Relocation Anytime, Anywhere

How New Innovation in Relocation TechnologyIs Meeting Demands of Companies and Expectations of Employees

Major shirfts, driven by new technology, are dramatically changing the way we work.

The mobile revolution has established a new standard of accessibility. Social media has created a world that is more connected than ever before and, for better or for worse, has permeated our professional interactions with customers, suppliers, and colleagues. Cloud computing is making technology faster to deploy, simpler to implement, and more efficient to manage. And big data is shedding light on trends and providing detailed insights that were previously not readily available. 

In addition to technology, the change in workforce demographics is perpetuating technology’s growing role in our professional lives. As of 2015, millennials, or Generation Y, are the largest generation in the workforce. This group encompasses individuals who have never known their professions, let alone the world, without the Internet and mobile devices. As a result, they are demanding more technological tools and solutions than those who came before them.

Overall, there is an anywhere, anytime expectation that technology will bring simplicity, immediacy, and efficiency to our professional lives.

This expectation is increasingly apparent in the relocation process. Companies do their best to keep pace with technological trends and leverage technologies to facilitate relocation, but with tighter budgets and often limited resources, many companies are not in a position to implement the solutions and take advantage of the flood of new tools available. This is where relocation service providers are taking the lead by delivering innovative technologies to meet the growing expectations.

As companies strive to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving global talent landscape, it is important they be well-informed regarding the technologies that are available to help. These relocation technologies play on two levels. For companies, technology needs to make corporate relocation more efficient, less complex, and more cost effective. For employees, it has to simplify and enhance the relocation experience, and be intuitive enough to use with virtually no learning curve.

MORE EFFICIENT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

It is more important than ever for companies to get the right people in the right place at the right time. To cope with increasing relocation demands, companies are able to leverage technologies to help them manage costs, make better decisions, and create efficiencies at every stage of the relocation process.

PRE-ASSIGNMENT: INCREASING THE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS FOR BOTH THE COMPANY AND EMPLOYEE

Even before a relocation is initiated, it is critical to accurately gauge the value of a relocation in terms of dollars and cents, and in terms of an increase to human capital. The solution to this begins with obtaining a comprehensive cost estimate, and now there are tools available that make this process turnkey. Gone are manual spreadsheets and the tedium of sourcing new data for each potential relocation. New technologies provide reliable estimates for a variety of relocation costs based on information such as origin and destination locations and dates of travel.

Also, employers can deliver pre-decision tools and resources to candidates through technology platforms to readily help them understand their potential relocation— ensuring that everyone is on the same page from the start.

COMPREHENSIVE RELOCATION PROGRAMS: PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT BY REACTING TO CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL TALENT LANDSCAPE

In the past, companies had to make relocation decisions based on limited data. Make the wrong decisions, and companies could jeopardize budgets and timelines. Having the right data empowers companies to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and provide guidance to make meaningful changes that keep a company’s relocation offering contemporary.

Relocation data is typically cumbersome to manage, and with an array of stakeholders and service providers, it is often an incomplete picture. New technology platforms empower relocation managers with self-service access to holistic reporting and analytics capabilities. The platforms allow for aggregation of data from multiple sources, deliver data as actionable information, and are customizable to satisfy needs for specific relocation insights. Having such relevant, timely relocation insights at their fingertips allows companies to identify trends and outliers, and to make faster and more-informed decisions.

But no matter how many tools a relocation manager has, they want their access to those resources streamlined into one location. This led to the introduction of Web-based relocation platforms that can provide relocation professionals with 24/7 access to the tools and resources to effectively manage their programs. This unprecedented access gives companies the ability to monitor relocations to identify potential roadblocks and then remove those roadblocks before they cause a pileup.

ENHANCING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

On an individual basis, employees care about making their relocation as smooth as possible for themselves and their families. This calls for tools that connect them to resources, reduce disruptions, and simplify the overall process.

TRUE MOBILITY FOR RELOCATION: LESS FRICTION FOR EMPLOYEES MEANS FASTER TRANSITIONS

Relocation providers are developing innovative tools, such as mobile apps, that place everything employees need to administer their relocation in the palm of their hand. The key to employee-facing technology is simplicity. Relocating employees are not relocation experts—there should not be a learning curve for them to use the technology—therefore it should be robust, yet easy to use. Overall, technology—specifically mobile—empowers your employee with greater convenience and connectivity, so they are more in control of their relocation process.

ADDED TOUCH POINTS FOR EVERY STEP: A SUCCESSFUL RELOCATION STARTS WITH THE TECHNOLOGY EXPERIENCE

Relocating employees now have more seamless access to their relocation counselor, policy documents, destination location information, and even on-the-go features such as expense reporting. Both employees and companies value the connectivity technology allows, as they can remain in touch throughout the process. Employee applications can also deliver surveys throughout the relocation to get firsthand feedback, providing the opportunity to address any potential issues and ultimately ensure the employee arrives in their destination location more quickly and more satisfied.

For many employees, the relocation—including the technology—is their first impression as an employee of the company. It is important that the relocation experience and the technology facilitating it are contributing to the employee’s satisfaction, not detracting from it.

SMOOTHING OUT THE LUMP-SUM EXPERIENCE

Technology is being leveraged to deliver innovative solutions for historical relocation challenges. One example is lump-sum payments, which continue to increase in popularity due to their simple administration for employers and flexibility for relocating employees. Yet, despite the obvious benefits, lump sums have presented challenges for both employers and employees. Employers lacked insight into the actual spend, and employees were offered little or no support beyond financial, which could impact their satisfaction.

Now, online marketplaces are available to help both the company and employees better navigate lump-sum relocations. Employers can track actual expenses in order to ensure that amounts provided are satisfying the needs of employees and to more accurately budget for future relocations. Employees are given access to resources, such as vetted supplier networks and relocation checklists, to guide them through the complete relocation process.

KEEPING YOU COMPLIANT

The industry is seeing a trend in the rise of alternative types of relocation, such as extended business travel. These relocation alternatives give companies the opportunity to meet business objectives while accommodating factors such as annual fluctuations and personal needs of employees. However, the added flexibility of these alternatives, in turn, can expose companies to additional tax, visa, and immigration liabilities. To effectively manage these potential liabilities, companies should leverage sources of expertise on destination locations and tools that offer transparency into their programs at the individual employee level.

SAFEGUARDING PRIVACY

It is hard to ignore the ever-increasing presence of media headlines reminding us of the reality that with more technology comes increased concern about privacy and data protection. 

The relocation process often necessitates the exchange of critical company and personal employee data. It is important to remain diligent when partnering with service providers, and remember that a network is only as secure as its weakest link. Relocation providers have a responsibility when processing data to not only meet, but proactively exceed their clients’ data security requirements.

This level of diligence can be achieved by relocation providers leveraging world-class relocation technology platforms, abiding by data security best practices, and proactively monitoring developing threats and solutions to mitigate them.

INNOVATIONS FOR A WORLD ON THE MOVE

Today, technology is key to delivering positive relocation outcomes—offering greater connectivity, convenience, and control for both the relocation manager and employees. There is no doubt, as relocation further evolves to satisfy the needs of organizations and employees, that relocation providers will continue to demonstrate a commitment to developing and leveraging innovative technology to facilitate it.

By Jason Birnbaum, former chief technology officer of SIRVA.

(This article was originally published in the (May, 2014) issue of MobilityTM, the monthly magazine of Worldwide ERC®. Reprinted with permission.)