That moment when you announce to your employees that the company is asking them to relocate to a new city holds a mix of excitement, dread, and an immediate flurry of logistical considerations. As your employees prepare for the transition, you want to ensure that they are well taken care of. Moving is stressful regardless of the particulars so it is important that the company leadership takes initiative to help make corporate relocation easier on the employees’ and with as little stress as possible. This will result in happier employees, a more seamless workflow transition, and a healthier bottom line.
So here are five tips to help you ensure that your staff has a smooth, stress-free move so everyone can get back to work without a hiccup.
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Prepare your employees for their new city
Make it as simple as possible for your employees to find their way by providing them with a primer on their new city: what are the best neighborhoods for families, or for young professionals? What is the climate like? Even better: send them on a pilot trip to see the new city, new office, and new neighborhoods. Give them an opportunity to get the vibe for their future location and get excited about what the city has to offer
Bonus: get your legal team or HR to put together a brief on what elements of the move are tax-deductible. It’s best to provide this information well ahead of time so employees can start keeping track of receipts and expenses as they prepare to relocate
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Be clear and transparent about your relocation policy and/or package
How do you plan to compensate your employees for relocation? Are you planning to cover part or all of the costs? Will you assist the employee in finding new housing? Building a strong work environment for your employees requires building trust through open communication. If the relocation is short-term, be as clear as possible about your expectations for the employee’s future. Similarly, provide the employee space to ask questions about the move — they may have concerns that you can help to alleviate, making everyone feel more comfortable and confident about the transfer.
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Help your employees take care of the essentials ahead of time
To make the move even easier on your staff and enable them to focus their attention on keeping the business flowing smoothly, your HR team can provide assistance on the more tedious tasks like setting up bank accounts and transferring health insurance. They can also help by gathering information on requirements like car registrations, driver’s license changes, and registering the kids for school. If there is public transit available, consider purchasing passes for your employees to help them more easily get around their new city. These are the tasks that make moving a headache, so the more you can step in and gather resources, the better they can ease into the move.
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Offer assistance in finding temporary housing
Unless housing is a part of your relocation package, help your employees identify options for temporary housing when they arrive. That may mean assisting them in finding a discount at a long-term hotel suite, or these days Airbnb provides a lot of different options for renting entire furnished houses. You could either arrange the temporary housing or provide employees with a list of options for them to explore. Either way, don’t leave your employees floundering to find a landing pad for their relocation! They have enough to worry about.
If your employees have children, help them find schooling options. If the children will be matriculating mid-year, appoint someone to reach out to the school districts to find out what sorts of information the previous school will need to provide, and what the family will need to know to start school smoothly.
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Hire a reputable moving company
No matter how much effort you put into other logistics, at the end of the day, a professional and reputable moving company will put everyone at ease. On the corporate relocation side, your employees will feel confident that their equipment and files will arrive in an organized manner, leaving them energy to focus on packing and sorting their personal belongings. And if it is a part of your relocation package for employees to book a moving company for their personal belongings, you can rest assured that your employee’s possessions will arrive on time, undamaged, with a professional crew ready to help unload.
Talk about a stress reduction program that your employees can appreciate!
