What is Reverse Culture Shock?
One could think that moving back home is easy, but not always; many executives are surprised that they feel different and even strange going back. Called Reverse Culture Shock or Repatriation, this is a common reaction to returning home from having worked or studied abroad. It is a re-adjustment, both emotional and psychological. Encountering Reverse Culture Shock is a surprising situation that many do not expect. Reverse Culture integration has similar stages that the new Global Leader went through when they went to their new Global position, which we covered in my previous posts: the New Position, the Change Itself, and the Intercultural Reality.
At first, there is the excitement to returning home – seeing friends and family, eating at your favorite restaurants, joining in old activities that were uncommon where you were working, or maybe going back to the same house. But that euphoria can wear off quickly, when you find out the friends have moved away, that there is no place to do those activities you or the family have so well acquired, or when you have conversations with friends that don’t cover those new topics you now love to talk about or follow. You suddenly realize that both you and your home culture have changed; you feel out of place in your own culture. You even feel a sort of homesickness, incredibly from the home that was once so new and foreign. As a Global Leader heading back home, you bring with you, both professional and personal changes. You suddenly see old norms and values from your hometown or country from a fresh perspective. You feel like a stranger in your own home. It can be worse if you must deal with a loss of social privileges, of status and influence in and out of the workplace. You once again feel like an alien… like you don’t belong.
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Reverse culture shock at work?
Professionally there will be many challenges, even before the actual change back, there will be anxiety of where or to what position you will be going back to, what if it’s a more boring job, especially if you compare it to the exciting professional life that was given to you when you were first sent to the new city, state or country. What about the relationships with your new boss and colleagues? Will you get the organizational support you once had? Does the new position feel as exciting or it does it feel like a demotion where you feel underqualified, compared to what you previously had, given the change of levels of responsibilities and accountabilities? What if you are assigned to a new department where your old friends are nowhere to be found and/or the new ones see you as the know-it-all or maybe you have a feeling that no one understands you? To give you an example, a recent client told me how she felt her ideas were now being rejected by her colleagues as she returned to her home country, because they were considered too disruptive or avant-garde.
What can you do?
Prior to your return, communication with the people in HR and your leaders can help to ensure a position for the new you and your new acquired skills.
Share your experience with others, those close ones who will support you with open ears and honest interest: ex-bosses, other expats returning home, friends from your last job, and mentors, among others. But keep your newly acquired style and friends, “don’t go changing to try to please” anyone, build on the new you that learned and evolved. Leverage on that new flexible and open leader you have become. Rebuild relationships, interests, and your new global self. Keep that international perspective by reading or listening to international news and happenings. But even if it’s not the next day, you will begin to adjust back towards feeling comfortable with your new position and place.
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A friend that has done many recent global changes recently told me, “It’s like when they say not “Breaking the China””: one tries not to cause trouble upon their recent return, needing to use other approaches to go around and make some things happen, to secure some actions and try to do the less damage in the process.
