To ensure business success, you need to have the right talent wherever you are located. Though skilful hiring and recruitment is an option, it might be more beneficial to relocate some of your employees to increase your corporate performance and productivity.
However, an employee relocation can be both stressful for you and your employees – not to mention their families. If you don’t manage it carefully, the move can harm your bottom line. Luckily, there are ways to ease the relocation process.
From investing in departure services and cross-cultural training to working with a relocation company, here’s how you can ensure that your employees start with their new assignment on the right footing.
1. Invest in departure services
Departure services refer to the support needed during an employee relocation to help organise the things that must be done before the move.
Whether it be notifying landlords regarding ending leasing contracts, cutting off all utilities, managing insurance claims and deposits associated with the return of the property, or closing bank accounts, expect to save a huge amount of time, money, and stress by getting employee departure assistance.
What is the value of departure services?
When making an international move, most people are focused primarily on finding their next home, managing how to get started in their location, and moving their belongings. They often neglect some of the essential tasks they need to do before departing from their current residence.
There are loose ends that must be taken care of before relocating. Your employees need to settle things like getting their kid’s school transcripts, closing down cable TV and internet subscriptions, and notifying utility providers. These tasks can be time-consuming.
Not having a concrete plan to deal with all these tasks before departure can result in exhausting last days in the country trying to handle everything. This is precisely where departure services can be of great help.
What to expect from departure services
If you decide to use departure services for your employee relocation, expect to have specialists working with you to help organise all the required tasks before the move. These professional service providers will have a meeting with your employees to discuss their needs and even provide them with recommendations regarding the duties to take care of that they may not have considered yet.
They will develop a detailed plan to ensure a stress-free and straightforward employee relocation. Below are the typical services you can expect from relocation consultants:
- Arranging for inventory check-outs and comparing it with the check-in report
- Managing deposits or insurance claims related to return of property
- Notifying landlords regarding your employees’ departure dates
- Negotiating on any property damages
- Finalising all utilities
- Helping employees with bank account closure and membership termination
Generally, departure service assistants will help your employees manage their residency status, deal with any benefits or tax matters, update location authorities about the move, and start the relocation process.
2. Consider cross-cultural training
Providing cross-cultural training to your employees before their departure is among the best ways to ensure a successful assignment. This program will prepare them, including their families, for a life in the new location.
What’s in store for this training?
Though cross-cultural training programs differ, the key objectives are the same. These are meant to help your employees better understand the differences between people from various countries and cultures. The training will help equip your employees with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in the new location, such as a basic understanding of the local culture in the place they are being assigned to.
Some of the key points included in cultural training services are:
- Giving your employees pertinent information about the host country or city
- Helping them understand their new co-workers, including cultural norms and business orientation
- Handling cultural differences
- Giving a support system throughout your employees’ assignment
Moreover, reputable service providers will help deliver company-specific policies and approaches that fit your business needs.
Benefits for your employees
Cross-cultural training will help your employees, including their families, to adapt easily to their new home by providing them with what to expect even before they get there.
The more they know about the country and culture, the less chance they’ll experience culture shock. By eliminating the unknown, your employees can adjust to their new life comfortably and quickly.
Benefits to your organisation
Some of the reasons for failed global assignments are culture shock and slow adaptation to the new location. That said, supporting your employees and their families through cross-cultural training is a must.
Furthermore, a successful employee relocation means that assignees will be less likely to get out of your organisation upon completion of the assignment. This is critical from an employee retention perspective for your business. The last thing you want is to spend money on assigning skilled employees to a new location, just to lose them in the end.
Remember, employees who undergo cross-cultural training before the move will be more productive. Preparation will make it a lot easier for them to focus more on the job at hand. As soon as they reach their new assignment, they can start immediately instead of undergoing a long adjustment period.
3. Find a reputable moving company
Transporting stuff from one place to another, especially overseas, is one of the biggest challenges of relocation. An excellent way of helping your employees with their move is to find a reputable moving company that will take their possessions to their new location.
Relocation requires your employees to pack their things and move across the country or world. The farther their new assignment, the higher possibility for complications in the moving process.
Their belongings can be damaged, arrive late, or even get lost. If you don’t help your employees manage their things, you may encounter more delays, problems, and additional expenses. That said, you have to find excellent international movers who can help ease your employees’ endeavors and deal with issues during the move.
Planning for an employee relocation can be a very challenging task. But at the end of the day, you need to prioritize your employees’ well-being.
Getting assigned to a new location will take a huge toll on the life of your employees. For this reason, you need to ensure that they have a smooth relocation by investing in departure services, sending them to cross-cultural training, and partnering with a relocation partner that will ease the stress associated with such a move.
