the world becoming more interconnected, gone are the days when companies stay within the borders, hiring local talent. As the number increases in establishing international offices and representatives, relocating employees is also rising.
Establishing a clientele in one’s own country has become the norm of the past. Even small and medium-sized businesses are engaging in trading overseas, thus the need to hire international staff. While employing overseas staff, there is the necessity to relocate employees to various branches of the enterprise.
Relocating employees to places is quite a process. It is not only about shifting an employee to a new place; several necessary steps are involved. As an employer, you must remember that it needs to be as stressless as possible for your employees.
If you are one of the companies that need to relocate employees or employees to a new place, this blog can be helpful for you. WHR Global, specializing in employee relocation, has shared five essential tips for how to transfer job locations for both the employer and employees.
5 Tips For Relocating Employees
Relocating employees is a daunting experience for the employee and employers. While the employee can be excited about going and settling down in a new place or heavy-hearted about leaving the family and moving, the employer has much more responsibility when moving an employee to a new office in a new city, state, or country.
There are five critical factors, according to WHR Global, whose team combines 100 years of leadership experience in corporate and government employee relocations (domestic and international).
1. Time Needed
Moving to a new place is time-consuming, with all the planning and preparations. It becomes more so when an employee needs to be relocated to a new country. In addition, there are logistics like visas, shipping, customs fees and clearances, and transportation.
Also, apart from these logistics, there are legal angles to consider. For example, if your employee needs a work permit, you must prove that your company has an office in the place of destination. Going through all these and the associated paperwork can be challenging and time-consuming as an employer. Also, as an employer, you must consider providing your employee with an appropriate relocation package, which brings up tax ramifications.
While employers deal with all these, the experience is daunting for the employee, who must run back and forth to get various factors to relocation sorted.
Hence, it is advisable to start the process early so you have time to complete all those or hire a professional who will take care of it all. A relocation management company, WHR Global, will help navigate the logistics and keep all parties organized.
2. Adjusting Time
Moving to a new place from the old one is tough, and it gets more challenging when the culture, food, and language change. For instance, moving your employee from the US to the UK is comparatively easy on the person. But if you move someone from India to China, the challenges begin once the employee reaches the place.
So, as your employee needs the time to adjust to the significant culture, language, and food, productivity will suffer. You should then train your employees on what to expect and encourage them to learn about the new place. A professional relocation team can advise you on ways to move forward with the moving and policies that must be taken care of.
3. Taxes
Moving the employee to another country means changes in taxation policies, not only for your employee but also for your home company and the site of your business in the destination. Company tax is confusing to a layperson, and it is also something that you, as an employer, cannot take lightly.
It is time you speak to a company tax lawyer of your home country and the employee’s destination to see how it will affect both of you. Then, understand and work towards ways to benefit your company and employees.
4. Cost of Living – COLA
Adjusting your employee’s income as per the new country’s cost of living is essential to living everyday life in the destination country. While online resources are there, you can find out the cost of living for a specific destination to compensate them fairly.
Costs are generally higher for expats as they seek to find the same goods and services in their home country, but they are undoubtedly priced higher in a “foreign” location. Over time, expats learn how to replace home country products with similar or similar host country goods and services. A further breakdown of COLA can be found in our recent blog.
A professional company working in the field of relocation and in the destination where your employee is going is better suited to provide you with the expenditure the employee is looking into.
5. Hire A Professional
When you transfer your employees to a new destination, you want to uphold the industry’s best practices, give them the right relocation package, and prepare them well for the new place. An international employee relocation company like WHR does all these and much more.
Companies like WHR maintain benchmark studies and analyses to help the employee and employer better. They use technologies that allow them to assist you online and give you an estimated cost and time needed for all the proceedings so you will not be late with the relocation or dig a hole in the company funds. Finally, you will also get the final report about the move to your portal, customized per your needs.
As you prepare your employee for the relocation, you should simultaneously contact an expert relocation organization like WHR Global to take care of all the necessities. A professional company that helps move employees to another location provides the best relocation experience for the employee and the employer because they have experience in the field. They are also professionals in the business, so they know how to navigate and save time and money for the employer, thus making it an affordable and cost-effective option. Also, if you want consistency in relocating employees, WHR Global can do that in domestic and international spaces. Essential questions, such as how to transfer job locations, have never been easier to answer.