In the last few years, the increase in global mobility has become quite noticeable. While some companies are offering relocation packages that are quite enticing, there are quite a few where company relocation incentives are less-than-stellar. Many employees are often frustrated with the experience they undergo. As a global relocation company, WHR Group, Inc. knows the hidden costs, speedbumps, and money that gets thrown at people in the name of relocation assistance.

When your employee is dissatisfied with your relocation package, it is not good news for your company. Moreover, if you are one of the companies who lean towards simply giving a monetary lump sum to your employee or new recruit instead of a well-planned relocation policy, think again. The chances are you might lose your valued employee when they experience the hassle and stress of the relocation. Adding to the annoyance could be a situation when the relocation vendors do not do the job properly.

Hence it is time to increase the spending on relocation. You may ask why?

Importance Of Relocation Package for Employees

As an employer, you might think that offering relocation packages to your employee is expensive and time-consuming. You are not entirely wrong, but there is a catch.  While it may seem costly, it is much more profitable in the long run than just offering a lump sum. When your employee has to sort things out regarding the relocation, the chances can increase that they might leave your company.

So, when you compare putting the extra effort, money, and time into offering a good relocation package versus searching for a new employee, recruiting them, and training them, the latter is more expensive.

The Old Days Are Gone

Once, people were happy doing their job in a single company, staying near their homes, and retiring from the same place. However, with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers being replaced by the Millennials, companies must know how to attract and retain them. According to a study, by 2025, 75% of the global working population will be Millennials. The hiring and retaining process needs to be changed along with the workplace objective.

With more employees ready to move for a 10% raise along with other expenses paid, the idea of reluctance to move is gone.  A study conducted about relocation among the employees in Canada showed the following as incentives to accept a relocation:

• 48% of respondents were happy to relocate, with a 20% raise
• 39% if guaranteed return to the current role after a couple of years
• 31% replied they would want help with spouse/partner’s employment in the new place.

Apart from these, another highly desirable factor was a company-paid trip to the new location before accepting the position.

With these figures in place, it is pretty clear that offering a good relocation package is much more beneficial for your employee than letting them fend for themselves while you just simply throw a lot of money at them.

What To Spend on Relocation to Entice Talent?

When you are planning to relocate an employee or a new joiner, you can offer certain relocation benefits and processes to ensure they are satisfied with the move offered. Here are the top 5 categories you need to spend on when relocating your employee or enticing new talent.

1. Taking the burden off

Relocating to a new place is not only financially challenging but emotionally too for your employee. Make the experience better for your employee by expanding the resources with a Relocation Management Company (RMC). A professional RMC like WHR Group, Inc. can help your employee from start to finish in the relocation process.  This will ensure less stress for your staff and warrant that they get back to work in a much shorter span compared to when they have to carry the burden of relocating by themselves.

2. Uber-specific Information

Millennials use the internet to find all possible information they can gather but knowing about a new place through a computer is not enough. Invest in an RMC who has a dedicated supply chain with fully vetted destination partners that can provide knowledge about the new location. Ensure they know the local customs, places where to meet, what to do during off days, the culture of the region, and more. Also, provide transitional training to your employee so a mutually positive feeling can be fostered between coworkers. 

3. Aim For Full Transparency

A well-written and outlined document that states the relocation policy ensures transparency and eventually a smooth relocation experience.  This will ultimately translate to a better employee experience and potentially higher retention. Also, keep communication open at all times and take proactive steps to offer assistance to your employee.

4. Assistance With Housing

If you are one of those companies that do not have a community housing provision for your relocated employee, assist them with the house search. Helping the employee find a house that matches their requirement and budget will be beneficial for you in the long run. In addition, if your employee needs to sell their house, offer them some closing costs for expediting the process.

5. Job Assistance for Spouse/Domestic Partner

At times, employees can become resistant towards relocating when their domestic partner is serving at a good position in the current location. The best way to navigate the situation is to offer a career search assistance for the employee’s partner. It might seem that a company is getting too involved in an employee’s personal life, but it is in the best interest of your company. Your employee will appreciate the effort.

Final Words

Providing your employees with an affordable and competitive relocation package that will care for them and their families will guarantee their loyalty to your company. Though relocation benefit packages are to not be discussed, employees talk, and if you are not offering the best in the industry, you are then welcoming churning and eventually more expenses for your business. So, spend on a better relocation package to keep your employees happy.

Many businesses are going beyond their borders and setting up offices or partnering with companies outside their home office states or country. As a result, relocating employees has now become the norm for companies. But as mobility has increased to ensure success, growth, and expansion of business, the gravity of retaining the firm’s top talent while recruiting the best in the market has become aggressive.

Suppose your business is one of those that plans to relocate employees. In that case, it is mandatory that your relocation policy is robust. It is also critical that it is embedded in your HR policy and programs that align with each other. When it comes to relocation, part of the HR policy is never to see it as an after-offer feature. When you are offering the job to a prospective employee, a relocation policy should already be in place that would help you to retain your staff. It is time that you review your relocation policy as a part of your company’s key components to have a competitive edge in tapping the top talent in the industry.

How To Build a Robust Relocation Policy

Creating a robust relocation policy for employees is based on quite a few factors including the duration of relocation, place, project enhancement, and other economic factors. Every company that wants to expand beyond its locality needs to maintain and increase its employee relocation budget regularly. Some of the offerings that should be added in creating a relocation policy follows.

