2017 WiERC and CRC Joint Meeting on Relocation

by | Aug 17, 2017 | News

As a member of the Wisconsin Employee Relocation Council (WiERC), I had the pleasure of sponsoring and attending the Joint Meeting between the WiERC and the Corporate Relocation Council of Chicago (CRC) yesterday at the incredibly beautiful and prestigious Grand Geneva Resort and Spa in Lake Geneva, WI.

Titled “The Grand networking event of the year,” the occasion brought in over one hundred and twenty professionals from both councils, which included those in HR, global mobility, relocation management companies (like myself), van line representatives, and real estate brokers.

The agenda included two educational sessions in the morning followed by the option of a boat tour around the lake, a nine-hole scramble on the difficult Brute golf course, massages at the spa, or a cooking class—so a tough day had by all.

Trends in Relocation

The first educational session talked national trends and the potential negative effects on the relocation industry. The five-person panel included professionals from two separate real estate agencies, a van line, a corporate housing agency, and a destination service provider.

Local Markets

The two real estate agencies provided some staggering, but not surprising, figures pertaining to the national real estate market, as well as markets in both Wisconsin and Chicago-land. The numbers concluded that we are amid a heavy seller’s market with extremely low inventories; homes are flying off the market quickly, and prices continue to gradually rise. Both Wisconsin and Chicago followed these national trends closely. One fact that remains true, even as property values continue to rise, is the Midwest is the most affordable area in the country, making it incredibly attractive to corporations as well as new people entering the workforce.

Real Estate Technology

The “monster under the bed” identified by these real estate professionals was how technology is threatening the real estate industry as buyers, sellers, and renters are looking for a quick fix through websites like Zillow. Amazon.com was mentioned several times as another company trying to get into the real estate industry and possibly take away from what agents do best—provide a person-to-person, hands-on, and caring experience the industry has been built on for so many years.

All in the all, the real estate industry continues to scramble, like the rest of the world, to keep pace with technology and the needs of the new workforce.

Household Goods

The van line representative outlined some current difficulties within the moving industry, which was headlined by the shortage of drivers throughout the United States. The current shortage is roughly 40,000 drivers and is estimated to quadruple over the next decade. Van lines are struggling to find solutions to reach the younger generation as well as attract more diversity, as many current drivers are older Caucasians retiring from the workforce.

The moving industry is also struggling to keep up with smaller shipments, more demanding move times, and, of course, technology-based difficulties.

Other Services

The final two speakers both continued the trend of technology disrupting their industry; although, the corporate housing and destination services sectors seemed to be doing a better job of finding and implementing solutions.

Data Security and Relocation

The second educational session was incredibly interesting.

The speaker discussed data security from a personal and business standpoint and how we are all responsible for managing the risk related to data security. Whether it be protecting yourself by not using a debit card online, or protecting your clients by being vigilant with the emails you open, we all need to pay attention to the details of our online activity—not just with relocation data.

Main Takeaway

Technology, technology, technology! Technology struggles was the opening topic and conclusion to the event.

Companies like Amazon.com are infiltrating every industry by finding the gaps in the services we provide and developing better solutions at a much faster rate. If we all don’t adapt and evolve, we as employees will be left by the wayside and our companies will struggle to stay afloat.

I hope this offers you some food for thought and ideas for improving the relocation industry as we know it today.

Thanks to all who helped put on this amazing event!

What to Know About Relocating Goods Internationally

by | Jul 27, 2017 | News

When moving internationally, one of the biggest decisions your employees will have to make is whether to ship their personal belongings to their new location or buy new after the move.

For employees wanting to ship their belongings, there are some things to consider:

  • Customs requirements in the departure and destination countries
  • The size of their shipment
  • Shipping options available
  • How the selected shipping option affects delivery timeframes

Similar to a U.S. relocation, international movers will pack an employee’s goods themselves, as the mov­ers are trained experts in evaluating items for international freight and making sure no items are includ­ed that violate customs. This could cause major delays in delivery. Detailed inventory forms need to be completed for both customs and insurance purposes. It’s important for your employees to complete these forms in a timely manner to avoid delays or penalties.

 

Types of International Shipments

Air Shipments

Air shipments are for smaller containers shipped via air. The shipments typically have a shorter tran­sit time of 1 – 2 weeks. Air containers are ideal for personal items needed shortly after arrival in the new location, such as clothes and children’s toys.

