identify and identify in others who thrive in multiple contexts — most specifically in a multi-patriate workplaces — overlapped a great deal.

Most frequently the top 12 deep qualities seen were:

1. Openness: a capacity to approach experiences without cultural/social prejudice

2. Empathy: deep natural concern and awareness of others' needs and feelings

3. Curiosity: attraction to novelty and the unusual aspects of normality and change

4. Resilience: emotional toughness under extreme social and other pressures

5. Team-working: a preference for working in groups; more effective in groups

6. Flexibility: spontaneously adapting to change when the usual does not apply

7. Positivity: initially and habitually responding with the upside or the opportunity

8. Work Orientation: a need for work to be central - pre-eminent in life

9. Learning: constant desire to experience and develop new activity and abilities

10. Altruism: spontaneous appreciation of the goodness and contribution to others

11. Self Confidence: a self awareness of internal strengths with which to face situations

12. Imagination: seeing the future beyond daily reality and practicalities.

In many ways there was a need for continuing fresh experiences and an urge to keep exploring.

Several people expressed puzzlement that others did not share these needs, and in how they could not value diversity, how come others do not see that "we are all very similar" and how just one set of values could ever serve everybody's needs.

So what do our studies tell us about expatriate or multi-patriate engagement?

Some very interesting findings were discovered about the expatriates in the Gulf during one of our recent studies. Essentially there were some identical key drivers for non-expatriate and expatriate employees:

Confidence in the company's future and in its leaders

Opportunities for skills improvement and better jobs

Excellence in the treatment of safety and of customers

The writer is Managing Partner, Kenexa ME and Kenexa HR Institute.