Four issues and solutions when moving employees for the first time
Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash
Are you planning on relocating employees for the first time? If so, here are four key issues you should be aware of and the steps you need to take to solve the potential problems.
Cost control issues
Whether your company is moving employees domestically or internationally for the first time, controlling the costs can be challenging; especially when relocating high numbers of employees.
To entice your top talent to move, you will need to provide attractive relocation packages that include things like housing budgets, moving costs, spouse salaries, and work permit costs.
But lots of hidden costs can occur, which is when cost control starts to become difficult. Inconsistent policies can also be a cause for costs spiralling out of control.
To bring costs under control, each executive and HR professional involved with the relocation process must have clear policies to work from and stick to those policies.
You should also monitor the success of those policies the first time you move employees so that you can adjust the policies and costs accordingly.
Global mobility issues
In this twenty-first century world in which we can communicate with each other and access files anytime and anywhere, more and more companies are seeing the advantages of moving employees to different locations around the world.
But global mobility can create more issues than domestic relocations. From visa problems to bottlenecks, delays can easily happen, which has a knock-on effect on your costs and staffing.
You need to use a different approach for international relocation than domestic moves if you want to avoid the numerous problems that can arise with global mobility, such as visa complexities, immigration requirements, and tax compliance.
The best solution is to hire an experienced corporate relocation company that has the expertise to ensure each international employee move goes smoothly.
Check out this guide to learn more about global mobility and how a relocation service can help you to avoid issues. A relocation company can also help you to reign in the costs.
Unexpected housing issues
Relocation packages typically involve housing costs to help employees sell their old homes and buy new ones.
Your company could also provide relocating employees and their families with temporary accommodation if there is a delay in the new house being ready.
The latter can increase the costs of relocation, so you need to make sure that temporary housing is taken into account when drawing up relocation packages.
Another problem could be getting your employee and his or her family a new house on their behalf only to find that the employee refuses to live there, due to it not meeting expectations. Though, you can largely avoid that issue by communicating well with the employee about each element of the move, including giving the employee photographs and specs of the new housing.
By being aware of potential housing issues, it is much easier to come up with relocation packages that meet your budgetary needs and decide what type of package you will offer your employees. Many employers opt for lump-sum packages, while others prefer a tiered approach.
Time issues
One of the biggest headaches that companies can experience when moving employees for the first time is the workers not arriving at their new locations by the expected date.
The solution is to factor in potential problems and include flexibility in your relocation plan. Again, a professional relocation company can help you to achieve that.
Also, you need to make sure you give your employees enough time to move in the first place. You should give your employee between three to six months to prepare for a move. If you create a shorter window, you are setting yourself up for problems.
As long as you are organised in your approach to moving employees for the first time, you can easily solve problems that could arise.
