At Mobile Relocation, we put the spotlight on expat wellbeing - and the significant dislocation expats face when they relocate to New Zealand.
Mobile has run expat wellbeing workshops for Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) for the past 3 years - including the collaboration with Deloitte in 2020 for which we won a TEMI Award.
For this year’s MHAW (26 Sept-2 Oct) we’ve done something a bit different and recorded a FREE panel session about the joys and challenges of the 'big trip home' for expats who haven’t seen family for an extended period during the COVID lockdown.
It ties in perfectly to the 2022 MHAW theme of 'Reconnect - with the people and places that lift you up, hei pikinga waiora'.
You can view the recording here: Channel content - YouTube Studio
What can you do with it?
share the recording directly with your expat and international employees to show them your organisation is acknowledges their unique wellbeing challenges
encourage your expat employee networks or groups to watch the recording during MHAW and discuss
show it to managers of expat and international employees to spark wellbeing conversations
What is the panel discussion about?
During last year's MHAW we were at the height of the COVID pandemic, with Auckland in lockdown.
Now a year later, the world has transformed for expats in NZ. They are now able to travel again to see family/friends offshore. While life now seems more ‘normal’ expats are again facing a different set of wellbeing challenges to their Kiwi colleagues, particularly in relation to long awaited visits home. Some of the issues we are hearing about include:
navigating different national COVID experiences and attitudes
no real break or holiday
juggling remote working
feeling disconnected because so much has been missed during COVID
worries about introducing new family members
feeling unsettled
So, we asked our Panelists to discuss:
goals for the trip home
anticipated challenges, and what they most look forward to
tools/mindsets/behaviours/actions to help get the most out of the trip
ideas on what employers or Kiwi colleagues could do to support their wellbeing
Who benefits?
With more than 1/4 of New Zealand's population born overseas, many of your employees are likely to be travelling to reunite with family and friends in the coming months.
About the Panel
Joe Paul (Structural Engineer, Edge Consulting Engineers), Toby Hone (Senior Talent Business Partner, Deloitte) and Melodie Jacquinod (Social Media Specialist, Auckland Council) are all now based in Auckland, originally from Bahrain, UK and Switzerland and at various stages of the big trip home. The session is facilitated by Bridget Romanes, Principal of Mobile Relocation, formerly a serial expat herself.
The idea was sparked by Melodie's brilliant post. Mobile Relocation had also published this article back in July, to help expats prepare for the travel to their home countries.
Mobile Relocation delivers resettlement and relocation programmes for businesses employing offshore talent. Our goal is to get your expat and migrant talent up and running in NZ as quickly as possible - reducing their time to effectiveness in their new role, and enabling them to deliver their skills and expertise to your the benefit of your business.
Bridget is a New Zealander who has lived and worked as a diplomat in Singapore and India. After experiencing all facets of the relocation experience, she founded Mobile to work with private individuals moving to NZ and leading local and international businesses bringing in offshore talent. bridget@mobile-relocation.com
Ready to move to New Zealand? Get our FREE Move to NZ Checklist here.