Whether an investor pulls out mid-launch, an employee files a grievance, or your team exhibits tell-tale signs of dwindling productivity, curveballs are the name of the game in the corporate world.
Fortunately, natural-born leaders—much like yourself—possess a unique ability to think on their feet, stay calm in the face of crisis, and diffuse high-tension situations with ease. Despite your expert problem-solving skills, you may find yourself caught in the eye of a relocation firestorm with seemingly no way out.
For those employers and supervisors currently inhaling the fumes of a failed relocation, it’s critical to pinpoint the cause of the fire. For example, the employee transfer may have gone amiss due to poor communication, limited resources, or questionable coaching.
Whatever the cause, common employee relocation issues, such as not finding affordable housing in the new location, not wanting to move, or losing their belongings during the move, can send a relocation initiative up in smoke.
Ready to extinguish workplace chaos once and for all? Here are seven tips for proactively putting out emplo-yee relocation fires (without getting burned).
Offer a generous employee relocation package.
One of the easiest and most effective strategies to make an employee relocation run smoothly is to offer a generous relocation package. A corporate emplo-yee relocation package should cover the costs of common moving expenses, i.e., a team of movers, temporary housing, airfare, etc. While it tends to fall off the employer’s radar, auto shipping services are also an excellent addition to any relocation package.
While corporations should strive to limit costs, the corporation in question should always cover is the cost of shipping the employee’s vehicle. If you want to relocate employees smoothly and successfully, you will want to keep an auto shipping service like this on hand. With a stellar reputation and a commitment to high-quality customer service, a positively reviewed auto shipping company can ensure your employees’ move is speed-bump-free.
Make it easy for them
Despite popular misconceptions, minimizing stressors in the relocation process doesn’t solely benefit the employee. In many cases, proactively warding off moving mayhem can help the company achieve its goals and improve its bottom line. While it might be tempting just to send star emplo-yees on their way and leave it at that, employee productivity is bound to suffer. After all, the sooner employees complete the moving process, the sooner they can get back to work.
Offer employees a raise
When you need an emplo-yee to move to another location and notice pushback, you might add a little grease to get things moving. Offering employees a raise will encourage hesitant employees to take the leap, despite their initial concerns.
Don’t micromanage the move
Some of the most severe employee relocation issues surface when corporations attempt to micromanage the relocation process. While it is essential to offer a relocation package and pay for services like auto shipping, there is such a thing as being too hands-on in the relocation process.
Micromanaging emplo-yee relocation unnecessarily can lead to sizable (and potentially expensive) problems down the road. For starters, micromanaging can drain an emplo-yees’ mental battery, leading to plummeting productivity. Another common downfall to this approach is that it is generally more expensive, given the cost of salaried emplo-yees’ limited time.
Offer shares of stock
If giving your employee a raise doesn’t work, offering shares of stock just might do the trick. To incentivize an employee to move to a new city and uproot their personal life, you’ll have to put your weight behind an impactful sales pitch.
In this conversation, be sure to provide them with some information on how successful stock investors built their fortunes. The more appealing you make company stock sound, the more likely it will be that’ll they move where you want them to.
Help them get acquainted with their new city
Another tip for helping emplo-yees relocate smoothly is to provide them with information on the city they are moving to. By helping your emplo-yee learn about their new home base, you can relieve pre-moving jitters and prepare your star emplo-yee for the journey ahead.
Once they get set up in their new location, forward them some info on referral programs and encourage them to refer friends they make in their new city.
Before you go
With these tips and tricks in your toolkit, your employee relocation initiatives will run like a well-oiled machine. While it may be tempting to risk it all and avoid taking the necessary precautions, remember that when you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned.
