When you’ve been in the relocation business for more than two decades, you learn that you need to be a little like Goldilocks when incorporating technology into a relocation program. Too little technology, and your clients struggle with the logistics of moving their employees. Too much technology, and they end up wasting time figuring out how to make it work – and start to feel like they aren’t a priority.

We believe that when it comes to something as important and ultimately as personal as relocating, technology should support the relationship, not replace the relationship. All of us at the WHR Group are committed to saving our clients time, lowering their costs, and increasing their happiness – and our technology plays a big part in accomplishing these goals. That’s why we built our technology in-house, to adhere to the unique needs of our clients.

Building the Program Within the Technology

When bringing technology into a relocation program, the worst thing you can do is try to fit the technology into the program. You end up with limited functionality, customization, and having to settle for half-measures and workarounds. Or, worse, you have to try to adjust your internal processes to accommodate the limitations of the tech.

We take a different approach. During implementation, we talk with you about every last detail of your program and policies; including best practices, benefit recommendations, and your preferences in how you want to run and analyze your program. We then build all of these details directly into the technology, so that when you and your relocating employee go to use it, it’s already working within the parameters of your exact policy.

For example, consider the specific timing requirements for a relocation. For a relocation to be time-efficient and cost-effective, the timing of the individual stages – from the sale of a residence to property storage to moving day – has to be precise (if moving day is a Wednesday, you can’t have the trucks show up on Tuesday or, worse, on Friday). The challenge lies in controlling for the myriad policy possibilities: Every policy is different in terms of timing, and an out-of-the-box solution won’t be able to address your policy’s exact needs. The answer lies in crafting a client-focused and customizable solution: We build technology around your specific relocation program details, taking into account the timing details of the benefits you select and creating a timeline accordingly. By creating proprietary tech that responds to your specific needs, our technology serves as an extension of our personal client relationships.

Another example might revolve around relocation data reporting. Let’s say you decide you want your data split out by cost centers instead of location. In our initial discussion, we make sure we understand exactly how your reporting data should be formatted and then set up the tech accordingly. That way you’re not wasting time trying to reformat the data or adjust your own internal systems to accommodate us.

And these aren’t the only ways our technology can facilitate both the relocation and your needs:

• Project management. The predictive workflow system is completely customizable, tracking over 3,000 data points and 300 critical events in the relocation process
• Data security and compliance. Our implementation of the over 260 controls outlined by NIST SP 800-53 proves our dedication to data security and compliance.
• Expense management. Many companies allow you to submit expenses through a mobile app. But far fewer take the important next step: comparing a submitted receipt against the predetermined policy benefit and automatically alerting a relocation counselor if there’s a misunderstanding.
• Invoicing. Our program automatically submits invoices on your preferred schedule and in a way that works with your internal systems (down to the order of columns within Microsoft Excel), helping to increase accuracy and efficiency.

Ultimately, technology is an extension of the company that uses it. At the WHR Group, we take a holistic, personal approach to our client relationships. Whether it’s through our two-person counseling teams, our no-voicemail policy, or our commitment to prompt issue resolution – we make sure you can feel care and support through every interaction.

Want to take that technology for a spin? Map out how much a relocation might cost with our free Domestic Relocation Cost Estimator, or explore what your company’s relocation policy might look like through our free Domestic Relocation Policy Designer.

If you were to consider your organization’s top priorities, what would they be? Chances are, recruiting talented workers is at the top of your list. And for good reason – for most companies, hiring and keeping the best people is the surest way to achieve their organizational goals and future growth.

The question is: How do you go about it?

The trick is providing benefits that today’s employees want. The same Metlife survey found that benefits were a key driver of happiness at work – so long as they were customized to meet employee needs. They recommend employers offer a benefits program where “employees have the ability to build packages that are personalized to their individual needs and that can be changed as their needs evolve.”

