Once you identify a candidate who is willing to relocate, the real work begins. There are two sides to every relocation: the departure side and the destination side. While departure benefits, such as home sales and lease breaks are important, you can’t forget about the destination services your employee will require for a successful relocation. Ensuring that your employee is completely settled into the new location means you will have a happier, better adjusted employee.

Every move has its challenges, regardless if the move is U.S. domestic or overseas. Providing your employee with destination services goes a long way toward helping them to succeed, along with reducing any mobility risk factors. Because of this, many companies turn to a relocation management company, or RMC, to ensure all the pieces are in place.

Area Orientation

Employees need to be able to familiarize themselves with the new location, sometimes before they even make the decision to relocate. This allows both you and the transferring employee the opportunity to make sure its the right fit.

The great way to ensure it’s a good match is to offer an area orientation. This entails educating employees about their new surroundings and helping them to figure out where they want to live in their new city. One option is to include setting them up with a guided tour of the city, so they can see local neighborhoods firsthand. Other details to include in your area orientation are the cost of living in the different areas of the city, availability of health care facilities, school choices, local shopping destinations, and any other details that are of importance to the relocation candidate or their family.

Spousal Assistance

One of the primary reasons an employee will turn down a relocation assignment or end up in a failed situation is because their spouse was not given enough support. Helping your employee’s spouse find new employment, build a résumé, network in the new location, learn a new language, or adapt to a new culture, can make all the difference for your transferring employee and their family. This will also help you avoid employees turning down a relocation and avoid losing out on great talent.

In WHR’s 2018 Culture + Mobility Benchmark report, we found that only 39% of companies offer spousal assistance to their international population. Because relocating internationally adds an additional level of stress for the employee’s family, we believe incorporating this benefit will go a long way in helping you secure the right person for the available role.

Home Finding

After your employee learns a little more about the city, they can start the home search. It can be difficult to make the transition to a new city. Working closely with local agents who know the ins and outs of the city makes the process simpler and less stressful for the employee. Your RMC should be equipped to help connect your employees with qualified local real estate agents to help them find the home of their dreams, be it an apartment to rent or a new home to buy.

Mortgage Programs

If your employee is purchasing, they’ll need to arrange financing. Your RMC should be able to help connect your employees with a mortgage program. The employee should never feel obligated to use any referred mortgage providers, but it is an option many find beneficial because the mortgage provider will have a complete understanding of the relocation process.

Destination Closing Costs

In order to support relocating employees in their new location, companies consistently offer a reimbursement of destination closing costs. Closing costs can be quite pricey. And if the employee wasn’t anticipating a relocation, they may not have the funds to cover these fees on their own.

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Incent to Rent

While not a common benefit, an incent to rent program offers you the ability to save significantly on future relocations. The incent to rent benefit gives current homeowners a bonus if they decide to rent in the new location instead of purchase. This is commonly offered to employees who relocate frequently and allows the company to avoid paying closing costs on the new home purchase and any future homesale costs.

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Temporary Housing

Sometimes housing can’t be secured at the time the employee needs to report for their new position. In the event that this happens, they will need help coordinating temporary housing.  

Most companies offer temporary housing as a benefit to their relocating employee population. While it may be costly, and isn’t ideal for the employee, it does help them feel less stressed and be more productive in the new location making it an integral part of any great destination services paxkage.

In order control cost, many companies choose to cap this benefit either monetarily or by timeframe. For this very reason, it is essential that your RMC have a strong network of corporate housing providers. Using both local and national companies will ensure that you are able to offer a unit that meets all your employee’s housing needs. 

Settling-In Services

When making a major move, there are many details to consider. When you look to an RMC to handle the arrangements, you can be assured that your employee has everything that they need upon arrival in their new location. For instance, your employees may need help setting up utilities, banking, or getting a new driver’s license. Other assistance given can include help in finding schools, churches, or any other details that they need to get settled in.