Golden Tips to Help Your Employees Relocate

Helping an employee relocate because of business reasons is a tough deal. However, it is even tougher for the employee undertaking the move. Besides dealing with the stress of packing, loading and moving with all their households as well as families, the employee may be dealing with the additional stress of working with shorter moving timelines as well as the fear of working with completely unknown people. Moreover, the employee has to look for the life in the new city, calculate the cost of living in Denver and ensure that the family life does not get completely disturbed.

Irrespective of the challenges that a business relocation throws your (employee and employer’s) way, businesses have to relocate and the reasons are pretty valid. Some of the core reasons include:

·         Business expansion and launch of a new branch at a new location.

·         Complete relocation to a new location.

·         Transferring employees to a new division for best career development.

·         New recruitment for an out of state location.

·         An employee request for a transfer with family due to personal reasons.

Whatever be the reason, as an employer, it’s your responsibility that you streamline the process to make your business easy to manage. In fact, it is the core way how you can show the employees that you support them in the challenging time.

Here is what you can do to help relocating employees:

Have an employee relocation plan in place:

Instead of running to planning and development at the last minute, it is wise to have a plan for employee relocation in place. As a credible business, you must have an employee relocation plan prepared in advance, which should be implemented when you hire a new employee or relocate an existing one. This will make the process simpler and hassle-free for all the parties involved in the process.

Honesty is the best policy:

If your employees are moving for the business and that too with the family, it is important that you give the employees a clear picture of the roles and responsibilities they would be taking at the new place. Before they make any commitment to you and to business, they must know what they are accepting.

It is important that the employee has a clear understanding of the job so that he/she does not get dazzled with the new location, new culture and entirely new responsibilities.

Consider the family, especially the spouse:

If the family of the employee, especially the spouse does not feel at ease with the relocation, there are huge chances that the employee would back out from the process and return.  It is important that you retain your assets. In this particular case, ensuring that the employee’s spouse and dependents feel well supported is really important. You can offer spousal support to the employee’s spouse. This may include offering job-hunting assistance, school advice, and introduction to local communities and groups.

Outsource, if possible:

There are two options in front of you; you can either handle the process of relocation on your own or outsource the relocation process to the specialists. When you choose the first option, it means that you have the control of the process. However, it also means that your resources will be occupied and have less time to focus on their core jobs. On the other hand, if you hire a relocation specialist, you will not have to worry about any relocation related factors. The efficiency of the relocation specialists is of great value in such cases and you must always look for the key signs of a credible moving company.

Help the employee find the best accommodation:

Irrespective of the reason to move, there are a lot of things that one need to consider before they relocate. From understanding the local city to finding a perfect place to live and locating the basic facilities like hospitals, schools, banks and more. If your employee takes responsibility for all these factors on their own, they will have little time and focus for the job. This will eventually hamper the performance and make things sour for the business. Instead of letting the employee take care of all these aspects, it is advisable that you offer some assistance, such as:

·         Offer an orientation package:

This package must include the key information about the new town the employee is moving to along with the information about local vendors and dealers.

·         Provide temporary lodging:

It is very benefitting if you provide temporary lodging to your employees before they find a perfect accommodation.

·         Let the professionals take care of the relocation:

When professionals take care of the moving process, the employee has much time and focus to attend to more core responsibilities.

Employee relocation can be a very tough aspect to handle. When not attended with due care, it can become the worst experience and a major loss for the business. Keep these golden rules in mind and ensure that you enjoy a great relocation process.