Our Global Mobility and Cultural Benchmarks study found that one area where a more flexible and customized approach could pay significant dividends in recruiting and retention is in your relocation program. We learned that while 87% of survey respondents believe their relocation program is focused on employee satisfaction, only 28% would describe their programs as flexible (“easily adapting to needs”). While there are many reasons to consider consistency over flexibility, including ease of administration and cost stability, giving employees more choice in their relocation benefits can go a long way toward happier and more engaged employees.

Here are some thoughts on creating a more flexible relocation program:

Know your options.

There’s a lot more to relocating than calling a moving van. From house hunting and helping with renter and mortgage agreements, to relocating the beloved family pet, you have a vast array of options to build out a comprehensive relocation program. And we’ve learned relevant choices are especially important if you’re working with a strict budget.

Don’t be afraid to ask.

According to the Willis Towers Watson survey mentioned above, 97% of employees prefer to choose their own benefits instead of having their employer choose for them. Rather than assuming which benefits to provide, why not survey your relevant employees and ask? The answers might surprise you, especially if you have a younger or international workforce.

Learn from the data.

Take a closer look at your past relocations, both recently and over time. Do you see any developing trends? Which benefits are your employees choosing most? Of the ones they’re not choosing, is it because the benefit doesn’t fit their needs or because they don’t understand the offering? Are there issues that keep coming up across different relocations that you can head off at the pass?

Be aware of your competition.

Just like you do with your company’s main area of focus, it’s good to know what your competitors are up to. By getting a handle on what others in your industry are offering, you can establish where the guiderails are – and where you can add can add extra value. If you know both what your competitors are offering and what your employees most want through internal surveys, you can really home in on creating a relocation program that provides maximum value.

To get the most value for your relocation program, your employees need to know what it is and how they can use it. Not only will more people take advantage of your relocation benefits, but even those who don’t will understand the investment your organization is making in their well-being. Be sure your recruiters can also speak to the value of your program.

The most important point about evaluating any benefit plan – relocation or otherwise – is that your people are your most important asset. With any benefit decision you make, make sure your employees and their families are treated with empathy and responsiveness. That doesn’t mean blowing a hole in your company’s budget. Just make sure that your relocation benefits package choices are all focused on the same thing – helping your employees put their families in the best position for success.

If you’re thinking of retooling your company’s relocation program, we have some free tools to get you started, from estimating relocation costs to building a benefits-focused program. And if you have any questions along the way, feel free to reach out to us because we’d be happy to help.

Technology is a wonderful thing. It’s why we have smart watches and DVRs, and how we’re able to watch “Baby Shark” videos over and over again on our portable phones and tablets.

However, there are limits to how far technology can take you. If you take away the human element – things like judgment, connection, and empathy – technology will let you down. Just ask this driver, who followed her car’s GPS instructions and drove right into Lake Huron.

There’s a place for technological advancement, but these advances typically work best when they make human interactions and relationships easier. You can see this dynamic play out again and again in many areas of our lives, and relocating is no exception.

Relocating an employee can be complicated: You frequently have several moving parts in operation at the same time, and an unexpected development in one area of the transition could impact the timing (and expense) of others down the line. At the same time, your employee is personally experiencing the move thinking not only about the logistics and the transition, but also worrying about how well their family is going to fit into a new life in unfamiliar surroundings – or if their decision to relocate was a mistake. Making every move as clean and simple as possible while putting your employees’ mind at ease is paramount to the success of any relocation effort.

Solving for these goals efficiently and painlessly requires digital tools that can collect, analyze, and present information quickly all over the globe. That’s why we’ve built our technology from the ground up to make sense for you as the program administrator so that your most important assets—your employees—are taken care of. This includes our comprehensive Employee Relocation Toolbox, which we designed to help you stay ahead of the game and know what’s coming next as it relates to creating the best relocation programs for your organization. From our Policy Designer and RFP Generator, to our Cost Estimator and Benchmark Comparison Tool, we’ve got you covered.

