HRO Today Baker's Best 2016 - 44

TOP RELOCATION PROVIDERS
describes the best location for a scenic hike. "
Most relocation management firms have a technology
platform that integrates with their respective services
providers. Using an employee portal, the new hire or
transferee can manage the entire relocation process
in real time to ensure that everything is going as
planned. This is especially important when the move is
international, as it will demand even closer alignment
and collaboration among the various providers.
Equally important in international relocations is
cultural training for the family before they arrive. " We
do a fair amount of destination counseling to help
families understand from a cultural perspective what
to expect, " says Rabasca from MSI. " The more they
know, the softer the landing. "
Graebel offers similar consultations in addition to
workshops and online tools focused on the family expatriate
experience. The goal is to help the transferee's
family acclimate more quickly to cultural differences,
although this is not a once and done process. " New
schools, new friends, [and] new foods and languages
can be daunting, and training can only go so far, "
acknowledges Tim O'Shea, Graebel's vice president of
consulting services. " It's key for companies to look at
the emotions of a move as a constant-the emotional
ups and downs that will happen over the course of the
entire assignment and not just in the first month. "
Once More, With Feeling
Once a new hire makes the move to a new location, a
sophisticated relocation management firm will not close
the book on the employee. Rather, they will check in
frequently with the transferee and his or her family to
gauge their comfort level with the new experiences in
the host country. " Keeping the lines of communication
open can go a long way to help families not only adjust,
but also to thrive, " O'Shea says.
One mistake is to treat a new hire right out of college
the same as one with 20 years experience. Young
people have little experience navigating the shoals
of the banking and real estate markets, McCain from
Paragon points out. " They've lived in a rental with two
roommates in college paying cash for everything, " he
says.
Many college graduates may not have credit cards and
are likely to be low on money. " You can't expect them
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BAKER'S BEST 2016 - www.hrotoday.com
to wait for $5,000 to pay the moving company-that's
a big deal, " says McCain. " You need to ensure their
financial concerns are alleviated, but you won't know
what [the concerns] are unless you ask them. "
Not all college graduates fit this paradigm from a
relocation standpoint. " Some young people are great
at doing stuff on their own, and for them it is really
difficult to relinquish control; others are used to
having things done for them their whole lives and may
lack the maturity to make important life decisions, "
says Freeman from MoveCenter. " We work hard to
understand these differences. "
The other relocation management firms also are
empathetic when it comes to the emotions that are
involved in a new hire's relocation. For example, the
international assignment managers at MSI are all
ex-patriates. " They understand the emotional highs
and lows because they've all been there themselves, "
Rabasca says.
Without this high level of care for the transferee,
the relocation experience can devolve into employee
disengagement and result in unproductive behaviors.
" This is all about peace of mind, " says Rabasca.
" Whether you're going on assignment overseas or to
Pittsburgh, you want to know what to expect and how
to prepare. You want to know your family will be safe,
the kids will be enrolled at fine schools, and the spouse
will be happy in a new job. You also want to know that
your own career will thrive-that the difficult decision
to relocate will be worth it in the long run. "
The best means of acquiring this assurance is to hire a
relocation management firm with a culture of empathy
that extends throughout its supplier network. This
is the case at Graebel. " Each partner must have the
same dedication and heightened interest of care and
attention to the family's unique needs, " says Valdez.
O'Shea echoes the statement and notes how the firm
rates success. " [We've done our job well] if a relocating
new employee, when asked a year afterwards whether
if he or she would move again or recommend it to
someone else, answers, `I'd definitely do it again and
recommend you do it,' " he says. " You only earn these
votes of confidence by making sure to listen for signs
of avoidable strife and removing the obstacles. "
Once removed, the relocation is a bon voyage for all.
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HRO Today Baker's Best 2016

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