ROOT'IN
HOW LOW RETENTION OF INTERNATIONAL TALENT IS HURTING YOUR COMPANY
In order to stay innovative and compete with other heavy weights, high-tech companies rely on the expertise and skills of foreign knowledge workers. The process of attracting and appointing these highly educated people can be long and costly. Many foreign knowledge workers living in the Netherlands leave the company too quickly and move to a new country or return home. As a result, companies are constantly occupied with hiring and training new talent.
The major effects low retention of foreign knowledge workers have on companies can be listed as follows:
The major effects low retention of foreign knowledge workers have on companies can be listed as follows:
1. It's expensive
Attraction and recruitment is both a time consuming and expensive process. Additionally, there are starting costs including organising visas and other paperwork, training, onboarding and an initially lower productivity at work.
2. Employees are unhappy
Foreign knowledge workers struggling to acclimatise to their environments (be it the company culture, the Eindhoven region or the Netherlands as a whole) become troubled or disheartened, causing them to perform poorly at work and often taking its toll on the entire team.
3. It gets in the way of growth
Companies and their employees can’t grow if everyone’s preoccupied with hiring and training new people. The fastest way to grow is in a steady, well-coordinated team of enthusiastic individuals who understand each other’s needs and work towards a common goal.Branching Out identified 5 main areas of concern
that can hinder the settling in of the foreign knowledge worker (and their family):
The ROOT'IN programme serves to reduce settling in struggles through three distinctive steps;
1. Introduction to the workings of daily life in the region
2. Cultural training to understand the Dutch
3. Regular coaching sessions to guide and support the foreign knowledge worker and their family for an effective settling in.
The ROOT'IN programme strives to help international talent become culturally aware, content, socially competent and self-sufficient individuals who can comfortably settle in the Brainport Eindhoven region. We do this by helping foreign knowledge workers understand the Dutch way, manage expectations, set goals and branch out.
Branching Out believes it is essential to provide the ROOT’IN onboarding service for a 2 year period. When an international originally relocates a type of “honeymoon” period (up to around 6 months) is experienced, met by intrigue or excitement. After this period, when routine kicks in, frustrations can arise due to a lack of knowledge and understanding. Educating, guiding and supporting the foreign knowledge worker both during the honeymoon stage and after helps address new issues arising at different stages of settling in and prevents these issues from becoming reasons to leave.
* The programme considers factors like age, family, education, country of origin and previous international experience. We also take into account any prior cultural training an employer may have organised for their employees.
** Please be aware that ROOT'IN is not a relocation service and does not provide visa support, housing, financial aid, etc. If your company already uses a relocation or other third party service Branching Out is willing to synchronise activities for smooth settling in of the employee.