But as important as technology is in our industry, it only works if it supports the values we know are paramount to your success: empathy, proactiveness, and trustworthiness. Our experience has shown that when you combine high-tech with high-touch, everyone wins. For example:

• We make sure you and your employees have customized, secure access to a host of relocation features. You’ll get immediate access to invoice history, real-time reporting, employee satisfaction ratings, and authorizations by date and policy type. Your employees will be able to log-in to their customized client portal to check on the status of their benefits and everything related to their move.
• Relocating employees have mobile-friendly access to an online portal so they can review their relocation calendar, submit receipts, and track all assigned services and tasks. We also provide first-call resolution and are honored to have a 96% resolution rate. Because the last thing anyone wants to do in the middle of a move is field multiple phone calls to get questions answered.
• From an administrative standpoint, when creating a relocation program, it can be hard to benchmark costs when circumstances unique to each relocation can accrue additional expenses. With tools like exception management, we’re able to partner with you to explore alternative solutions, manage costs, and create a more efficient offering.

In our Global Mobility and Culture Benchmark Study, 85% of respondents reported that, as important as it was to have the right technological tools in place, they wanted their relocation company to focus on building relationships and person-to-person interactions. Our company was founded on a promise to provide relocation services with an unmatched level of quality. If you haven’t already, we invite you to learn more about our business philosophy and our commitment to being a true partner for your relocation needs.

Bringing attention to several companies within its partnership network, WHR Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2018 Partner in Quality Awards.

The Partner in Quality Awards are an international evaluation of WHR Group’s Global Partner Network for those partners that demonstrated a commitment to exceed customer satisfaction and service excellence. The Partner in Quality Award requires a minimum of 20 transactions over the course of the year and ranking within the top one percentile of the relocation partner’s service category.

In analyzing WHR Group’s partnership network, it was determined that the below partners consistently demonstrated quality, and WHR Group was pleased with the results generated for its client’s and their top talent. WHR Group works to partner with companies that offer and match the stellar customer service satisfaction scores that WHR Group is known for in the relocation space, and feels it is important to recognize those partners that do exceed expectations.

The slideshow below contains testamonials from a selection of of our winning partners. Check out the text list for links to the webpages of all of our winners.

The 2018 Award Winners are:

• Merchants Moving & Storage Company in Racine, WI
• Ebby Halliday Realtors in Arlington, TX
• Avery-Hess Realtors, Inc. in Woodbridge, VA
• Nomad Temporary Housing in San Diego, CA
• Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty in Scottsdale, AZ
• New World Van Lines in Chicago, IL
• Ward North American in San Antonio, TX
• Paramount Transportation Systems in San Marcos, CA
• ReloTrans in Newburyport, MA
• F.C. Tucker Company, Inc. in Indianapolis, IN
• Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Arizona Properties in Scottsdale, AZ
• Going-There Global Destination Services in Miami, FL
• Moderna Relocation in Pittsburgh, PA

As you may have heard, we have some exciting news! WHR Group has been named a Top Workplace by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the sixth consecutive year. We are humbled and proud to have received the Top Workplaces Award, but for us, it isn’t about winning; it’s about our employees.

What is a Top Workplaces List?

The Top Workplaces lists are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by Energage, LLC (formerly Workplace Dynamics), a leading research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement. Any company can be nominated and it’s free to participate.

Here are just some of the great things our employees had to say about WHR Group in the Top Workplaces 2019 Survey:

“I enjoy the people I work with and find meaning in assisting our clients/transferees through a stressful period.”

“I feel I am always challenged. There is always something new to learn.”

“I like problem solving and helping people.”

“It’s a great place to work. My projects keep me busy all day and I get to do a lot of multitasking which keeps things interesting all the time.”

“I like it here and I think the job is fun and rewarding.”

“[I] believe that my manager takes an active interest in my personal and professional growth.”

The importance of a great workplace culture

Did you know the average person spends roughly 90,000 hours working over their lifetime? When you spend that much time working you want to be happy doing it. But, according to the Gallup World Poll, less than 20% of workers feel actively engaged at their place of employment.

