Yu-Ping Chen, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Yu-Shan Hsu, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Margaret Shaffer, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States

Being a self-initiated expatriate (SIE) means that you decide to embrace an expatriate role without any organizational support before you depart. But have you ever wondered what will influence your career satisfaction when you are in a foreign land? Unlike corporate expatriates who are primarily motivated by job and career-related opportunities, SIEs take both work (e.g., job challenge, career advancement) and nonwork (e.g., family, location, lifestyle) factors into consideration when deciding to embark on an expatriate career.

Based on two distinct samples of SIEs (Sample 1: 169 Asian SIE professionals; Study 2: 147 SIE academics), we found that SIEs’ CQ positively relates to their organizational and community embeddedness, which in turn is associated with greater levels of career satisfaction. We also found that SIEs with high CQ are more likely to experience community embeddedness and career satisfaction when they perceive that the host country community diversity climate is low.

So, how do these results inform organizations so they can leverage SIEs as an important human capital resource? We urge organizations that hire SIEs to consider CQ as an essential selection criterion or train their SIEs to improve their CQ in order to help them deal with the hardships of working and living abroad, especially when they go to a host country that does not value diversity. For example, CQ simulation exercises (i.e., Ecotonos; OASISTAN) that are designed to facilitate awareness and responsiveness to the hurdles posed by cultural diversity can be incorporated into the training program.
    
Moreover, because SIEs who are more embedded in their organization and their community are more satisfied with their careers, organizations may want to find ways to increase SIEs’ embeddedness in both their organizations and communities. Accurate and transparent information about organizational values and culture, in addition to thorough and accurate information about the job should be provided to increase the organizational fit of SIEs. Organizations may also consider creating opportunities for SIEs to work and collaborate in teams to strengthen their organizational links. By developing a friendly work environment for culturally diverse employees, SIEs who think about leaving the organization may need to consider the sacrifices they have to make. Organizations can increase SIEs’ community embeddedness by supporting community programs (i.e., summer camps; community concerts) and initiatives (i.e., food drives for local community members) and involving SIEs in these activities, which will provide SIEs with opportunities to further explore their fit with their community, broaden their interpersonal networks in the community, and become aware of the benefits they may have to surrender if they leave the community.

To read the full article, please see the Journal of Global Mobility publication:

Chen, Y.-P., Hsu, Y.-S. and Shaffer, M. (2024), "Self-initiated expatriates' cultural intelligence, embeddedness and career satisfaction: a whole-life perspective", Journal of Global Mobility, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 265-287.