There are two main types of air containers: D containers and LDN containers, which are both pre-built containers:

  • D containers are ideal for the essential be- longings of individuals or smaller families
  • LDN containers are more typical for larg- er families, or for those not planning to transport goods via sea as well
Sea Freight

Depending on destination location, many interna­tional moves require the use of sea shipments. Sea shipments are ideal for larger shipments but have transit times of anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Transit times are impacted by customs and practices of both the departure country and the destination country. Freight containers are metal and come in three main sizes: 20 ft., 40 ft., and 40 ft. high capacity containers:

  • 20 ft. containers are ideal for 2 – 3 bed-rooms, or individuals and small families
  • 40 ft. containers are most ideal for 4 – 5 bedrooms, or larger families with children

The moving company will conduct a visit at the employee’s home to determine which shipping option and container size is ideal for each situation.

How WHR Group Can Help

WHR Group works with a network of international movers that specialize in packing and customs requirements. It is important to support your employees with experts that understand these require­ments and what can and cannot be included in their international shipments so that your employees arrive comfortably to their new home.

The Importance of International Tax Assistance

by | Jul 13, 2017 | News

Global compensation management and tax compliance can both significantly impact an employee when relocating across country borders. Regardless of whether the relocation is permanent or simply a short-term assign­ment, all relocation-related expenses will likely raise tax issues in both departure and destination countries.

This is why it is critical that the potential tax exposure from relocation reimbursements be monitored so that accurate tax returns can be filed in both the old and new country locations.

U.S. Employees’ Unique Tax Obligation

U.S. citizens are required to file taxes on their global income regardless of where it was earned and in addition to the tax fil­ings required in the country of assignment. When an employee transfers out of the U.S., they must still file a U.S. Federal Income tax return. However, the U.S. does provide a foreign tax credit that can be applied to the employee’s return, which means the amount owed in the U.S. could be nothing or a neg­ligible amount, but they are still required to file.

The Importance of Tax Equalization

It is strongly suggested that you provide tax equalization for employees relocating inter­nationally. This allows your employee to pay taxes as they would in their original country, with you covering the difference. This benefit is becoming more common because it taxes people at the same amount had they never taken an assignment. You would then cover the cost of the host location tax and any ad­ditional U.S. obligation that may be incurred.

For example, let’s say you are moving an employee from the U.S. to Italy. The employ­ee has a $28,000 income tax liability to Italy, but their U.S. liability would only be $25,000. You would then pay the additional $3,000 to the Italian tax authorities on your employee’s behalf.

**It is essential that the employee remain tax compliant while on assignment or after a permanent transfer. Failure to report income accurately makes the employee liable; however, if the company does not provide any support or assistance, then you run the risk of being seen as complicit as well.

How WHR Group Can Help

WHR Group provides a complete framework for tracking all expenses associated with an employee’s assignment or permanent trans­fer across borders. The data is collected and broken down into what was paid and which country the payments originated from. All of this information is then provided to a local tax expert in the relevant countries so that the appropriate tax filings can be completed. This process ensures that the employee has filed taxes in the correct countries and that the taxable relocation expenses have been considered as well.

This Service Can Make or Break a Relocation

by | Jun 22, 2017 | News

Dual-Career Assistance: The one service that can make or break a relocation

When planning your global relocation program, you need to consider the relocating spouse/partner’s situation as well.

<img alt="dual career assistance">,<img alt="WHR Group">,<img alt="employee relocation company">

More often than not, the employee’s spouse/partner has their own career, so moving to a new location means they most likely have to leave that career behind, along with the family’s secondary income.

More on Dual-Career Assistance

Understandably, the impact of relocation on the career of a spouse/partner can be a major hurdle. WHR Group offers third-par­ty programs that can help address this important concern and provide support services, such as assisting with career/résumé counseling and offering access to local networking groups.

Dual-Career Assistance helps relocating families better adjust to a new loca­tion as a whole. Common benefits for a spouse/partner receiving this service include:

  • Pre-assignment counseling
  • Finding networking opportunities
  • Résumé preparation
  • Interview skill assessment
  • One-on-one coaching
  • Acquiring work permits
  • Job search assistance

Why is Dual-Career Assistance important?

The employee’s spouse/partner should be aware of existing obstacles to finding employment and maintaining a career after relocating. They also need to under­stand the many personal, professional, and financial implications that the reloca­tion might pose, especially if moving to a different country.

However, providing Dual-Career Assistance as part of your global relocation program can be the deciding factor on whether or not your employee will accept the re­location opportunity. Not only does this service minimize any financial risk to the relocating family, it also allows the spouse/partner to feel just as included and purposeful as the relocating employ­ee and avoid the struggle of finding work in their new surroundings.

The Importance of Immigration Assistance

by | Jun 8, 2017 | News

Immigrating to a new country requires several steps, so it can often be difficult for an employ­ee to decide where to start after receiving their new international assignment.

Every country has its own immigration laws and requirements that will need to be followed for the employ­ee to have a successful relocation. Providing Immigration Assistance as a formal relocation benefit will help your employees get started on their move and, ultimately, reduce their stress throughout the process of settling in abroad.