These statistics are the reason why it is so important to focus on culture in the workplace. As a relocation management company, WHR Group helps other organizations find and retain the best talent, which we couldn’t do without finding and retaining the best talent for ourselves. Our goal is for our employees to enjoy coming into the office, to be engaged, and to be proud of the work they do, because, honestly, WHR Group wouldn’t be where we are today without them.

What does this mean for our employees?

You can’t have great culture without great people.

Being placed on a Top Workplaces list for six consecutive years is truly amazing and, really, it’s because WHR Group takes the feedback it receives from its employees and acts on it. WHR Group’s passion has always been Advancing Lives Forward. We embody this not only for our client’s transferees, but for our employees. We look to challenge, engage, and drive our employees to be successful, to grow in their careers, and provide opportunities for them to do so.

What does this mean for you?

We’re all about putting the right people in the right positions and when we hire someone we are looking to see if they’re hardworking, proactive, trustworthy, and most importantly, empathetic. At WHR Group, we believe relocation can be taught, but to be an empathetic person, that is inherent by nature.

“What WHR Group does, is pretty simple, we Advance Lives Forward. That’s what we’re about. Whether it’s our clients, whether it’s our transferees, whether it’s our own employees, whether it’s the vendor partners that we work with, we want to make things better than they were when we got them, and that’s what we feel that we do,” said Paul De Boer, President at WHR Group. “We help people through a very significant, emotional life event – that’s changing the location where they live, where they have roots, where they’re grounded in a community. To be able to take them from that point to a new point, get them settled, get them established, in a very good manner and in a very customer service and customer centric way – that’s what we do and that’s what we deliver on.”

WHR Group emphasizes relationship building, both within our organization and outside of it. Our employees truly are behind our success and our growth year over year. The Top Workplaces award is special to us, but not as special as the employees who made it happen. So, here’s to WHR Group’s employees: Thank you for being fantastic!

The transition from a home country to another country is complex and could dissuade talent from taking expatriate assignments. Housing, cultural acclimatization, family adjustments, and entering a new work environment are just a few of the factors that need to be considered when going international. To counter this, expatriates are offered benefits and assistance to make the experience as smooth as possible. One of these benefits, tax equalization, takes the guesswork out of the change in income and social taxes that come about when an employee moves across a border.

Businesses often struggle to determine how they are going to fill positions when new opportunities arise overseas. Many multinational corporations turn to their proven domestic employees and look to leverage their abilities to develop markets, monetize product offerings, and grow their business overseas. Considering the benefits of tax equalization can help.

What is Tax Equalization?

Tax Equalization is a method of taxation management where the international assignee is expected to remain at the same level. Relative to the taxes they would have had in their home country. In short, the assignee should not receive a tax benefit, nor should they be taxed at a rate that is detrimental.

As an example, expatriates coming from the United States have a unique obligation to fulfill. U.S. citizens are required to file taxes on their global income regardless of where it was earned, so they don’t have the benefit of being able to break their home country’s tax obligation. Additionally, they’ll have a tax filing requirement in the host country as well.

While the U.S. does provide foreign tax credits that can be applied to the employee’s U.S. return, it may not be enough of a credit to offset their entire U.S. obligation. A company’s tax equalization program reimburses the expatriate for the potential higher taxes incurred. Conversely, if the combined taxes are lower, the assignee will reimburse the company for the difference.

Therefore, the assignee is paying no more or no less had they not left their home country, regardless of the actual tax burden in the home and host country.

How Does Tax Equalization Benefit Expatriates?

Moving your career, and potentially your family overseas is a stressful experience; having systems in place to make the relocation process easier should be one of a company’s top priorities. Expatriates who benefit from tax equalization have less on their plate, as they know they are subject to the same level of taxation as well as the same net reimbursement. Reducing the economic stress an employee is under, helps them focus on the personal and professional development that taking an international opportunity can present.

At WHR Group, we pride ourselves on making the complex simple. This includes our comprehensive global mobility solutions, including tax equalization program help. Regardless of whether the relocation is short-term, localized, or permanent, we have the resources and expertise to make your employees’ experience exceptional.