Chapter 4 Presentation of Results
4.11 General Questions
The researcher asked each participant general questions about their overall experience regarding their difficulties, likes and dislikes as an expatriate. Their responses on table 4.7 are as follows:
Table 4.7
Participants Difficulties in Benin as an
expatriate Expatriate ‘dislikes’ Expatriate ‘likes’
Particpant 1
“The pace was much slower and difficult to
adjust…language barrier was quite difficult
“Exposure to
malaria…trouble with my stomach.”
“Exposure to the West African culture, music and arts…I joined the French alliance center, art exhibition, music shows were really good, restaurant’s and dance…I joined that and learned about the Benin culture and French.”
Participant 2
“Language barrier” “The heat, very hot..45 degrees….we painted in the heat…we had to lead by example.”
“Culture, hospitality of the people…made you feel at home…Benin guys were egar to learn from us which made it easier and they supported us.”
Participant 3
“Malaria and how to deal with it…communication barrier (language in Benin and communication back home)…
medical facilities, need someone with a strong heart.”
“The weather there is bad, too hot and humid…I used the air conditioner and got sick…at the apartment itself there were informal settlements.”
“Nice cultural things, monuments….people are friendly…historical
places…Parliament…Ambassad or used to invite us to
conferences…conferences were a nice time…work side, one instruction goes.”
Participant 4
“The weather, language barrier, no night life…stuck in the apartments…weekends were very long.”
“Nothing much” “Support from the government in Benin…gave us the
opportunity to interact with the ministers which we don’t get here.”
Participant 5
“Means of communication, network was bad…can’t get in touch with family...local wifi was unreliable…contact with family at your own cost.”
“Language barrier, I couldn’t speak French….no response time back home, very frustrating.”
“You realize you are fortunate in Benin, crime is minimal…you appreciate and thankful as South Africans….people are so friendly in Benin.”
Participant 6
“Temperature, mosquitos, uncontrollable humidity….No issues with the job, did what I needed to do with a passion.”
“Our growth in South Africa can’t be compared to Benin…eye opener…learned a lot…next assignment be clear about what is needed.”
“Ability to adapt…had a driver from work to home, apartment people, job and culture.”
73 The responses in table 4.7 revealed positive and negative experiences shared by expatriates during the international assignment. The responses indicate areas of improvement required for future international assignments at Transnet Port Terminals.
4.11.2 Advice for future expatriates
The participants shared the following advice to future aspiring expatriates based on their own experiences. The responses are as follows:
Participant 1: “Research, research, research….read everything you can…watch you-tube videos….understand what you getting yourself into….from a work perspective, have clear documented deliverables that you are expected to deliver on.”
Participant 2: “Should be afforded the opportunity to visit the country before accepting the assignment…then you know if you can work in that environment….family should also be given the opportunity to visit…family was not involved in the process.”
Participant 3: “They must understand that they are headed for, environment, diet. Culture, work culture, understand the work culture…there should be no resistance.”
Participant 4: “Prepare yourself mentally, don’t have high expectations…do research on culture, environment and people.”
Participant 5: “I would give advice to HR colleagues, instead of understanding policies, go out there and see what it’s all about…then they will understand what’s happening.”
Participant 6: “Mental strength, got to have expertise….people must understand what they will be faced with…family must be aware….agree on the assignment and packages.”
4.11.3 Perceptions for improvement on current expatriate process
Participant one, prepared a lessons learned report when the assignment was complete. The purpose of the report was to learn from current practices, acknowledge the challenges and make improvements to the expatriation process.
Participant 2: “Timing can be improved….Benin project was rushed…language barrier, we knew what was expected from us from a work point of view…timeframe could have been
74 better…uncertainties as to when we were going…told at the last minute that we were going to Benin.”
Participant 3: “Everything is in the policy, let’s follow the policy…if we apply it everyone will be happy.”
Participant 4: “Remuneration side of things, benchmark on what other companies are doing…what processes they were taking.”
Participant 5: “Frequency of coming back home and the pay.”
Participant 6: “We can sit and discuss policy to suit our environment….if we can compare with other businesses on how they deal with international assignments….we need a team of specialists when it comes to these things.”
4.11.4 Perceptions on the success of the assignment
Majority of the participants agreed that the assignment was a success despite the many challenges they encountered. The response were as follows:
Participant 1: “Yes is was a success despite the challenges…we did what we needed to do.”
Participant 2: “No comment”
Participant 3: “For sure, we successfully delivered on our objectives at Sobmap…we improved their operational processes for improved productivity…we went there to mobilize and stabilize…practiced a safety culture …we implemented Gcos there.”
Participant 4: “Yes a huge success….although there were issues we knew that we were there to deliver on goals and reached milestones.
Participant 5: “Yes, with all the challenges it was a success.”
Participant 6: “Yes, ten out of ten, we did exceptionally well….left on a very high note….they saw a light at the end of the tunnel….issues of safety addressed.”
75 4.11.5 Additional comments made by all participants
At the end of the survey the researcher probed for additional comments from each participant that may have been overlooked. With the exception of participant six who did not have a comment in closing the expatriates’ responses were as follows:
Participant 1:“Personal resilience when assessing a person for international assignments…assess the personal resilience…can they do without the internet…diva’s cannot be expatriates, they will never last.”
Participant 2: “I wish I could be given another opportunity to share my experience and knowledge internationally.”
Participant 3: “They must promote us.”
Participant 4: “If you do this again, we need to benchmark…people should not be discouraged with nothing in it for you.
Participant 5: “When people go to Benin, there should be a delegation of authority given to make decisions and to deal with travel agents….there should be a budget for entertainment, on weekends you get bored.”