Managing Your Relocation Program through Natural Disasters

Natural disasters occur around the world everyday – hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, etc.  Working in a global economy means we can all be impacted by a disaster thousands of miles away from where we reside.  Managing the relocation of hundreds of employees during a natural disaster, whether domestic or abroad, can present even greater challenges.        

Here are some tips on the best way to manage through a disaster…

• Have a plan.  Create a natural disaster policy that will serve as your checklist in the event that a disaster occurs.  This is especially important when you have employees in the midst of a relocation.  Having a plan will help you keep calm and make certain that every possible step is taken to ensure the safety of your employees.  Most organizations have their own policy but having one specifically for the actions you will take in relocation is incredibly important.  Your plan should:

   

  1.  Evaluate the safety of your employees – power outages can make this difficult but don’t give up until everybody is accounted for
  2. Determine the available resources that can aide them – remember, some of your employees may be new to the area and unaware of where they can seek help
  3. Assess any property damage
• Along with your plan, keep a list.  Always keep a list of where all of your employees around the world are going to and from.  Though this seems simple it can be a challenging task when you are managing both domestic and global moves.  Keeping a master list will help you in the event of a disaster to determine who could have been impacted so you can begin reaching out to them immediately.      
• Watch out for warnings.  Early warnings are an opportunity to get the word out to your employees that they could be in the path of danger.  Meteorologists were able to predict the path of Hurricane Sandy several days before she arrived on the East Coast.  Though warnings can’t change the outcome, it can hopefully give you additional time to connect with your employees before disaster strikes.  This will help you begin to proactively respond to your employees’ needs.
• Rely on your relocation provider.  Your relocation provider should be following all of the steps mentioned above as well.  This will help ensure you have double coverage and great partnership as you manage through the disaster.  Your relocation provider can help you execute your plan effectively and quickly.            

As with any plan, we can always improve with the advice of others. Please share in the comments section below what has helped you manage during a natural disaster.

For more about natural disaster and the relocation industry, check out our post “Implications for Purchasers and Homeowners in the wake of Hurricane Sandy”.

Our thoughts go out to those individuals and organizations impacted by Hurricane Sandy.