2024 - 05 - 5 Myths Expats Believe About Local Employees

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5 Myths Expats Believe

About Local Employees
The staff at foreign subsidiaries are too often overlooked as essential
team members. by Snejina Michailova and Anthony Fee
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HBR / Digital Article / 5 Myths Expats Believe About Local Employees
5 Myths Expats Believe

About Local Employees
The staff at foreign subsidiaries are too often overlooked as essential
team members. by Snejina Michailova and Anthony Fee
Published on HBR.org / May 28, 2024 / Reprint H088AC
Juan Moyano/Stocksy
Expatriate assignments are fraught. Performing well in them can be

a steppingstone to career advancement in multinational companies.
Failure can take a heavy toll on expats and their families. While
various factors contribute to expats’ over- or under-performance, a
secret that many are reluctant to acknowledge — or even recognize —
is the role host-country national colleagues play in their international
assignments.
Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 1
Host-country nationals, or HCNs, are employees who work in a local

subsidiary of a multinational corporation, interact with expatriates, and
are affected by the corporation’s global mobility policies and practices.
HCNs are vital yet misunderstood cogs in global mobility. While expats
are typically viewed as heroes undertaking an arduous and taxing
mission that is critical for the corporation, HCNs tend to receive little
attention and be overshadowed by the expats. Fractured globalization,
the pandemic, and geopolitical uncertainties have reduced the overall
volume of assigned expatriates, and that has increased HCNs’
importance to multinationals’ performance. Nonetheless, they continue
to receive little credit for this.
This imbalance extends to research. Despite constituting over 80% of

multinationals’ workforce globally and performing core functions in
local subsidiaries, for every 50 studies done on expats, there is just one
on HCNs. Redressing this imbalance — something we have sought to do
in our own research — is overdue.
Because HCNs receive little attention, many people hold myths about
the role they play and the value they create for multinationals. Here,
based on our research, are five problematic myths about HCNs and how
to debunk them.
1. HCNs are just as enthusiastic about expats’ arrival as expats

are.
In the excitement of getting ready for an international work assignment,

expats sometimes forget that not everyone is in the same boat.
HCNs have seen many expats with variable levels of competence
and success come and go. HCNs can be left feeling indifferent,
skeptical, fatigued, or even resentful toward “yet another foreigner”
arriving for a relatively short stay. This shouldn’t be a big surprise.
HCNs often cope with these frustrations themselves, with little or no

support from the headquarters. This can result in counterproductive
behaviors like avoiding contact, withdrawing from interactions, or
actively undermining the expats’ agendas.
Because there is often no help from the headquarters, some subsidiaries

have taken the reins in their own hands. In the study we cite here, we
showed how organizations intentionally and methodically prepare for
hosting expats to gain the most out of their assignment. For instance,
they think carefully where to place and how to configure the expats’
offices so that more HCNs can have easier access, and they facilitate
interactions between expats and locals to allow more opportunities for
sharing ideas and learning from each other (deploying expats and HCNs
on business travel together was a common approach). They also select
in advance designated HCNs to work with expats on the ground to
maximize learning opportunities.
What can expats and their employers do to turn negative sentiments

into positive anticipation? One way is to help HCNs prepare for an
expat’s arrival. Particularly if the expat is a senior leader who doesn’t
speak the local language, HCNs may want to learn a little of the new
leader’s first language. Some organizations in this situation offer HCNs
language training, but proceed carefully: local employees should be
given the opportunity to do this, but no one should be forced.
Expats can also show humility upon arrival. That can help them secure
the buy-in they need from the locals. Being explicit about their own
limited knowledge about the local culture, showing interest in learning
about it, and displaying respect for it can go a long way in establishing
rapport with HCNs. Acknowledging loudly and clearly that the success
of expats’ international assignments is an endeavor shared with HCNs
is not just true, it can also instigate positive attitudes towards the next
expat.
Multinationals should take note, too: if the expats’ role involves

developing local talent — as often is the case — the headquarters
should ensure that this is explicit in the expats’ job description and
performance review and that expats are selected and trained to perform
this important function.
2. HCNs are all the same.
They’re not. Some have past international experiences; others have

