An Examination of Factors Influencing Repatriates’ Loyalty

When research on repatriation has shown that repatriates quit within one year of return from a foreign assignment, this study attempts to find what makes some repatriates stay committed and loyal to their companies when their colleagues are quitting and joining their immediate competitors? The research further extends to explore - factors determining repatriates loyalty, repatriates’ most desirable policy implemented in the repatriation program and finally to develop a model that measures repatriate’s loyalty. Indian IT employees who had travelled to United States of America for business related assignments, stayed there for duration of six months to two years and returned back to India were contacted for the purpose of this study. An online questionnaire is used for data collection, and 52 responses were considered suitable for the study. Factor analysis is used to find out the factors determining repatriates loyalty and repatriates’ most desirable benefits and organizational practices with respect to repatriation. Repatriates considered return support services, career planning services and communication services as the most desirable benefits in a repatriation assignment. Gratification after repatriation, and career advancement opportunities were the factors that influenced repatriates’ loyalty. A model is developed to measure repatriates loyalty by using multiple regression and factor analysis.