【英语生活】全球化时代的海外工作 Working abroad can prove addictive

Grace Oh’s first day in Paris was verging on surreal. She had just moved from L’Oréal UK to the company headquarters to become senior marketing manager for Asia-Pacific. She now had 14 national teams to deal with and markets to learn — 15 if you include France. And her first task was to decide on the desired “click sound” for a range of lipstick tubes. Presented with an assortment of clicks: “I then had to brief the factories as to the specific sound I wanted?.?.?.?I thought this may be part of some initiation ritual!” (It was not).

Now back in the UK following a promotion to marketing director of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, UK & Ireland, she looks back on her two years in Paris as formative.

“I was exposed to so many more people and ideas than you would be [working] in your home country?.?.?.?the more we become global, the more we have to understand others cultures. That’s what I found so rewarding.”

According to Mercer, the global consultancy, close to 75 per cent of multinational organisations are expecting long-term expatriate assignments to remain stable or increase over the coming two years.

Shruti Uppala, economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and co-author of the report “The value of global careers to the UK”, believes that taking global positions is becoming more important to executive careers: “As globalisation increases and more trade takes place between countries?.?.?.?managers need to understand how different markets work and how other cultures work”.

Nine out of 10 employers report that having employees with global experience improves their organisation’s bottom line.

Almost two-thirds of employers believe global experience also makes employees more adaptable and about half say it made staff more inquisitive, open-minded and self-motivated, according to CEBR research.

Yves Duhaldeborde, director at Towers Watson, the consultants, believes expats often go on to be great advocates for the organisation. “Even when they rejoin their home office, they remain very motivated and very positive. When done well, there is a huge benefit to companies of giving people that exposure”.

On an individual level, global career experience boosts annual earnings by ￡2,700 on average. But pay is not the only motivation.

According to the employees surveyed by CEBR, the top three benefits of global career opportunities are building a broader network of contacts, becoming more respected and valued within the organisation, and taking on more responsibility.

“They know that if they move and do well, they will be very marketable within the organisation,” says Mr Duhaldeborde. “These are very driven people and personally very motivated to progress.”

David Norton, head of investment services at financial advisers AES International, based in Dubai, believes moving from the firm’s London office, “has resulted in a broader remit of responsibility for me. It opens your eyes too?.?.?.?Dubai is a cultural melting pot so you’re naturally exposed to a great variety of backgrounds and mindsets?.?.?.?and in this environment they are allowed to flourish rather than fitting to the established, English norm in London”.

Global moves are far from easy, however. Mr Duhaldeborde recalls a French business leader assigned to a factory in China.

“He was a very talented guy, but within a few months things turned really bad. He had the whole population on that site against him.

“It turned out [that it was because] he was going home at lunchtime to have lunch with his wife rather than using the staff canteen. That was seen locally as ‘he doesn’t like our food, he doesn’t want to mix with us’, so he lost the trust of his colleagues. That’s just an example in the importance of preparing people in what to expect in terms of the culture.”

Even Ms Oh, a fluent French speaker before taking the short hop across the channel, found her first three months difficult. “The culture of living in Paris was a very different experience from visiting Paris?.?.?.?And in my day-to-day role I was dealing with India, Australia, China?.?.?.?you very quickly understand that it’s more about listening at first. It’s not about asserting your opinion, it’s about understanding what their needs are.

“You do feel lonely at the start, until you become trusted and make friends. I think that would be true in any geography or culture,” she admits.

In Dubai, Mr Norton says: “From a bureaucratic perspective, everything takes longer and it can be very frustrating. Having someone on call for those first few months is very helpful, to talk through issues and reassure you.”

Once you gain in confidence, global roles can become addictive. Boston Consulting Group research of expats shows that most already have some international work experience and 64 per cent would be willing to go on to another country.

Mr Norton agrees. “I always assumed my next move would be back to London, but now the UK is less of a pull.”

You do not have to move to a foreign country to take a global position. Ms Uppala contends that global careers include any role involving “speaking regularly to colleagues and clients in other markets. English is the language of business?.?.?.?and it is very easy with IT software these days to stay in one place and be able to communicate with other people?.?.?.?The prevalence of needing to physically move country could decline as we become more globally connected.

“The business culture may formally be very different, but if you communicate over phone and email you do learn the processes and how to go through it”.

Ultimately, it comes down to the individual. Those seeking a more culturally immersive experience will seek them out. But those that do not or cannot, can take on global positions from home.

“I am 35 now”, says Ms Oh. “I would hate to think that my career is now fixed in just one market?.?.?.?I would like to believe I would have this adventurous spirit even when I’m 60.”

