News Archives

Corporate Culture & Your Relocation Program

by WHR Global | Nov 27, 2018 | News

Corporate Culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and its management interact and handle business. Corporate culture is often implied, rather than expressed or defined, and it is something that develops organically over time. A company’s culture reveal itself in a variety of ways from dress code to the treatment of clients.

We’ve seen the results when relocation policies and programs match corporate culture and wanted to see how other companies stack up. That’s why we surveyed some of the largest and most successful companies around the world to participate in the 2018 Mobility + Culture benchmark study. Our unique Culture Guide analyzes each respondent’s cultural values through eight A/B style questions.

**Do you prefer your partners to be High Tech or High Touch?**

Is your company’s primary focus on technological advances or on relationship building? Of companies surveyed, 85% prefer to partner with high-touch companies. At WHR Group, we understand that relocating can be stressful on the transferee and their family. We heavily rely on the relationships that we build with our clients and their employees so that we can assist and help them to move forward in the best way possible.

While relationships and person-to-person communication is large component to how WHR handles relocation, technology is the tool that allows us to bring every factor included in the relocation to one destination. Our business is based on a “high-tech, human-touch” model, where we blend our intelligent, proprietary relocation technology with a dedicated team of real estate licensed relocation experts.

**Do you primarily focus on budget or employee satisfaction?**

When asking companies if they are primarily focused on budget or employee satisfaction, only 13% reported that there is more concern about budget. It’s clear that surveyed companies also understand the stressful nature of relocation and have placed their importance on employee satisfaction in their programs.

At WHR, we also value our employees. This is realized through our 5-time award winning culture in the Top Workplaces program by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. By hiring based off of WHR’s core values, we are able to guarantee the best service you will ever experience, regardless of the industry. Our inherently empathetic employees create high-touch relationships with transferring employees, creating a stress-free relocation experience.

**Is your program designed to be proactive or reactive?**

Being a “proactive” company means that the corporation actively plans ahead, and they are preparing for the needs of their employees. Of companies surveyed, 67% of them related to this culture. At WHR Group, one of our core values is to be proactive, and this is executed every day. When a transferee’s file is initiated, a call is made within 24-hours to introduce the Counseling team, and to explain what the employee can expect throughout the life cycle of the relocation. The initial call is a critical time to reveal any potential issues, set expectations, and lay the foundation for a smooth relocation.

At WHR Group, we place the utmost importance on culture as it relates to your relocation or mobility programs. We believe this goes hand in hand with our dedication to advancing lives forward.

See how WHR Group has became a leader in the global mobility industry with these 6 policies.

Values in Action

by WHR Global | Nov 19, 2018 | News

Hard work, empathy, proactiveness, and trust are more than descriptive words at WHR Group. They are the core values in which business is ran. When evaluating candidates, WHR uses the Culture Index™ to identify and measure character traits. We believe that these words shouldn’t only apply in the office, but they should be entwined in WHR employee’s everyday lives.

Corporate responsibility is more than a catch phrase at WHR Group and, to us, the time to give back isn’t inclusive to just one season. Being proactive in giving back is a task that should be executed 365 days a year.

Placing Trust with Mayo Clinic

Founder and CEO of WHR, Roger Thrun, has been diagnosed with cancer four times over the past eleven years. Because of this, the plight of pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancers has been deeply felt within the organization that he founded. Dr. Mark Truty, a surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus, has been there for practically every step of Roger’s journey. After receiving the treatment first-hand, Roger recognized the amazing strides that Dr. Truty and his team have made. Learning that 350 (and counting) patients have been directly impacted by the research and tools provided by Dr. Truty’s lab, Roger realized the demand to help keep the lab alive through ongoing contributions.

Practicing Empathy at the Women’s Center

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in four women in America have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime and 91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female. Domestic Violence is a silent crime that often goes un-talked about and may be closer than most think. The Women’s Center of Waukesha is an independent, non-profit human service agency founded in 1977, whose mission is to provide safety, shelter, and support to empower all impacted by domestic abuse, sexual violence, child abuse, and trafficking. The Center is a necessity to the community that is actively helping those escape from toxic relationships and helping them to move forward to better future. While it’s next to impossible to imagine what victims go through, we do our best to support the services and tools that have the potential to help victims push forward. In addition to our regular giving, this year WHR will donate gifts to the adults, teens, and children served by the Center for under the holiday tree. We hope to spread the warmth and joy of the holiday season to those who often face uncertainty.

