Moving homes is regularly regarded as one of the most stressful things we undergo in life. When moving cities for work, employees can face major mental and emotional hurdles, which can cost companies a good deal of money in budget and productivity repercussions.
Despite the emotional heavy lifting involved, common is the company that offers mere peanuts in company relocation packages. As a result, the company relocation experience has gained a less-than-stellar reputation in the corporate world. With speed-bump and curve-ball-ridden relocations aplenty, employee dissatisfaction is often the professional prognosis.
While it may be tempting to entice your relocating employee with a breadcrumb trail of PTO and a less-than-generous monthly stipend, you’ll need to pull out the big guns if you want to see results. After all, the upfront costs of offering a comprehensive employee relocation package pale in comparison to the costly process of recruitment and onboarding a new employee.
With this in mind, you’ll want to do your due diligence as an employer and retain your key players by whatever means necessary. As a first step, bulk up your company relocation packages and proactively prevent relocation disasters. Not sure how to tackle the project at hand? Here are the six ways to have a better company relocation experience for your employees.
1. Offer a generous employee relocation package.
The most effective way to improve the relocation of new or current employees is by supporting their move financially. Being generous with your relocation package can ensure you rake in talent from all across the country, which leads to higher retention rates and ultimately saves you money.
There are plenty of ways to support your employee’s move with a generous relocation package, but it all comes down to making the moving process as smooth as possible. To relieve any financial strain, employers should strongly consider offering coverage for auto shipping services like these and other miscellaneous moving costs. in addition to relocation reimbursement and flexible start dates. That way, your MVPs can relocate hassle-free without the process costing a small fortune.
Remember, too, that you can add a payback clause, in which the employee must pay back the cost of the move if they leave the company before a specific date. That way, your company won’t be left high and dry if your star employee decides to jump ship.
2. Offer introductions to the new city (seminars and info sessions).
Unfortunately, studying your new hometown on the internet won’t do those crystal clear waters or tight-knit communities justice. That said, employers should provide relocating employees with uber-specific information about the city they’re moving into — the kinds of things only locals know and care about (where’s the best place to meet up, how do you do laundry, what are the gyms like?).
3. Offer domestic partner job assistance.
According to Reuters, a spouse or domestic partner may influence employee habits and behavior more than previously thought. It may behoove the employer to offer job search assistance for your relocating employee’s partner.
4. Transparency is key.
During the relocation process, you need to be 100% transparent about what the company plans to pay for and all the essentials that will be the employee’s responsibility. Remember, a smooth company relocation experience translates to happier workers, and happier workers equates to higher retention rates. Overall, transparency is an excellent way to start off on the right foot with your relocating employee.
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Open and honest communication goes a long way with a relocating employee. Although communication is the key to success around the company clock, it’s absolutely vital during employee relocation. On the day of the move, you should be in contact with them regularly and ask if there’s any way you (or the company) can be of assistance.
6. Offer transition training.
A new office place means a new culture to navigate. Even current employees may be thankful for transition training following a relocation. A few transition seminars can bring an employee under the wing of their new work environment and foster positive mutual feelings between them and their coworkers.
Conclusion.
In the thick of an employee transfer, an employer offers an employee relocation package to boost employee morale and improve lackluster retention rates. By providing a generous employee relocation package and powering through this to-do list, you can vastly improve the company relocation experience for your employees.