格雷丝?奥(Grace Oh)来巴黎的第一天几乎不像真的。她刚刚从欧莱雅(L'Oréal)英国分公司调到总部，成为亚太地区高级市场经理。她如今有14个国家的团队要领导，有14个国家的市场要了解——如果算上法国，那就是15个。她的第一个任务是为一个系列的口红确定拧开时用什么样的“咔嚓声”。收到各种各样的咔嚓声之后，“我得向厂家说明我想要的具体是哪一种……我当时以为这或许是上任仪式的一部分！”（其实并不是）。

如今她回到了英国，晋升为伊夫圣罗兰美妆（Yves Saint Laurent Beauté，简称YSL）英国和爱尔兰的市场总监，回顾在巴黎的那两年，她觉得那段经历对她的职业成长产生了深远影响。

“那时我接触了那么多的人和想法，是留在国内（工作）肯定接触不到的……我们越国际化，我们就越必须了解其他文化。这是我觉得受益匪浅的地方。”

全球咨询公司Mercer表示，目前将近75%的跨国企业预计长期外派工作将在未来两年保持稳定或者有所增加。

英国经济和商业研究中心(CEBR)的经济学家以及《海外工作对英国的价值》报告的共同作者施勒提?乌帕拉(Shruti Uppala)认为，接受外派工作对走上高管岗位越来越重要：“随着全球化的推进、以及国与国之间的贸易日益增多……管理者们需要了解不同的市场如何运作以及其他文化的基本规则”。

九成的雇主称，拥有曾在海外生活过的员工提高了公司的利润。

CEBR的研究显示，将近三分之二的雇主认为，海外经历还提高了员工的适应能力，约有一半的雇主称海外经历使员工更爱思考、心态更开放、更有上进心。

咨询公司韬睿惠悦(Towers Watson)的董事伊夫?杜阿尔德博尔德(Yves Duhaldeborde)认为，外派员工通常一直都会是公司重要的拥趸。“即使当他们重新回到国内公司，他们仍然非常上进、非常积极。如果实施得当，安排员工外派会为企业带来巨大的好处。”

在个人层面上，外派工作经历平均可以使员工年收入增加2700英镑。但是收入并非唯一的动力。

接受CEBR调查的雇员们称，外派工作机会3个最大的好处是：建立更广的人际关系网、在公司内部更受尊重和重视、被委以重任。

“他们知道，如果他们接受外派并且表现出色，他们在公司内将更受赏识，”杜阿尔德博尔德称，“这些人都非常有进取心，非常想提升自己。”

金融咨询机构AES International常驻迪拜的投资服务负责人戴维?诺顿(David Norton)认为，离开伦敦办公室“让我被委以重任。它也会开拓你的眼界……迪拜是个文化大熔炉，所以你会自然地接触各种各样的文化背景和思维方式……在这种环境下，它们可以自由发展、而不用适应伦敦那种标准的英式规范。”

然而，外派工作绝不轻松。杜阿尔德博尔德回忆起一名被派驻中国分厂的法国企业高管。

“他非常有才能，但是他调去那里还没有几个月，情况就变得非常糟糕了。那里的所有人都不支持他。

“结果证明，出现这种情况是因为他中午总是回家和妻子一起吃午饭，而没有在员工食堂用餐。当地人觉得这说明‘他不喜欢我们的食物，不想和我们打成一片’，因此他失去了同事的信任。这只是一个例子，表明让人们为自己在当地文化中将要面对的东西做好心理准备非常重要。”

在接受调任前，格雷丝?奥的法语已经很流利了，并且从英国到法国只用跨越一道英吉利海峡。尽管如此，她仍然觉得调到法国的头三个月很难适应。“在巴黎生活与在巴黎旅游相差甚远……我的日常工作是与印度、澳大利亚、中国那边的人打交道……你很快就能明白首先要倾听。不是坚持你的观点，而是理解他们的需求。”

她承认，“一开始你会感到孤独，直到你得到人们的信任并交到朋友。我觉得无论在任何地方、在任何文化中都是这样的。”

在迪拜，诺顿称：“从官僚主义的角度来看，所有事都会耗费更长时间，可能会令人非常沮丧。在最初数月中安排某个人随时待命会很有帮助，可以跟你一起厘清问题并给你打气。”

一旦你建立了信心，外派工作可能会让人欲罢不能。波士顿咨询公司(Boston Consulting Group)针对外派员工的调查表明，多数人已经有过在海外工作的经验，64%的人愿意再被调往另一个国家。

诺顿表示同意。“我曾经总认为我的下一站会回到伦敦，但是如今英国对我的吸引力已经减弱了。”

你不一定非要调往外国才能得到海外职位。乌帕拉认为，任何要定期与海外市场的同事和客户交流的工作，都可以算作海外工作。英语是企业的通用语言……如今借助互联网软件，人们待在一个地方与其他人交流易如反掌……随着全球联系日益紧密，实际搬到另一个国家去的必要性可能会降低。

“企业文化在形式上可能大相径庭，但是如果你通过电话和邮件沟通，你确实能够了解这种流程以及如何完成任务。”

最终，这取决于个人。那些寻求更多身临其境的海外体验的人会找到办法。那些不想体验或者适应不了的人，可以在本土接受海外职位。

“我现在35岁，”奥称，“我不愿意认为自己的职业生涯如今被限定在一个市场了……我情愿相信即使到了60岁，我还会有这种冒险精神。”

译者/马柯斯