by Bo Jones
Phileas Fogg may have taken 80 days to go around
the world, in Jules Verne's classic tale, but today it's much faster.
In fact, so easy has travel become that many people think less and
less about commuting not just from on city to another but between
different countries too -- this, at least, is the case in Europe.
Known as "euro-commuters," this tribe
of business professionals think little of jumping on an airplane
from Brussels to travel to Stockholm or to go from Lison to Copenhagen,
or travel from London to Paris on a Monday morning and return home
on a Friday evening for the weekend, only to repeat the journey
the following week. This may seem like an insane existence that
only a very few would lead? Far from it.
Euro-commuting is, if anything, becoming an increasingly
popular trend among European executives. It means when an international
assignment arises, there is less disruption for the rest of the
family. Children can continue their education with a greater degree
of stability; as more spouses have careers of their own, they too
can continue life as usual.
And in today's turbulent business arena where
jobs change and industries merge on an almost daily basis, it means
when the commuter's position suddenly changes, they haven't uprooted
the whole family only to do exactly the same six months later.
"Hold your horses" is certainly the
advice from Jacques Bouwens, a partner with executive search firm
Russell Reynolds in Amsterdam. He has noticed a significant upward
trend in the number of candidates choosing to make the weekly commute
between two European cities and strongly advises against selling
property and moving the entire household on day one of a new job,
especially, in the increasingly common case where companies are
in the midst of a merger of where there are talks of a merger in
the industry.
"Wait to see where the headquarters ends
up before moving anywhere," is his firm advice. "Any company,
particularly following a merger or alliance, can move headquarters
a number of times and very quickly." Best practice, he adds,
"would be to commute to where the new posting is until things
settle down."
However, euro-commuting has as many drawbacks
as it has advantages.
It may mean less disruption for the rest of family,
but it certainly isn't an easy way of life. Now Paris-based, Gunnar
Sandmark, a senior HR director with Alstom, spent four and a half
years commuting between different European cities. He recalls just
how much his family life suffered, "Four and a half years was
too long to maintain an effective family life," he says. "Gradually,
without knowing it, your role changes and you become less interactive
with the family; as a result, your work starts to suffer too."
Richard Savage, director human resources for research
giant, A.C. Nielsen, believes that just as there are services available
to help families on international assignments to relocate and fit
in, so too, there should be counseling and advice offered for those
who choose to stay at home. "They should be told what life
will be like if they don't come over," he says. "I believe
that this is just as important."
As an HR professional in one of the market research
industry's largest global players, he has seen the detrimental effects
of euro-commuting all too clearly. "Too often," warns
Savage, "you find that after a year, it's not working out and
the manager wants to go back. You have invested a lot of time and
resources and just when they are up to speed, you lose them and
have to start the process again." Although he adds as an aside,
"I don't know any companies that actually do that."
Another downside of the euro-commuting equation
from the organizations' point of view, according to Savage, is that
colleagues of these continually on-the-move executives, "start
to question why they have relocated their lives and families when
someone else doesn't have to." To date, despite the prevalence
of this type of lifestyle, there are still very few companies with
procedures and policies in place that cover these challenges. The
norm is to appraise on a case by case basis.
Bo Jones is a freelance writer based in Brussels.
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