Demonstrating Hard Work at St. Marcus Lutheran School

In Milwaukee, 80% of students in 96 schools come from a low-income home. These schools serve approximately 30,000 students and among them is St. Marcus Lutheran School. In the past, St. Marcus has seen large downfall and low enrollment rates – there were just 54 students in 1998. In 2002, Principal Kole Knueppel called friend Henry Tyson with the hope that we would be the Vice Principal at St. Marcus. Tyson has a strong background in philanthropy work and has a passion for helping those around him. Being that St. Marcus was an 80/80 school with less than 100 students, Tyson saw this as a ground-floor opportunity to help change lives. Today, there are over 1,000 students with two campuses hosting K3-8th grade students, with the goal of preparing students for high school while molding leaders for the community. The partnership between St. Marcus Lutheran School and WHR Group is young and there is a lot of excitement to see both the relationship and the school grow.

While these three causes may differ greatly, they also have one thing in common: there is a witnessable and direct impact made with donations and other contributions. WHR knows exactly where money is going and that a difference is being made. We are proud to support these and many other organizations.

We carry our mission and values with us in and out of the office. Take a look at what is important to us.

5 Steps to Improve Employee Satisfaction with Corporate Housing

by WHR Global | Nov 1, 2018 | News

We have yet to relocate an employee who is excited about moving into temporary housing. Let’s face it, they want to be in their own homes, in their own beds, surrounded by their own belongings. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way. Things come up throughout the relocation – closings get delayed or employees can’t find new homes in the allotted timeframes. And in many cases, you need your employee to start in the new location as soon as possible.

Either way, temporary or short-term housing is often necessary for relocating employees. Moving into corporate housing is not an ideal situation; however, this benefit can greatly affect the overall satisfaction and happiness of your relocating employees. Just knowing the benefit is available should significantly reduce employee stress levels.

Ideally, we’d be able to time the relocation perfectly without the need to use temporary housing. And even though this doesn’t happen every time, it’s important to have a plan in place so we can make your employees’ relocations as smooth and stress-free as possible.

Step 1: Make temporary housing part of your relocation policy

Temporary housing comprised 67% of all exceptions reported in our 2018 Mobility + Culture Benchmark Report. That’s a lot of employees requiring temporary lodging or extending stays due to unforeseen circumstances. This tells us that it’s a benefit not to be excluded lightly, especially if employee satisfaction is one of your top priorities.

Adding this benefit to your relocation policy offers you and the employee numerous benefits. The employee can use their time in temporary housing to become acquainted with their new location and avoid the pitfalls of moving into an area they don’t like. Your employee also benefits from not having to worry about any home-selling or purchasing delays, as they will have somewhere to go if something should temporarily fall through.

Your company will also reap the rewards of including temporary housing in your policies. Exception reviews and management take a lot of time – time that you could spend doing more important things. Additionally, you’ll be able to control cost by capping the temporary housing benefit and/or limiting timeframes based on your relocating employee’s needs.

Step 2: Learn about your employee’s needs

Speaking of employee needs, it’s important to remember that every relocation is different. Employees may have families, pets, disabilities, and/or lifestyles that require the use of specific corporate housing units. Before choosing a unit on your employee’s behalf, it’s imperative that their needs are learned. This process should be managed by your Relocation Management Company (RMC) through the employees’ dedicated Relocation Counselor. Part of the Counselors’ job is to learn what the relocating employee will need out of their corporate housing.

Do they have children?

Does the employee need to live within a certain school district for their children?

How many bedrooms are required for the family?

Do they have pets? If so, how many?

How many cars will need parking permits?

Does the unit need to be handicap accessible?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when drilling down into what your employees need. At a bare minimum, the needs assessments ought to include considerations for reliable transportation, differences in family dynamics (for example, a two-child household versus a five-child household), and distance from the office. Accounting for these three basic needs goes a long way to ensure that employees are happier and more successful in their new roles.

Step 3: Location, location, location

Location is another huge consideration when selecting temporary housing options for your employees. No one wants to commute an hour and a half to work every day. Most employees like to live as close to their new office location as possible; however, the reality is that there are plenty of situations when it’s too expensive or just doesn’t align with their lifestyle.

The cost of housing is most problematic when deciding which location works best. It is best practice to cap temporary housing benefits, so a prime housing location close to the office may not suffice. It’s important to make sure your employees understand how close their temporary home will be to the office. If being closer to the office is important to them, explain that they may have to forgo included amenities.

Step 4: Don’t forget the amenities!

You want your employees to feel as much at home as possible while in temporary housing. After all, the less stress they experience at home, the less stress they’ll carry with them to work.

While learning about your employee’s needs, your RMC should also learn about your employee’s goals and aspirations. What will make them feel most at home?

Do they want an on-site gym?

How about a dog park within walking distance?

Should the unit be close to available public transportation?

Learning just a few of the little details about the relocating employee will greatly impact their satisfaction with their corporate housing.

And it’s not just amenities for the actual relocating employee that we discuss. The needs and desires of their family must be considered as well.

Do they need to be close to a daycare center?

