International assignment is booming as business globalises: not only are South African companies importing and exporting skills, but they’re also transferring them between foreign countries.
Multinationals have operated like this for decades, but it’s a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa. The local market is rather small by international standards.
This was an industry that scarcely existed in 1992 when economic sanctions ended. The rapid globalisation of many South African companies, particularly their expansion into Africa, has created a need for relocation services covering the full spectrum from preassignment consulting to physical relocation and back again, with repatriation services.
Elliott International led the way in the trend to establish joint ventures with professional firms, selecting Deloitte as its partner.
Paolo Longo, Elliott International general manager: relocations and immigration, says that to the layman it may seem odd to have an accounting firm involved in corporate relocations, but he explains: “Once you have people moving internationally, they need immigration services and work permits — these are professional services. The global reach of the big accounting firms is such that you will find them involved in any line of work that involves a border.
“It [Elliot International] already had a fully complemented legal department and customs department, and the systems that cater for multinational clients,” says Longo.
This focus on the relocations side of the business has enabled a growing emphasis on settling expatriates into their new country.
Elliott therefore performs a great deal of the legwork for a client’s employees ÂÂ- drawing up a short-list of homes that conform either to the individual’s requirements or the company’s security policy, finding schools, opening various accounts, connecting them for telephone and electricity services and even advising on their grocery shopping.
“These things are important to a spouse completely unfamiliar with practices in South Africa and for whom there may also be an additional language barrier. They want to know what shops to frequent, what local products to buy and restaurants to try, or where to find the best doctors and dentists. An even more difficult area is home management. We therefore handle tenancy management, dealing with the likes of plumbers and electricians — those services which have a low reputation the world over. And if anything is serious, we attend in person,” says Longo.
To add value, Elliott has developed a network of expatriates who are willing to share their experiences with newcomers. “We establish networks linking Brazilians with Brazilians, or Russians with Russians, for instance,” he says.
Further growth in the industry will come from educating smaller companies on the need for professional services, says Longo.
“South Africa is slightly behind the rest of the world in that smaller companies continue to try to do international relocations on their own. The results for the expatriate can be chaotic. Small European companies, for instance, tend not to even know that work permits are required. Even worse, sometimes they choose to completely ignore all local regulations — either because that’s how they do it in their home country, or it’s how they perceive Africa,” he says.