Employees in Transit: Productivity Matters!

The good people over at Indeed have posted a very detailed and informative article titled, “Everything You Should Know About Relocating Employees”. It’s a bit of a long read, but if you’re an executive at a growing company who’s on the fence about offering relocation benefits – or have an inkling that they’ll be necessary, but still need to justify them to the C-Suite – we here at OADA Mobility would urge you to consider it a must-read.

While we of course agree whole-heartedly with the section that addresses the “how’s” and “why’s” of outsourcing the management of relocation benefits to companies like OADA, we’d have liked to see a section on productivity during and after a relocation. With so many companies having gone to lump-sum or reimbursement strategies, an increasing number of transferees are left to manage not only their own moves, but also their aftermath.

It starts with service provider selection. It’s not only time consuming to listen to presentations and take bids, but given that relocation services are a “buyer beware” environment, it also takes time to vet the providers the employee will take bids from. That vetting can be done after hours, but once providers are selected, communication between the transferee and the selected providers takes place when? During business hours.

Taking time away from the job to deal with providers continues not just during the move, but also after the move is complete. Conflicts over quotes submitted versus invoices sent (which could leave a transferee going over their move allowance), as well as tracking down missing items and pursuing damage claims are often a frustrating process, and again, take place during business hours. Time away from orientation, training, and task management to deal with those issues, and returning distracted and in a foul mood has been known to noticeably diminish productivity and job satisfaction, which in turn negatively affects the sizeable investment your company just made in attracting or promoting top talent.

In short, we would add that outsourcing relocation benefit management allows the transferee to place responsibility for all aspects of their move – before and after – in the hands of a company that brings in vetted, high-quality providers whose eagerness to remain providers to the relocation services company results in honest quotes and quick claims and conflict resolution, thereby allowing them to start work in their new positions without unwanted and excessive distractions.