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Benefits of Partnering with a Relocation Management Company on Your Group Move

Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Suzie Chapman

Vice President Global Account Management

Group moves are often a key component of a company’s strategic planning, but due to their complexity they can be overwhelming to both companies and employees. In addition to ensuring a successful relocation and managing the move itself, company stakeholders are tasked with keeping business disruption at a minimum and productivity strong. Without a sound plan and consistent communication, employee morale can be negatively impacted, ultimately compounding potential disruption.

With so much at stake, businesses need every advantage when planning a group move, but most organizations don’t have the in-house capacity. Working with a relocation management company (RMC) puts a wealth of expertise and resources at a company’s fingertips when planning a move of this magnitude.

Steps to Managing a Group Move

To ensure that a group move goes as smoothly as possible, several procedures need to be established:

Assess which employees will or won’t be offered the opportunity to relocate.
Determine which policies/benefits will be offered to support the relocation.
Decide the desired acceptance rate of employees taking the move (e.g., is it 90% as skills are specialized and hard to find; or is it 20% as there is a pool of local talent available)? This answer may differ between companies and move scenarios.

While determining the above may seem straightforward, impacted employees need to be provided with just the right amount of time to make this decision; placing too much pressure too quickly or providing too much time to decide can lead to challenges. Once the employee has agreed to relocate, requiring a signed repayment (payback) agreement and letter of intent to move is advisable before the company commits to any investments.

Additional steps you may include to increase the chances of success:

Steps to Managing a Group Move

Create a well-thought-out exception management process to accommodate the needs of key personnel who may need support outside of policy to accept the relocation.
Incorporate the concepts of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into your overall approach and management of your group move, including package design, consideration of the employees that you are targeting for the group move, and any potential challenges in the departure and destination locations.
Develop a feedback process to respond to employee questions.
Establish controls to limit the number of people acting outside of the program.
Keep your customers and suppliers informed to minimize concerns about business continuity, including a robust communication plan and change management process, as well as educating them on the considerations for COVID-19 in specific destination countries.
Demonstrate that there was duty of care applied in assessing the socio-political situation at the destination location, including public health and basic infrastructure, standard of living and of housing, and availability of acceptable education, especially if moving with families.

Why Group Moves Fail

Based on our experience, there are several common reasons why group moves are unsuccessful, which can include a company’s failure to:

Announce the move without adequate preparation or employee engagement
Clearly define objectives
Plan thoroughly and allow enough time
Maintain control of the employee experience through adherence to policy
Understand the unique needs and dynamics of employees
Select suppliers that have experience with supporting group moves
Solicit the endorsement and engagement of senior management
Enlist the help of outside resources early enough

It’s critical to be able to tie the reason for the group move back to a sound business objective. Employees should be reassured with reasons why the new location was selected, goals that can be defined and defended, and they should be made aware of the benefits and amenities of the new location. Involving mobility managers and support resources early in the process goes a long way in accomplishing this and much more. When properly structured, group move programs reduce employee attrition, absenteeism, and administrative time.

How Relocation Management Companies Can Help

From administering employee surveys to determining employee perceptions and potential needs for the move, to conducting market studies of your departure and destination locations to gauge cost differences and to determine if a cost-of-living adjustment might be necessary, a relocation management company (RMC) works closely with a company’s management team to define the overall objectives of a move and its markers of success. The RMC can also assist with advising on communications plans, designing an effective policy, and managing the logistics of the move to ensure a smooth and successful implementation.

What Should You Look for in a Provider?

Find a provider whose employees and knowledge base will best meet your needs. Look for one with extensive experience and on-the-ground resources in the group move destination location. The RMC you partner with should have:

Comprehensive and well-defined project plans
Staff augmentation capabilities
User friendly and robust technology tools to support employees
Relocation policy design and implementation expertise
Extensive group move experience, including:
- Working with employees and mobility teams that are under stress
- Group move policy counseling
- Process development and management
Supplier selection and management experience
Knowledge of the local real estate market
Clear and comprehensive reporting processes (e.g., service utilization, satisfaction, and costs)

SIRVA’s extensive global footprint means that we have the capability, resources, and network to conduct group moves of all sizes, in varying locations (e.g., different countries, same country, same city), and for different reasons (e.g., projects, office consolidations, M&As). Companies around the world have enlisted our services and benefited immensely from our dedication to providing the very best service no matter how many employees our clients are relocating.

To provide a better idea how SIRVA addresses client concerns with workable solutions, following are highlights of three recent group moves we have supported.

