Be prepared! Planning for and responding to emergencies abroad

When employees and their families are away on international assignments, global mobility professionals must be prepared for and able to respond to unforeseen emergencies. Dr Sue Shortland explains why this is important and the steps that can be taken to support people involved.

Sue Shortland

9 December 2024

This article is taken from the Winter 2024/25 issue of

Relocate Think Global People magazine

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“It is a good time now to review how the organisation responded to the pandemic, learn lessons and take necessary steps to put any such learning and revised actions into place.”

In today’s geopolitically and climatically unstable world mass events such as war, invasions, terrorism and natural disasters (like floods and fires) are frequently in the headlines. Organisations must be ready and able to evacuate their employees and families with little notice. This means it is critical to be prepared for eventualities that could affect the workforce.It is important to research the business environments where the organisation operates. Risk management is crucial. Risks can potentially be reduced by investigating potential threats and by preparing and training the employees working in that location. It is important to ensure that appropriate insurance policies are set up, safety and security measures are in place and that individuals are prepared and trained to be as safe and secure as possible.Accidents and emergencies (including ill-health conditions) happen. Therefore planning at the individual level is needed as well, so that the organisational response is efficient and effective.

Why emergency response planning is important

Having an emergency response plan forms part of an employer’s duty of care to their employees. Failure to prepare for emergencies has a range of negative impacts at both the organisational and individual level.At the organisational level, the lack of a response plan or a poorly effected response will lead to reputational/brand damage and potential legal claims. In terms of workforce attraction and retention, there will be negative talent implications. At the individual level, employees and their families may be physically and/or mentally damaged and suffer from trauma and shock, which affects their ability to function effectively in the short-term and possibly long-term, too.For international assignees, poor emergency planning and responses will set the tone for the type of support that can be expected by others potentially considering accepting a move abroad. A poor or ineffective response will damage an organisation’s ability to motivate people to work internationally in the future and reduce the mobile talent pool.

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Action planning

Having an emergency response plan for both mass and individual evacuations can be broken down into several steps. The first is to ensure that policy and procedures are in place and everyone in the relevant department (HR, global mobility, etc) knows what to do, whom to contact to sign off decisions and that everyone involved is trained and updated regularly. Taking these actions means that time will not be wasted when an emergency happens.It is also important to prepare how the organisation will manage the media in the event of a mass emergency. Again, it must be determined who will handle this. These representatives should receive appropriate training.For global mobility professionals, it is important to ensure that international assignees and their family members are in possession of up-to-date documentation (passports and visas) so that they can swiftly be evacuated either back to their home country or another appropriate location.Individuals who have relocated abroad, either solo or with their family, will be less familiar with local support than employees drawn from the local workforce. Global mobility professionals should ensure that their relocated personnel have made contact with relevant local suppliers/support services. They should also maintain strong links with local support firms because this can be very useful should an emergency arise.International assignees and their families should receive briefing and training in safety and security on their host location and about where to go for help should an emergency arise. It is also important to know where to go to receive medical help in an emergency.When selecting people for an international assignment, preparatory actions should include requiring mobile staff to undertake relevant medical examinations. Any health conditions that are known and might require treatment outside of the host country – for example, if the posting is to a country with limited specialist medical facilities – should be recorded and plans made accordingly. Employees should be encouraged to self-declare relevant health issues.

Taking action in an emergency

When an emergency happens, next-of-kin need to be informed. It is critical the organisation has up-to-date details of these people and communication plans are in place to manage the dissemination of information on the situation.If the employee has gone on a single-status assignment, then family members may wish to travel to the host country or other location where the employee has been evacuated to. Global mobility professionals should be prepared to support family members separated from their loved ones in such circumstances.An issue often forgotten about is language capability. When individuals are based in a country where they have limited language skills, managing the conversations with medical personnel can prove very difficult and stressful. Staff in local hospitals may not necessarily speak the assignee’s language. Consideration should be given to engaging interpreters/chaperones if appropriate or evacuating the employee to a hospital where there is the necessary language capability.If repatriation home is required, global mobility policies should address covering the costs of return airfares for the employee and family. In the case of emergency ill-health repatriation, then the global mobility function should ensure that the medical insurance policy covering assignees covers the necessary repatriation costs.If the employee’s health no longer enables them to work abroad an appropriate home-based role should be found for the individual where possible.

Learning from experience

It is important to learn from previous events because this can help organisations improve their emergency procedures. Cases where emergency evacuations have been carried out should be reviewed to determine what went well and what could be improved. Any gaps in the smooth running of the process should be assessed to see what actions could be employed in future to improve organisational procedures and actions.While we have emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, there could be another worldwide health emergency in the future. It is a good time now to review how the organisation responded to the pandemic, learn lessons from what could have been done better to evacuate and redeploy people, and take necessary steps to put any such learning and revised actions into place.

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