“I went, I got back, and nobody saw it”: a study on the expected career after repatriation in a Brazilian company

Abstract

In the corporate world, studies show that the repatriates, i.e. expatriated professionals who return from their mission abroad, become more committed to the development of their career after an international experience. Expatriation provides knowledge and professional experience, something which may be related, by the repatriate, to possible career ascension or better performance in the organization. However, when this doesn’t occur, frustration can lead him to look for another company which appreciates his knowledge, and this is a major entrepreneurial challenge: the retention of repatriates. This study aims to analyze the perceived relation between repatriation and expectations concerning professional career on the part of professionals who had or have an international professional experience through the Alpha company, a large organization which operates in more than 100 countries and maintains an expatriation process for 12 years, in 9 countries. Thus, a case study was carried out with 21 interviews, discussed through content analysis. As the main finding of this study, one finds out that repatriates start attributing more value to their professional development, establishing a stronger bond with themselves than with the organization where they work. As there’re failures on the part of the company to present a planning to take advantage from the experience of this employee in positions which require more responsibility, some respondents stop thinking of their career within the company. Thus, they open themselves to search for other opportunities in the labor market. On the other hand, those who seek space within the organization end up perceiving themselves as “a problem” for the company.