As organisations strive to achieve ever greater competitiveness, they may seek to reduce the cost of global mobility. Unaccompanied assignments are less expensive than when individuals take family members with them, Hence, there is trend towards an increasing focus on the use of assignment types that are typically undertaken solo (such as short-term assignments and frequent flier style mobility).However, when individuals are sent to work abroad by themselves, this can prove to be a lonely and socially difficult experience. This can result in reduced productivity, lowering the return on investment from the assignment. Accompanying partners can make a huge difference to the wellbeing of assignees.

Emotional support

Settling-in in a new country is stressful. Having a partner to share the experience and to provide emotional support can be crucial to healthy emotional wellbeing. One of the main ways to help cope with stress is to be able to talk through one’s experiences and challenges. For example, detailed discussions can help to identify and make sense of cultural misunderstandings.Solo assignees can find themselves with no one close to them to talk to. This means that they face the difficulty of trying to make sense of new situations by themselves and have no one with whom they can share the ups and downs of their new life abroad.Research has shown that when assignees undertake solo assignments they frequently work longer hours to fill their time. While employers might think that this results in higher productivity, this is unlikely to be the case in the longer term. Instead, where loneliness simply drives a poor work-life balance, it can lead to burnout. When assignees are accompanied by their partner, they are less likely to spend their free time working; instead, they are more likely to use the time to relax. This helps them to unwind, be more emotionally positive, and more productive in the workplace.

Social support

Going solo on assignment also means that individuals have limited social support until they are able to develop a friendship group. While organisations do frequently try to address this through the use of “buddy” systems, there is no guarantee that the buddy pairings will have shared interests and that friendships will develop from them.Buddy pairings arranged by the organisation are likely to be employment-related and, as such, can be extremely helpful in integrating assignees into the workplace. However, such pairings may not necessarily be the best to build hobby interests and develop a wider social circle.Accompanying partners can provide a ready-made form of social support through shared hobbies and interests. The partner will also make their own network of friends through employment and other endeavours. This will lead to a widening of social support for the assignee beyond what they can create for themselves through and outside of work.Building strong friendship groups aids settling-in and improves wellbeing. In turn, this will aid productivity and return on assignment investment.

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Skills in the local economy

Research has shown that the partners of assignees are often highly qualified and skilled in their own right. In essence, highly skilled people tend to partner others of similar capabilities.Dual career couples are typically keen that both partners continue in their careers and this means that accompanying partners can contribute significant skills to the local host country economy. Accompanying spouses and partners may be able to take up employment in the host country economy. If so, it is argued that accompanying partners can bring a wealth of talent to the host country, helping to boost its economic growth.

Charitable endeavours

If the accompanying spouse or partner is unable to take up paid employment, they typically want to contribute something locally, not spend the assignment period unproductively. Partners can make significant contributions to charitable endeavours bringing huge benefits to the host country and sectors that rely on volunteer support. Partners may also involve the assignees in these activities, helping to further widen social networks and providing broader community interests.

The schools community

A further area where the accompanying spouse and partner can become involved is in the schools community. Assignees relocating abroad with school-age children will be concerned that their family members integrate well within the educational community and that the schools are well-supported through parental involvement.Accompanying partners are known to make a massive contribution to the school community, going well beyond parent-teacher association (PTA) roles. Partners are frequently involved in a wide range of school community activities, helping to organise events and run clubs and activities under the supervision of - or in association with - the school’s management. These social and educational activities widen the reach of the school within the local community and help to foster positive social relationships across the assignee workforce.

Organisational actions

While accompanying partners can provide an untapped resource for aiding assignees to settle in and maintain wellbeing, this does not mean that employers can simply rely on them to support the assignee unaided. Organisational actions can address support at the individual and the wider, collective level.At the individual level, helping partners to make local connections through support groups, third party links, and partner/family buddy systems can all be valuable interventions to facilitate partner support to the benefit of the whole family.Stress reduction programmes, cultural training, and counselling support can also be usefully extended to accompanying partners to help them settle in more quickly. Once partners are settled, they are more able to provide support to assignees.Dual career partners can also be supported by employers to help find work and to facilitate visa issuance. At the wider, collective level, and working with other organisations, employers can support lobbying groups that campaign to widen visa/work opportunities for accompanying partners.Employers can support partners’ charitable endeavours through organisational ESG (environmental, social, governance) policies. Indeed, such ESG activities can also be extended to provide support such that assignees may contribute to charitable endeavours where possible too. Supporting ESG activities has positive outcomes for employer branding.All in all, accompanying partners can provide a significant untapped resource within global mobility for assignees, organisations and host countries.

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