The Business Strategy article, “6 tactics to employ when importing talent,” offers some great advice for those extending their talent search overseas. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to recruit, select and “import” the best and brightest from all over the world might think the toughest part is over - but I fear you may be wrong. Recently, several colleagues, clients and friends who manage foreign workers have shared some humorous and some horrific stories with me. I decided it was time to write about their unexpected experiences.

It seems that, upon turning up to work, otherwise intelligent, accomplished professionals morphed into helpless nursery school children. What happened to their common sense and general know-how? Was it left back home? Or were they truly set up for success in their new role and new environment? Were they given the tools and information they needed to acclimate? Whatever the case - those charged with supervision were left feeling less like managers and more like “Den Mothers.” Needless to say, this was not a role they relished or felt prepared to handle.

Health emergencies. Health insurance was arranged and in place. No worries right? Although fully insured, the new employees were completely unaware of how our healthcare system works. They had never been exposed to anything like it, having only experienced socialized medicine. Guess who got the panicked phone call following a slip and fall? That’s right – the supervisor. It turns out the employee was so panicked the supervisor had to actually meet him at the local hospital. A bit extreme? Perhaps. You may be able to avoid this by ensuring your HR department conducts a benefits overview with all foreign employees. If that’s not possible, at the very least review the important 800 numbers they’ll need to call in case of an emergency.

Loss or theft of personal property. Out for dinner and the cell phone is stolen. Who did the employee call – that’s right, not the police - their supervisor! Perhaps it was a knee jerk reaction or just human nature but rather than visiting the local police precinct this employee called the person they report to at work! Chalk this one up to – well I don’t know what. But there’s a lesson here, particularly if your company provides laptops, cell phones or PDAs to employees. Be sure your foreign employees are informed of whom to call when any piece of equipment is lost or stolen. Many companies have warranties or replacement deals but sometimes they require a police report to activate.

Living accommodations. This may apply more to companies that host a rotating group of foreign workers for whom corporate apartments are often used. Particularly in the case of corporate apartments, it is wise to explain who is responsible for upkeep, etc. Let’s face it - some people are neat freaks, some are less tidy – what happens if roaches appear? Believe it or not a supervisor I know spent more time that she’d care to admit organizing an exterminator because there was confusion over who was responsible for cleaning the corporate apartment. Some of this is cultural and some of it is just a lack of communication. Either way, you may avoid this by simply explaining the rules/guidelines associated with your corporate apartment. Perhaps you can enlist the building manager or broker to conduct an overview/orientation to the building and its policies.

Commuting. Getting to and from work can be a challenge for those of us who know where we are going, know the traffic patterns and generally how long the commute will take. But what if you just got to this country? It may seem like handholding to provide information and directions to and from the office. However, if you want your new employee to arrive on time for the Monday morning meeting, you may consider providing commuting information. You certainly don’t want to get a panicked call from your employee who inadvertently hopped on the wrong bus and is now going to be 2 hours late for work!

Cultural differences. Never underestimate the impact of cultural differences. Many organizations provide excellent training programs around these issues. If your company has such a program be absolutely certain that everyone participates. If you have no such program, it is imperative that you do something. If you are too overloaded to handle it, delegate the task to a couple of members of your team. Perhaps there is someone on staff who relocated from a foreign country? Enlist this person – they will have the greatest sensitivity and will provide a great deal of insight into the kind of resources and information required for newly hired foreign employees.

At the conclusion of each of these stories I asked the manager what he or she would do differently now. Each conceded that you just can’t plan for everything, however, they did admit that if time could be turned back they would do one or more of the following:

- Expect that some things will go wrong, causing delays or misunderstandings. Aligning expectations with reality eases some of the frustration and can help in planning.

- Plan to invest a greater amount of time in the on-boarding process. Any new employee needs time to get into the swing of a new job – most supervisors know this and plan accordingly. Your time investment should be doubled for foreign workers.

- Encourage self-sufficiency by providing adequate information, tools and an internal support network. Enlist co-workers and external vendors to help whenever possible.

In the end, none of these managers chose the role of “Den Mother” although in hindsight none of them would trade the experience. Why? Because it made them better equipped to manage in this global economy.

And who knows, perhaps one of their stories will help you?