never left their country. Some are in jobs that require everyday
interaction with expats; others hardly see them. Some HCNs master the
expat’s language, but many typically don’t. Some HCNs’ allegiance is
clearly with the subsidiary and the local managers, while others’ loyalty
is with the multinational. Some aspire to grow in their career and want
to be inpatriated to the headquarters; others are not interested in career
moves associated with the multinational and its headquarters. The list
can go on and on.
If countless writings have treated expats as a diverse cohort (differing

in background, motivations, language skills, cultural intelligence), why
would HCNs be assumed to be a unified employee group? It’s a fair
question. As we have reviewed the HCN literature published over the
last five decades, we can confidently say that over-simplifying the
composition of multinational subsidiaries to merely expats and HCNs
as two homogenous camps prevents harvesting the benefits of their
respective diversity. Expats will have greater odds of success if they
realize the diversity of the employees in their host location.
3. HCNs’ main task is to support expats and their work.
HCNs occupy core positions and perform essential functions in

subsidiaries. Assuming they will willingly prioritize supporting expats
is a mistake. This myth is yet another reason why local staff may be
unenthused by expats’ arrival.
It’s healthy for expats to understand that when HCNs provide support,
this is outside their everyday responsibilities and on top of their
immediate obligations and roles. Our empirical research shows that
these demands come at a cost for HCNs. Such support encroaches
on their time and other work commitments and often spills over to
roles outside the office — like helping expats settle in, negotiating with
landlords or local service providers, or translating and mediating in
social settings. This extra-role load and the usual inefficiencies and
frustrations from intercultural communication can be wearying. When
HCNs have discussed with us how they feel about these roles, “tiring,”
“frustrating,” “worried,” “anxious,” “stressed,” and “the hardest thing”
are common refrains.
The irony is that much of the additional load — even when obvious
— remains unappreciated by expats and headquarters. The likely
outcome is a negative influence on HCNs’ work and morale, less work
engagement and inhibited intrinsic willingness to support expats.
What to do? Expats shouldn’t take for granted that HCNs are here
to help. They and the headquarters should ask themselves: Do our
performance metrics adequately recognize, measure, and reward the
locals’ support? How do we acknowledge their goodwill and help? How
do we detect the burdens HCNs carry when they support international
assignments? These are simple but effective questions, a first step to
dispel this myth. A good next step is to design practices that explicitly
include HCNs’ support for expats as part of their core functions.
4. HCNs are mere recipients, not sources, of corporate knowledge.
Wrong! Research, including our own, shows that HCNs are the ones who
possess crucial local knowledge. Let’s not forget that multinationals
establish foreign subsidiaries to access local insights unavailable at the
headquarters. While expats transmit headquarters’ knowledge, HCNs
are vital as “knowledge agents,” integrating global and subsidiary
knowledge and mediating between expats and local stakeholders.
This myth manifests in at least two distinct ways.
First, when things go wrong in foreign subsidiaries, the default excuse is

HCNs’ inability to absorb new knowledge that expats transfer from the
headquarters. Indeed, subsidiaries can form subconscious knowledge
hierarchies that value expats’ knowledge more highly. Rather than
viewing HCNs as merely implementing expats’ decisions, our
research suggests that expats would benefit from questioning how well
they can absorb local ideas and knowledge. Do expats understand
the host environment sufficiently? Can they develop and activate the
necessary clues to make sense of HCN’s ideas and solutions? The honest
answer is often “no.” The result? HCNs can be left demotivated and
diminished by being treated as knowing less than expats.
The second manifestation is through HCNs playing knowledge games to

benefit themselves but not necessarily the expat or firm. Observing this
play out in some of our studies has been fascinating. In one company, a
few HCNs never revealed that they had mastered the expats’ language,
allowing them to eavesdrop on expats’ decisions and gossip, including
when discussing HCNs in unfavorable terms. No wonder the expats-
HCNs relationships and interactions weren’t that great. In a different
case, the communication between expats and HCNs was left in the
hands of a few newly graduated local translators who had no idea
about any of the technical aspects of the work and products of the local
subsidiary. HCNs used that lack of technical expertise to do things their

