An international assignment is a managed process with a beginning, a middle and an end. The BASK lists best practices for all three stages, and every scenario in this unit is keyed to the one stage that was skipped.
The BASK best-practice list
- Performance expectations and evaluations
- Health and safety
- Compensation adjustments
- Assessing employee and family readiness
- Socialization
- Training on culture and resources
- Language training
- Repatriation
Repatriation appears under best practices for international assignments, not under methods for moving work, not under HR structures, and not under immigration requirements.
Diagnosing the scenario
- Spouse cannot work, children struggling, early return considered: the gap is employee and family readiness plus socialization. Fix the family support now and close the readiness gap for future assignees. A retention bonus pays for presence without fixing the cause.
- Returners resigning within four months into roles that ignore their experience: the missing stage is repatriation, covering role placement and reintegration. Repayment clauses penalize departures without improving reintegration.
- Managers technically strong but heading into sharply different business norms: training on culture and resources with language training. A signed code of conduct documents expectations and teaches nothing about operating in the host culture.
- Headquarters salary will not cover host-city housing and schooling: compensation adjustments for the assignment location, not case-by-case expense reimbursement that leaves the assignee carrying costs.
- Two years in, no review, both managers disclaiming responsibility: clarify performance expectations and set an evaluation process covering both managers.
- No medical providers or evacuation arrangements in region, though the visa is valid: this is health and safety, not immigration. Asking him to buy his own travel insurance shifts the employer's duty onto the employee.
Carry this in
Read the failure, name the practice. And note the crossover trap: converting a failing assignment to a remote role uses remote teams, which the BASK treats as a method for moving work, never as a repair for poor assignment preparation.