Here are three tasks to have your employees complete immediately.

1. Applying for a Passport

All relocating family members will require passports for the upcoming move, which is why it should be the first item acquired.

A passport is necessary for travel, work visa applications, and school applications. Typically, this is the easiest document to obtain, but can take 6-8 weeks from the time of application to delivery; however, this timeframe can be expedited for an extra fee.

At WHR Group, the Relocation Counselor will en­sure the employee and family obtain passports in a timely manner and confirm any existing passports do not expire within the next year, in which case the employee will want to have them renewed to avoid any future issues.

2. Applying for a Work Visa

If your employee is going to perform any work in a new country, they will be required to have a work visa, even if it is just for a short-term assignment. This is arguably the most important document required in an international reloca­tion, since an employee’s ability to perform work depends on it. The employee should start the application process as soon as possible, as it can take weeks to months before the visa is approved (depending on the destination coun­try’s regulations).

The following documentation may be required for a work visa application but not limited to:

  • Passports for each family member
  • Birth and marriage certificates
  • Divorce/adoption papers
  • Additional passport photo(s)

3. Asking Questions

Moving abroad can seem like an overwhelming process, which is why your employee is going to have questions, especially if this is the first time they have relocated internationally. They should inform their Relocation Counselor of any questions, concerns, or fears as early in the process as possible. This will ensure the relocation company provides employee-specific consultative services by helping them better understand their benefits, new position, and what is required of them.

With the help of their Relocation Counselor, Destination Service Pro­vider, and your HR department, we aim to offer the employee a smooth transition into their new country.

How WHR Group Can Help

Our aim is to coordinate and manage this pro­cess with the relevant authorities on behalf of the employee, which is why we provide assis­tance and advice in securing visas/work per­mits through our approved partners. We work closely with these partners to provide a variety of methods to monitor, measure, and improve the quality of services delivered. During this process, we also work closely with HR units to ensure all paperwork and visas are compliant and all activity is recorded.

Find out More about the Benefits You Should Offer to Your International Assignees

Click Here

The Changing “Single Point of Contact”

by | May 11, 2017 | News

A recent Deloitte article has rightfully called to question the necessity (and logistical possibility) of a true single point of contact (SPOC) within the relocation management process.

Take a moment to picture the intricacies of the relocation process, especially for international relocations. In the era of customer choice, transferees are faced with more options than ever when it comes to moving across borders. Deloitte explains that a SPOC for the full length of a relocation “would have to be a bona fide specialist in customs, immigration, travel, equity, home sale, employment law, and tax, among others.”

We all know that relocating is one of the most stressful events of a person’s life, which is why it’s obvious for companies like WHR Group to want to streamline the relocation process and reduce as much stress as possible for transferees. But is one person truly capable of being the subject matter expert on topics ranging from real estate to immigration?

Rather than a SPOC, WHR Group and Deloitte make the case for finding the best point of contact in today’s diverse relocation environment: “The goal should not be one point of contact, but rather the best contacts at the right movements, working together toward a common end… Experience shows that no one single person can navigate this environment as effectively as a well-organized team.”

Think of it this way: Would you rather have your transferees counseled by someone who has some knowledge of many things, or a network of people each with expert knowledge on one thing? If you’re looking for higher service scores, lower risk, and happier employees, the answer is the latter. And while WHR agrees that subject matter experts (SMEs) are critical in the relocation process, it is also the relocation provider’s responsibility to be a provider that knows the best SMEs, in their respective fields, and brings them to the table in a single-coordinated fashion for the relocating employee.

The relocation service model should bring the right people, with the right skills, at the right time for the benefit of the relocating employee. We agree that not one person can be the subject matter expert for all services, and we need to recognize our limitations as a provider. So having a skilled network of providers working behind the SPOC is the value that a relocation management company brings (and without requiring the transferee to talk to multiple points of contact). An unparalleled supply chain is what differentiates one supplier over another.

There are two reasons why WHR Group is a proponent of having a network of specialists supporting a relocation, rather than just relying on one advocate:

1. Having specialists from different relocation functions to form one network for transferees helps avoid bias.

  • WHR Group has separate Referral, Appraisal, Inventory, and Equity departments to make sure no one person is affecting the outcome of things like the listing process and, ultimately, the home sale.

2. It frees up the main Relocation Counselor’s time for higher attention to detail while functioning as a moderator instead of a SPOC.

  • While a Relocation Associate and ancillary departments assist with relocation logistics, the Relocation Counselor is able to spend more time getting to know the transferee’s unique needs and making sure every service provided through the network of specialists is in line with those needs. This translates directly into cleaner performance and higher satisfaction.

For more information on why this “network approach” is best for your transferees, read the original article here: The Emerging Model Shift in Global Talent Mobility.