More and more companies are reaping the benefits of relocating employees to locations where they are best suited.
But coming up with a successful relocation program for moving your top talent domestically or internationally can be challenging.
To help you get started with your relocation program plan, here are three key elements to include.
1. Communication Is Crucial when Moving Work Premises
If your company is moving premises to another city or state, you’ll want to take as many of your existing employees with you as possible to ensure operations continue to run smoothly once you have relocated. When moving the entire office, you don’t necessarily have to provide relocation financial packages to your employees if the move is local. But you’ll need to offer a relocation package for any employees that have to relocate further. Beyond financial matters, the key to a successful office move is to keep all employees informed about every factor that affects them at each step of the way. Make sure your employees know things like the new address of the premises, what they need to personally do as part of the move, and how the move will temporarily affect things like deadlines. By creating an office relocation checklist, you can communicate well and ensure the move goes smoothly.
2. Know Which Costs to Cover
Whether your company is moving premises to another city or state or you are simply intending to relocate some of your employees to your other existing company locations, the relocation program needs to cover some of the employees’ costs if you want the program to run successfully. Costs that employers typically cover as part of their relocation programs include the following.
Real Estate Expenses
Employees will often not have the cash flow needed to cover incidental expenses that come with moving home because all of their equity is tied up in their current properties. So, you should include funding for things like legal fees and closing costs that employees will incur. Covering real estate expenses can help you to retain the top talent and ensure the move goes smoothly.
Travel Expenses
As part of real estate expenses, you should consider including covering the cost of moving trucks. But you also need to provide your employee and his or her entire family with the funds for traveling to the new location. Typically, that will mean paying for airfares and taxi costs. Again, by covering such costs, you can make sure your relocation program is attractive and you place your top talent where they are best suited.
Pay Rises or Relocation Bonuses
In addition to the above costs to cover, you should consider including pay rises or relocation bonuses for relocating employees. It’s a good idea to use a tiered approach according to things like individual employees’ performance and seniority. And you should definitely give a pay rise or bonus if an employee is moving to a new city where the cost of living is significantly higher.
3. Emotionally Support Relocating Employees and Provide Them with Detailed Information
A successful relocation program isn’t as simple as creating a budget and sending employees on their way. Moving is a stressful time for anyone, especially when you’re moving home and work premises, and even more so when relocating to an unknown city. So, you need to ensure relocating employees are given the support they need. In your relocation program, include a set of principles that determines the conditions that must be met before an employee relocates. Also, ensure you provide relocating employees with detailed information about their new locations so that they can get a good understanding of what to expect. Include information like the average cost of living, details about different neighborhoods, and info on the local school system.
