Fools rush in: clever HR practitioners test international assignment candidates with the Intercultural Affinity Scale

Abstract

The Intercultural Affinity Scale (IAFFS) is introduced to assist human resource practitioners in their efforts to assess the intercultural affinity of candidates for international assignments. Fools rush into global missions without evaluating candidate?location fit and intercultural communication training needs. Clever human resource practitioners, however, engage in socially responsible practices. The IAFFS is designed to reliably appraise employees' and their families' affinity for their home and future host cultures to find the right candidates for the right international assignments. The seven-item IAFFS was developed and tested in numerous studies with students at 13 universities in six countries (New Zealand, Germany, United Arab Emirates, England, Czech Republic and USA). The IAFFS shows a stable two-factor structure, acceptable test?retest correlations, adequate Cronbach's alphas and almost no social desirability bias in self- and peer evaluations. The IAFFS is sensitive enough to detect test?retest differences. Implications and future research are outlined.