way while expats were continuously puzzled and increasingly frustrated
as their directions landed on deaf ears. The interpreters being the only
ones mastering both languages became a severe bottleneck, costing the
multinational dearly. HCNs didn’t mind.
Make no mistake: just because HCNs have the knowledge expats need,
don’t expect that they will automatically share it. If knowledge is
valued in the subsidiary and expats depend on this knowledge, locals
may think twice about whether, when, and with whom to share it.
Strategizing about this is something HCNs have learned well over the
years.
Expats will benefit from showing respect for the knowledge HCNs
possess and admitting their performance depends on it. Even better,
they should instigate practices that motivate and reward the sharing
of needed knowledge. They should also invest in interpreters they
trust and devote time to thoroughly briefing the interpreters about
expectations and obligations. It is better not to assume they are well
aware of these and will do the translating job the way expats would
expect it to be done.
5. HCNs have an easier time adjusting than expats.
The difficulties accompanying expats’ adjustment are well recognized;

the ones HCNs face not so much. HCNs are challenged cross-culturally
when interacting with expats. Not realizing that this has negative
consequences for expats’ and HCNs’ performance, well-being, and
relationships is a mistake.
The pressure for HCNs to adjust is intense and confined to the office,
making learning tricky. One minute, HCNs are in meetings with their
senior foreign colleagues, often speaking their language and on high
alert for cultural clues; the next, they’re with fellow HCNs whose jobs
have nothing to do with their foreign colleagues’ work. During a typical
workday, they constantly shift identities, communication styles, and
language only to return to their families and friends after work and be
“real locals.” Add the power imbalance due to expats being typically
managers/experts and closer to the firm’s power base. All this resembles
a frenetic form of adjustment, implying high intensity and minimal
consistency. It can also leave HCNs in a cultural no-man’s land of high
uncertainty and instability, even though they stay in their home culture
and organization.
What should be done? For a start, expats must ask themselves: Do I

realize HCNs, too, need to adjust cross-culturally, not just me? Do I
acknowledge the pressure this puts on them? Can I detect signs of their
anxieties, stresses, and pressure to adapt their thinking and behavior
when they’re around me?
Many activities commonly used to help expats adjust — cultural

training, pre-arrival briefings, access to mentors — can be applied
cost-effectively to local staff. Multinationals can benefit by viewing
adjustment preparation and support as a shared experience, with expats
and locals jointly involved in helping and guiding each other through a
process of mutual adjustment.
...
Why are the myths we described problematic? Because they lead to less
fruitful interactions between expats and HCNs, often creating tensions
and conflicts that negatively affect both camps’ work performance
and well-being. The myths will likely lead to less learning, knowledge
exchange, and innovation and more counterproductive attitudes and
behaviors. It’s time to dispel them.
This article was originally published online on May 28, 2024.
Snejina Michailova is a professor of international business at the

SM University of Auckland.
Anthony Fee is a senior lecturer at the University of Technology,

AF Sydney.

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5 Myths Expats Believe

5 Myths Expats Believe

Expatriate assignments are fraught. Performing well in them can be

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 1

Host-country nationals, or HCNs, are employees who work in a local

This imbalance extends to research. Despite constituting over 80% of

1. HCNs are just as enthusiastic about expats’ arrival as expats

In the excitement of getting ready for an international work assignment,

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 2

HCNs often cope with these frustrations themselves, with little or no

Because there is often no help from the headquarters, some subsidiaries

What can expats and their employers do to turn negative sentiments

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 3

Multinationals should take note, too: if the expats’ role involves

2. HCNs are all the same.

They’re not. Some have past international experiences; others have

If countless writings have treated expats as a diverse cohort (differing

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 4

3. HCNs’ main task is to support expats and their work.

HCNs occupy core positions and perform essential functions in

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 5

4. HCNs are mere recipients, not sources, of corporate knowledge.

This myth manifests in at least two distinct ways.

First, when things go wrong in foreign subsidiaries, the default excuse is

The second manifestation is through HCNs playing knowledge games to

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 6

subsidiary. HCNs used that lack of technical expertise to do things their

5. HCNs have an easier time adjusting than expats.

The difficulties accompanying expats’ adjustment are well recognized;

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 7

What should be done? For a start, expats must ask themselves: Do I

Many activities commonly used to help expats adjust — cultural

This article was originally published online on May 28, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 8

Snejina Michailova is a professor of international business at the

Anthony Fee is a senior lecturer at the University of Technology,

Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 9

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