Client Case: Country Relocation

Michael* is a Human Resources Director. He and his wife are originally from Canada, and they have been living in Hong Kong for the past two decades. They have a family of four teenagers, and the teenagers would all be going to university in a few years.

Coaching Issue

Michael is looking to relocate back to Canada with his wife. He faces a number of issues 1. Hong Kong has recently changed its permanent residency rules and his children may be unable to stay in Hong Kong after their university education. He is unsure whether the children would want to go to a Hong Kong university, or go to a Canadian university, or take a gap year. 2. Michael is concerned about employment opportunities if he were to move back to Canada. 3. It is also a good time to buy a property in Canada but he is unclear on where in Canada he wants to settle.

From the coaching session, Michael wants to have some action steps to take on the move back to Canada.

Coaching Process

I examined these factors thoroughly in the 45 minute coaching session.

1. The degree of alignment between Michael and his wife

He and his wife are in broad agreement that they would move back to Canada but have not fully agreed on which area of Canada to settle in. Michael acknowledged that he has some fears in the area in which they would settle but the fears are irrational and could be dealt with.

2. Level of maturity of the teenagers

As deciding where to go to university is a big life decision, whether the teenagers would be capable of making sound decisions for themselves would have an impact of where the family eventually settles. It was established that not all of the teenagers are mature enough to make major life decisions at this point of time.

3. Financial concerns

Michael could possibly take a consulting job back in Canada but he is feeling suppressed about taking on a consulting role. He is looking into having his own coaching business and has some business ideas, however he is uncertain on whether it would be a physical or digital business. The time to take for the business to be viable would be 12-18 months. As he would have 4 children in university and the costs of starting a business, the financial feasibility of doing so was questioned. Luckily, the family has a nest egg they can rely on to tide them over while the business is established.

Why this process was adopted

A decision to relocate to another country with your family is a major life decision for the entire family involved. Although Michael has considered moving back to Canada before, he is missing a lot of the concrete information necessary to move back to Canada. At this point of decision making, it is important to consider all the factors first that could possibly come up for him to gather the information necessary for the move.

There is an amount of urgency in Michael taking action as he will be visiting Canada in a couple of months and should the family decide to relocate, the trip back to Canada will allow them to start scouting out for houses they can buy. There is a definite timeline which Michael will need to determine the information necessary for the relocation.

As the family is a unit, all the relationships within the family would need to be considered. As decision makers in the family, Michael and his wife would need to be in agreement. As teenagers grow into young adulthood, the level of autonomy that they would have would increase. However, they may not be capable of fully considering the impact of the decisions that they make will have on the family. A certain amount of flexibility in the eventual plan would be required to take the teenager’s level of maturity into account. It is important to raise this at this stage so that this factor can be taken into consideration when gathering information.

Finances are usually a major cause of concern for country relocation and would need to be thoroughly examined. Employment or business opportunities would need to be considered. Michael is still in the ideation phase of his business and the important thing at this stage would be to determine the viability of the business.

While there is a level of concern and trepidation involved in this case, how Michael felt was not thoroughly examined in this case. I chose not to go down the emotional route in this case as there were a lot of unknown factors and the feelings would be based on speculations which may or may not be applicable once the relevant information surfaces. Should there be a follow up session after more information is gathered, the emotional stakes of moving to a new country would be clearer and it would be more appropriate to be worked on then.

Results from the coaching session

Michael will have a conversation with his wife about the various factors that were brought up in the coaching conversation. He will need to meet with a financial consultant on the finances of the move. He will also do research on the differences between physical and digital businesses to determine where in Canada to settle. He will need more clarity on action steps 1-3 before he speaks to his children on moving back to Canada.

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