The Global Phoenix - Issue 4 The Global Phoenix - Issue 4 | Page 46

Addressing the Needs of the
Accompanying Family - Part 3
The Working Spouse Factor
Michele Bar-Pereg, Relocate yourself
Globally, DSPs (Destination Service Providers) have
been offering ‘settling-in’ on their service menus for
many years, and corporations that are transferring
employees have generally been available to
purchase these when they are aimed at a family
with a non-working spouse. As the demographics of
talent mobility are changing, relocation companies
have been capitalising on the change by enlarging
their service menus to include more complete
and focused programmes that also address the
requirements of potential working spouses.
Although DSPs have long been offering spouse
support in their programmes and services, this
has rarely been view ed as an essential part of the
relocation package by multinational corporations.
Most relocation programmes sold have traditionally
been home-finding and settling-in services. In
2017 our transferring spouses are fighting back,
demanding support programmes as a necessity
and not as an extra option! Indeed with this shift
in attitude, we have seen a growing number of
assignments being refused over recent years, and
the reason being that spouses are too entrenched
in their work, study or career life. Who needs a year
off? Convincing a spouse to move is a tough call.
A positive influence in the shift in corporate
approach has been the recent growing awareness
of Conscious Capitalism, wherein the needs of all
stakeholders in corporate process are addressed
and attention is given to the ‘human factor’ as
well as just the bottom line. Whilst addressing the
needs of accompanying spouses, corporations are
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at the same time directly protecting their
investment by ensuring the overall success
of the international assignment.
A successful relocation is part of an often
complicated balancing act between
various interests and responsibilities in
the life of the transferee; it’s usually about
how career decisions get made over time
and are altered by the unpredictability of
life. But anyone in a long-term relationship
knows that when you desire to make
significant changes in your life and your
spouse isn’t on board, the process will be
challenging at best, devastating at worst!
The corporate in the relocation process
should be able to take into account current
trends in today’s society that demand
attention to making life choices. We know
we all have them, but we also need to put
these into the decision-making that comes
with an international assignment.
Today we are seeing a comeback for
spouse support programmes, especially
for spouses who refuse to move abroad
unless they have an opportunity to find