The appraisal of overseas managers is part of the appraisal of a subsidiary's contributions to the attainment of the MNC's short-and long-term goals. Most MNCs use their domestic employee appraisal system, adapted to fit the legal and cultural requirements of the host country. As a rule, host countries allow MNCs a relatively high degree of freedom in choosing an appropriate appraisal method, except when termination of the employment contract is at issue. Even then, the government is not likely to intervene if the number of employees fired is less than a certain percentage of the company's work force. The issue of termination becomes extremely sticky, however, when the closing of a plant is involved. Most European countries and almost all developing countries prohibit "massive dismissals" of personnel and penalize MNCs that circumvent these prohibitions. 1
One issue that has received a lot of attention in the developed world in recent years is employee assistance following a termination decision, better known as outplacement assistance. Outplacement assistance generally takes the form of counseling geared toward helping a person establish a new career path, after his or her old path has become defunct as a result of a company's restructuring plan. Invented in the United States in the 1960s, outplacement assistance has spread to most European nations.Figure 15.8 gives an overview of European outplacement services.
Figure 15.8 shows that the average age of individuals receiving outplacement assistance in Europe is 47 years. Scandinavian countries lead the list with the oldest average age ( 49 years ); workers in Britain, France, and Belgium tend to lose their jobs earlier, at the age of 45.INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT provides some information on the types of executives most likely to be in need of outplacement assistance.
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