Would they like to live close to a public park?

What are the area schools like?

Step 5: Make use of your RMC’s network

After learning the full picture of your employee’s needs and wants, it’s time to select a temporary housing provider. If your RMC doesn’t offer a vast network of suppliers, they probably won’t be able to meet all of your employees’ desires when it comes to temporary housing.

An RMC should fully vet and offer multiple choices for your relocating employees. That’s why we focus heavily on vetting local corporate housing options. We want to help your employees and their families feel at home in their new location. By offering more options, we are also able to provide more cost-effective solutions. At the end of the day, your employees should be able to choose the temporary housing unit that best matches their budget with their needs and desires.

U.S. Domestic Policy Designer

For companies who are looking to revamp their current policies, or build a new one, this designer builds a custom policy with answering just a handful of questions.

5 Ways to Improve Your Relocation Exception Management Process

by WHR Global | Oct 25, 2018 | News

Sometimes, no matter how detailed and inclusive your employee relocation management policies are, you run into exceptions or special requests from your employees. This might include wanting to bring children on house-hunting trips, needing an additional month of temporary housing, moving a pet, or asking for an extension on household goods storage. Relocation packages and other moving benefits can vary greatly.

Unique circumstances arise before and during the relocation process. It’s inevitable that relocation support will be needed. That’s why most companies allow for exceptions to their policies.

Our 2018 Mobility + Culture Benchmark Study discovered that only 28% of companies consider themselves as having flexible, easily adapting relocation packages. The remaining 72% tend to stick closely to their outlined programs. Even though most companies are consistent with their relocation programs, 64% said they were more likely to make exceptions to their policies for relocating employees.

Exception management is a crucial component of any company’s relocation program. Policies are created to consider the majority of relocating employees’ needs; however, no two relocations are ever the same.

1. Managing expectations minimizes exceptions

Before hiring a new employee or transferring an existing one, it’s important to thoroughly review and understand expectations between you, your relocation management company (RMC), and your employee. Taking a proactive approach to your employees’ unique needs and concerns is the most effective way you can manage exceptions. Your RMC should also take ample time to review the applicable policy with the transferring employee so that their expectations align with your program’s parameters. Time spent managing expectations is time well spent as it will result in fewer policy exceptions. Important considerations would be relocation support, moving benefits, and potential relocation reimbursement.

2. Be realistic, knowledgeable, and flexible

Knowledge is everything in the relocation process. In the Mobility + Culture survey, we asked respondents to provide the most common exceptions they were making. Here’s what we found:

%

Temporary Housing

%

Benefit/Time Frame Extension

%

Additional Household Goods Services

%

Household Goods Storage

%

Additional Allowances

Simply knowing the most common relocation exceptions can help prepare you for future relocations. You’ll be more realistic when it comes to what you approve, and more flexible in what you offer.

3. Preparing for unforeseen relocation events

No one can predict all possible outcomes of a transfer. What if the old homeowners are not able to close on their new house as quickly as anticipated? What if household goods are delayed for months by customs? Most employee transfer policies do not cover such instances because they occur so rarely.

However, on the off chance that something unforeseen does happen, your RMC must be able to quickly adapt and manage the situation. A closing delay could mean additional temporary housing and additional temporary housing could mean additional household goods storage. The goal of relocation exception management is to stay proactive and anticipate the employee’s needs before they even know what they are themselves. Be sure to communicate with your RMC about some of these possible relocation contingencies and how they are managed.

4. Tracking and reporting

Only 64% of companies that make exceptions to their policies utilize technology for tracking. The ability to track and report exceptions, including ones approved prior to the transfer, provides your company with a baseline of realistic expense expectations. This also allows you to estimate the cost of future relocation exception requests and make policy changes as a result.

5. Make relocation exception policy improvements

We believe (and have seen through our own work) that keeping a close eye on relocation package exception trends within your program may allow opportunities for policy revisions, thus saving you the time-consuming task of processing the same exception multiple times. However, we found that only 62% of companies make changes to their moving package policies based on exceptions. Policy recommendations and improvements should be ongoing and provided by your relocation company. This will ultimately help you control costs and attract and retain your best employees.

The WHR Intern Experience: Part Two

by WHR Global | Oct 9, 2018 | News

Editor’s Note: We asked two of our 2018 summer interns, Alexis Harris and Joe Plantier, to write about their experience and work at WHR Group.

After interning at WHR Group Inc. this past summer, I can certainly see why this company is considered a leading employee relocation company and has been voted a Top Workplace in Milwaukee for five consecutive years. The paternalistic culture provided by WHR has surely impacted me in my short time there.

First Couple Days

Looking back at my first day at WHR, I had very little idea what employee relocation means. After a thorough week of training, starting from the ground up, I now have a much greater understanding of the global mobility world.