Case Study 1

Background

Our client, Capital Group, an American financial services company, requested to move 20 employees domestically from Beijing to Shanghai during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Client Concerns	SIRVA Solutions
Unfamiliarity with the new city	Due to travel restrictions and limitations from the pandemic: We produced a video within two weeks where employees could go on a virtual tour and experience Shanghai without the need for physical travel The video included footage of the new Shanghai office, public transportation options, residential areas and lodging, as well as local school introductions
Local school enrollment for employees’ children	Created a local school guide for employees’ reference Conducted a one-on-one video briefing call with each employee to clarify any queries on school arrangements
Uncertainty to rent or purchase property in Shanghai	Created an in-depth market survey report addressing key issues like housing and finances
Logistical issues of car transfers between cities (employees wanted to transfer their own cars from Beijing to Shanghai)	SIRVA worked closely with the client to provide the following options to employees: License application process in Shanghai Car rental services Allowance payout
Language barriers for non-Chinese employees	SIRVA’s Destination Services Team provided the option to have a local translator help assist with non-Mandarin speaking employees
Achieve 100% satisfaction rate	We had consistent communications with the client with the ability to anticipate issues and resolve problems in a timely manner

Success Factors

Domestic moves are less complex without the need for visa and immigration processing, but they require no less planning and coordination. From our experience, we find that being equipped with the following certainly helps to achieve greater success:

Experience and knowledge of local culture
Familiarity with inter-city rules and regulations
Being attuned to the needs of clients and employees
Being creative and proactive

Case Study 2

Background

Our client from the Oil & Gas industry requested to move around 70 employees internationally from Australia to a location defined as being challenging due to COVID-19.

Client Solutions	SIRVA Solutions
Consistency in communications and engagement	From the beginning, the SIRVA team identified key client objectives for the moves. All actions and communications planned thereafter reflected initial objectives SIRVA made constant effort to ensure all communications to the client were delivered in an effective and timely manner where everyone received the same information, at the same time, via the same channel Consultants assigned to the group move were tasked to complete the entire project, beginning to end, to minimize disruptions The SIRVA team coordinated with other service providers involved in the mobilization, such as tax and immigration consultants, destination service providers, and removal companies to ensure that everyone was on the same page
Move all employees within set timeframe	Working closely with our client, we set the right expectations from the start with a detailed plan and timeline outlining each move and delivering accordingly Resources were allocated appropriately according to the employee’s family structure
Ensure all employees’ needs are met	The SIRVA team conducted extensive research on housing, schools, healthcare, and relevant country information for employees Additional services such as in-home security and electrical checks were conducted prior to employees moving in Support services such as a translator were made available

Success Factors
Group moves to certain locations pose a different set of challenges, requiring sophisticated handling and duty of care. The RMC needs to be able to:

Pivot quickly with flexible and creative solutions
Position duty of care initiatives as the center stage
Draw on data analytics and industry insights to create sound action plans to swiftly support client needs
Track relocation budget to ensure no overspending and that costs are monitored consistently

Case Study 3

Background

Our client, an American technology company, requested to move approximately 100 employees internationally from Malaysia to China.

Client Concerns	SIRVA Solution
Maintain good employee experience amidst COVID-19 conditions	Single point of contact throughout the move to reduce any confusion and maintain consistency in communications Seamless management of the move All employee expenses were tracked and reimbursed at the same time Employee needs were well taken care of
Keep within budget	SIRVA constantly engaged with the client to better understand their relocation goals and worked together to customize the best package to meet both their needs and budget To control cost, we engaged shuttle bus services instead of car rentals
Ensured the group move was completed on schedule	Detailed planning was done very early in the process prior to the move SIRVA ensured employees who tested positive with COVID-19 had access to treatment and necessary facilities

Success Factors

International moves involving a higher number of employees can be difficult to manage if the RMC does not have proper planning, foresight, and good communications. When handling high volume group moves, it is important for the RMC to:

Be well-versed in visa and immigration policy and processes to secure the right permits and documents at each location in a timely manner
Have strong expertise in household goods shipments for employees
Have in-house destination service expertise and a strong supply chain network to deliver timely, high-quality support to every relocating employee
Have excellent project management skills to facilitate on time and consistent service delivery for a large-scale move

SIRVA has proven capabilities of adeptly handling group moves of various sizes to different destinations. Cross-regional teamwork has enabled SIRVA to help its clients obtain outstanding results. Our expertise and knowledge enable us to frequently meet and exceed our client expectations. Group moves may seem daunting but working with the right RMC will make relocating your employees a hassle-free and much more enjoyable affair.

For more information, or to evaluate whether your current relocation program will support the objectives of your upcoming group move, contact us at concierge@sirva.com.

Contributors:

Echo Lei, Director, Global Account Management
Maria Oras, Senior Manager, Global Account Management