Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">Idea in Brief</h4>
 <div class="ideainbrief-contents">
  <h5>The Background</h5>
  <p>Today’s professionals are often expected to be geographically mobile, especially if they work for multinational corporations.</p>
  <h5>The Problem</h5>
  <p>While cross-border moves offer many career benefits, there are also regulatory and occupational constraints and economic and psychological costs associated with them.</p>
  <h5>The Solution</h5>
  <p>Research indicates that making moves early in your career can accelerate it and that effective relocators find creative workarounds, stay connected to home, strategically time their trips to headquarters, and proactively plan their next steps.</p>
 </div>
</article-ideainbrief><p>Bill Wiseman was facing a quandary. He’d been working at McKinsey’s Seattle office for two years when his wife got a job in Okinawa, and he had to decide whether to remain a U.S.-based consultant or take a position as an engagement manager in the South Korean office, where an opportunity had opened up. While Wiseman was eager for the promotion and wanted to be near his wife, he had very little knowledge of Korean culture and language and worried that a move to Asia might hurt his career.</p>

vaO/tQs9VyJFC7OXsTQFTv4C7uv0ZxDAdGWMTue8lMmGtqII8YzXRGYBSXuuJvGSleL23GxzkNqfF0bbB5uIiiqQ1as4XdPkUvi7ARweWIhKOV4SlNU1jauZGZ4kV8wc

<p>Although the Covid-19 crisis has halted travel in recent months, geographic mobility has become critical for managers and knowledge workers hoping to advance in today&#8217;s globalized economy, and that trend is unlikely to reverse. Assignments far from headquarters can pay off financially and can boost your career by improving your problem-solving and leadership skills and building your networks. Yet they also have constraints and costs. Anyone contemplating such a move should think through its full implications first.</p>
<p>Research on people in a variety of organizations around the world&#8212;from Indian bureaucrats to American consultants&#8212;suggests some common principles for getting the most out of relocations: (1) Make moves early in your career, when hurdles are usually lower and you can apply the learning over many more years of work. (2) Step out of your comfort zone to stretch your abilities. (3) Find creative workarounds for constraints. (4) To minimize the psychological costs, find ways to stay connected to home. (5) Time your trips to HQ strategically, and plan the next step right from the start.</p>

Make the Most of Your Relocation

Although the Covid-19 crisis has halted travel in recent months, geographic mobility has become critical for managers and knowledge workers hoping to advance in today’s globalized economy, and that trend is unlikely to reverse. Assignments far from headquarters can pay off financially and can boost your career by improving your problem-solving and leadership skills and building your networks. Yet they also have constraints and costs. Anyone contemplating such a move should think through its full implications first. Research on people in a variety of organizations around the world—from Indian bureaucrats to American consultants—suggests some common principles for getting the most out of relocations: (1) Make moves early in your career, when hurdles are usually lower and you can apply the learning over many more years of work. (2) Step out of your comfort zone to stretch your abilities. (3) Find creative workarounds for constraints. (4) To minimize the psychological costs, find ways to stay connected to home. (5) Time your trips to HQ strategically, and plan the next step right from the start.

Make the Most of Your Relocation

Summary.

Partner Center