The training consisted of a few pieces:

1. The Employee Handbook

The first piece was going through the employee handbook with our Human Resource Manager, Janessa Penneau. I felt this training was necessary and extremely helpful because it provided insight on how WHR became the extremely successful company it is today. In addition, by learning more about the background of WHR, I was able to connect with the core values on both a personal and professional level.

2. “Relo 101”

The second major piece of training was called “Relo 101.” This training is set up to give new staff members a rundown of the processes regarding employee relocation. Relocation is a very complex process, so this was a lot to take in all at once. However, Sean Erner, the Inside Sales Supervisor, did a great job turning complex terms into simple concepts for the new hires, including myself. “Relo 101” touched on a variety of topics within the relocation process, some topics that were covered included inspections, listings, appraisals, buyouts, household good services, and much more.

The SHRM Conference

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) annually hosts the largest human resources conference in the United States, with upwards of 16,000 people attending the latest conference at McCormick Place in Chicago. WHR’s sales team was amongst the exhibitors and they did a great job establishing connections and creating relationships over the course of the conference. They were able to bring back hundreds of new leads for myself and the other summer intern, Alexis Harris, to pursue over the next few weeks.

Alexis and I developed two unique campaigns to follow-up with the new leads from SHRM. Instead of using the classic sales technique of emailing each lead, we chose to make our first contact using personalized video messaging. The video software we used specializes in short videos that are meant to stand out as a new way to follow-up with leads on a more personal level. With the increase in automation, less companies are choosing to use truly personalized messaging, which is a shame because the response rate we received on these videos was truly astonishing. The leads who were sent these personalized videos seemed to really appreciate the classic style of face to face communication.

The next form of communication we tried was a calling campaign where we reached out to the leads over the phone. This campaign was very successful right off the bat. WHR is unique because we have programs specifically designed for companies of all sizes.

The last form of communication we used to follow-up with leads from the SHRM conference was in an email campaign. Alexis and I spent a few days developing an enticing series of emails with the goal of booking a meeting. We created a total of seven emails that were sent out over the course of a few weeks.

Moving Forward

I feel I’ve taken full advantage of all the opportunities that WHR has provided me. WHR has also done a great job with providing the necessary information/instruction that has allowed me to grow as an individual and as a professional in the workplace.

I would recommend this internship to any college student seeking summer employment!

Joe Plantier

Business Analyst Intern

Joe interned with WHR Group during the summer of 2018. He is currently pursuing a degree in Finance at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and expects to graduate in 2020.

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3 Truths About Outsourcing Your Relocation Program

by WHR Global | Oct 3, 2018 | News

As you know, there’s a lot that goes into relocating an employee – you have to coordinate the move, administer expenses, review and approve exceptions, audit invoices, and manage third-party suppliers. You have to stay up-to-date on real estate market trends, immigration laws, and tax reforms. And all the while, you are responsible for truly guiding your employees and their families through the entire relocation process.

It’s a lot. We get it.

We have no doubts that you can handle the relocation process on your own, but you don’t have to. The relocation industry exists to help you provide your relocating employees and their families with the best – the best service, the best suppliers, and the best processes.

Partnering with a relocation management company (RMC) not only helps you get your best and brightest talent to wherever they need to be, it also:

Reduces Risk

You aren’t confined to just one moving company, temporary housing provider, or realtor because any RMC worth its salt will have a certified network of global suppliers available to you. No more online searches for untrustworthy companies, just quality vendors determined to provide you with fantastic service and competitive rates.

Controls Cost

There’s a common misconception that hiring an RMC will cost a significant amount more than running your program in-house. However, the reality is, RMCs are constantly moving high volumes of transferring employees for multiple clients every year. This means they are building strong relationships with suppliers, receiving volume discounts that don’t change, even during peak season. You can also be assured your policies are reviewed regularly to avoid unnecessary dollars spent.

Saves Time

In-house relocation programs tend to rely on multiple departments – accounting, payroll, recruiting, HR – all requiring a say in how the relocation is managed. In most cases, relocation isn’t their primary job function, and when this happens, oversights can occur, resulting in unforeseen delays. Overpayments, billing errors, and invoicing mistakes can all take additional time to sort out – time your employees just don’t have.

Managing a relocation program is difficult enough without also having to review another department’s involvement. RMCs do one thing and one thing only: manage relocations. This means they can anticipate your employees needs before they even know what they are themselves. Your employees will experience more consistency in their relocation packages and you’ll enjoy having a simplified process.

At the end of the day, we all want the same thing – happy, stress-free, productive employees that are ready to get to work in the new location. And to get there, we need to make sure they get the white-glove service they deserve. Let’s face it, relocation is one of the most stressful events your employees and their families will ever experience. We can’t let them down.