Guide to Employee Relocation
Getting started with employee relocation is no easy task. The benefits of accessing and retaining a talented workforce, and competing in more business markets are incredible, but this can take a while to come to fruition. It’s a difficult world full of complex processes, and managing all the moving parts at once can feel daunting for an HR or a global mobility team. Trends and best practices are always evolving to adapt to new conditions, so getting started is often the hardest step. Gerson Relocation is here to help.
What are Employee Relocation Rights?
It’s crucial that you as an employee or an employer know the rights surrounding employee relocation. The most important and perhaps overlooked area of contracts is a mobility clause. Without a mobility clause within an individual’s contract of employment, you cannot reasonably request them to relocate with the business. What’s more, mobility clauses also outline the limits of the request you can make of an employee, such as the conditions under which they must relocate or the consequences of not doing so.
What Should be Included in Employee Expense Lists?
Your employee expenses list is another crucial piece of documentation when planning on moving your employees. This includes the figures which you are willing to expend in order to settle employees at their new locations. This can include moving costs, temporary accommodation, longer-term housing, and more. Our blog includes a detailed account of what to include in employee expenses.
How to Manage Employee Relocation
Once you have set out your relocation policies and procedures, the real challenges begin to arise. Employee satisfaction will hugely impact your programme’s success, and ultimately, your business’s success, so this should be at the forefront of everything you do. If your company has just constructed a corporate relocation programme, you might need assistance managing your overseas employees. Our step-by-step guide includes some unmissable points for your employee relocation policy and procedures – let’s get started!
1. Start Now
A vital part of employee relocation is preparation. If your relocating workforce feels unsure or ill-prepared for the move, this could cause havoc down the line. Your employee relocation policy and procedures should take this into account, assessing individuals on how ready they feel and offering them tailored support for them and any accompanying family members. This can include anything from moving plans, language and cultural training, or pre-assignment visits to their new international location.
With Gerson Relocation, we cover all this and more. Our Relocation Management Services include a dedicated global mobility advisor who can provide support with required documentation, understanding relocation rights for employees, or other more practical elements of employee relocation.
2. Consider Global Coordination
When undertaking a relocation, employees need support at every step of the way. This does not just include transport to or from an international location. Corporate partners should be on hand to ensure they are settled and happy at their destination for your employee relocation process to be a success. Your company will, therefore, likely have a comprehensive network of overseas and international contacts as part of your employee relocation process.
As part of your employee relocation management, you should have a way of keeping track of these partners, perhaps using appropriate global mobility software for your business. Coordinating connections across the globe will help your programme be as seamless as possible, and having a single point of coordination will only make this easier.
Choosing global mobility software can be a minefield. Find the top global mobility solutions to streamline your programme in our blog.
3. Focus on Ease of Communication
Before your employees depart on their assignments, they should feel confident that they know how, when, and why to contact the business in their new location. There should be clear procedures for managing expenses, asking questions, and navigating problems. Whether this is simply a set-out procedure or if this is incorporated into any global mobility software your business might have, employees should be well aware and well accustomed to the process before they move. This will make it a streamlined process for both them and your HR or Global Mobility teams to get on with the everyday work of the business.
What are Employee Relocation Services?
In simple terms, relocation services deal with the relocation of employees from one place to another. This can cover parts or the entirety of the process, depending on how involved your mobility teams want to be and are equipped to be. Internal departments often outsource to companies like ours to deal with the complexities of moving large numbers of employees or the intricacies of overseas relocations.
Ready to get started? Get a quote with Gerson Relocation to see how our employee relocation services could help you today so you can focus on the most important things.
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