Covered Benefits

One of the crucial aspects of a relocation package is the benefits your company will cover for the employee. It is not only about what you will cover as an employer, but also how much you will pay for the expense types, which can include the following:

• Packaging and Moving
• House Hunting
• Transportation
• Short-Term Lodging
• Shipment
• Miscellaneous

Build Tiers into your Relocation Packages

While it is vital to offer security to your employee during the relocation, it is best to align the package based on the employee’s level in the company. Make sure to offer the package that aligns to best practices for that type of position. Not all positions should warrant a relocation package.

Package Administration

After you have decided on the budget and the benefits that you will offer, it is time to consider how you will administer them. It can be categorized under the following:

• Full Coverage: you set the guidelines on what will be covered, whether you either book a service as the employer or reimburse the employee.
• Lump Sum: A certain amount of money is given to the employee for the relocation. It gives them flexibility, but it also means the employee has to plan the relocation details.
• Capped Allowance: You provide a certain amount of money to the employee for relocation, and whatever is not used will go back to the company.

Negotiation

If your employee wants to negotiate the relocation package details, the best thing for you to do is listen to what they are trying to communicate. Understanding them will help you decide whether to work on them or give a counteroffer, if the request is not reasonable.

Personal Support

The best way to ensure your employee’s loyalty is to give them a smooth transition when relocating to a new place. One of the factors that often impresses the employee is the personal assistance that a company provides:

• Employment assistance for the spouse or partner
• Obtaining information on schools
• Cultural training to help the employee and family learn about the new place and its culture.

Benchmark Your Competitors

Research what your competitors are offering in their relocation packages. A relocation package is often determined by the industry, location, size of the company, and the employee’s level in the organization. Finding a way to stand out among your competitors with the package is best to ensure your employees stick with you. One way to warrant that is to hire a professional Relocation Management Company (RMC) to do the job for you at a competitive price.

Why Hire a Professional Employee Relocation Management Company (RMC)?

Instead of spending time on the research and coming up with relocation policies, you have less to worry about when you outsource the process. A good RMC will do the work for you while providing your employees with the best experience and highest customer service. There are quite a few benefits in hiring a professional employee relocation company:

• You will get a customized relocation strategy that has a transparent approach, along with a tiered system. If needed, the company can also offer benefits as per individual requirements (à la carte approach).
• They know their job and have the local and international resources to ensure a smooth transition for the employee by simplifying the process. A professional will also warrant the relocation complies with the new place and local regulations.
• Technology based solutions are offered by most prominent RMCs. They may integrate the system with your IT platform to facilitate the duties so that there is transparency in the process. In addition, cloud-based live reporting is used to ensure cost-effective and transparent procedures.
• Employees and employers can concentrate on the work that needs to be done while the RMC does the other work related to relocation.

Wrapping Up

If you want to mobilize the company’s talent, the best way to do it is to put yourself in their shoes. Consider that an employee must weigh the benefits of a new opportunity against the financial and emotional transition of starting a life in a new place. Hence, supporting them during this process will reflect on your company’s engagement with the employees and the positive culture that it harnesses. Having a comprehensive relocation program can be a persuasive tool for hiring and retaining talented, and having dedicated employees working for your company. The best way to go about it as an employer is to contract a professional relocation management company like WHR Global, which will care for you and your employee’s relocation needs.

“Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.” That’s what the flight attendant usually says upon completing their safety instructions after take-off. What if transitioning from your current Relocation Management Company (RMC) were just as easy? What if you had someone else navigating the entire process? Imagine having someone else doing all the coordination, communications, and legwork for you, your global workforce, and your service providers.

Switching Relocation Management Companies

Well, it’s not really such a far-fetched dream… if you work with the right RMC. You might be thinking you’ll still have to train your staff, including everyone internally from payroll to global HR to finance to accruals, plus train and acclimate your providers! Think about all the processes that must be communicated between your staff and your new RMC, not to mention that your RMC must also learn and understand your culture so that they can train their employees. Sounds like a lot of work. The good news is that the right RMC will do all this for you.

How exactly does your RMC accomplish all that? More importantly, if you’re the main internal contact at your company, how much of your time is still required?

“We’ll do all the heavy lifting, we only need the client’s relocation policy,” says WHR Global Director of Global Operations, Chris Lagerman.  “After we obtain the client’s policy, we’ll assemble a transition plan for program management. We’ll typically spend a half to full day with the client, confirming our proposed plan meets their expectations before we execute. We’re working behind the scenes to coordinate all the applicable processes; once we get the green light, we manage everything.”

For example, WHR might ask the client how they reimburse employee expenses or what documentation is needed to justify a payment? WHR will coordinate a meeting directly with the client’s payroll person to sort out these answers. Maybe the client has four individuals who can authorize employee transfers, or maybe the client has 20 corporate recruiters in multiple locations. Once WHR knows who these individuals are, WHR will set up a 1-hour training meeting (virtual or in-person), to train all on how to use WHR’s technology.

The average timeline from choosing WHR as your RMC and transition completion is typically 30 days, but during those 30 days, WHR is doing all the hard work. The client contact only needs to spend a half to full day with WHR answering questions, and then WHR takes over and manages everything else. Some clients may think they have to train all their preferred suppliers on how to work with WHR. In reality, WHR will handle all the training and more than likely WHR is already working with these same suppliers.

It really is that easy to make the switch to a new RMC! Considering the move for your organization?

Let’s talk!