Want to keep workers happy? Send them overseas

A recent Fast Company article talked about the newest development in employee satisfaction. In order to combat higher turnover companies have begun to send their employees to satellite offices that are in foreign countries. The claim is that a new environment and interacting with new people outside of one's specific division can increase worker happiness and therefore decrease turnover. This program can also increase essential cultural knowledge which is becoming more and more important in today's global business world.

What do you think of these programs? Would you be interested in traveling to a foreign country for an exchange style work program?

Still, universities decided decades ago that studying abroad enriched the on-campus educational experience, and students (and their parents) still seem to agree. The Institute of International Education found that 289,000 Americans spent part or all of their most recent year in college overseas, representing a 400% increase from 20 years ago.

Companies are catching on to this trend. The business world may not be grappling with an existential crisis in the way higher education is, as students and faculty question what knowledge acquisition should consist of, whom it should serve, and how much it should cost. But companies are struggling with a pretty serious problem of their own: employee retention.