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Midwest Headhunters,
Inc.
Phone: 800.799.4520
A monthly online
publication designed to help employers recruit, recognize, reward and
retain their workforce.
Relocating the New Hire
A Family Affair
(By Jim Hipskind)
You’ve
just made a great hire. Congratulations! You’re excited about the
contribution that this person will be making to your department and
company. But in the back of your mind, there’s some
hesitation. Will your new hire be able to sell their house? Is the
hire’s family really on board with the relocation and will they make a
successful transition? After all your time and effort, could you
really lose this candidate? Consider this: According to the Employee Relocation Council, over 70% of
employees reported that the top reasons for their reluctance to relocate
are the housing challenge and family resistance
You
may even be saying to yourself, “Relocating people isn’t my job.
That’s a responsibility better left to Human Resources.” If you’re in HR,
though, you may be so focused on other activities that being a relocation
specialist doesn’t fit easily into your day. However, I’d like to
submit to you that a successful relocation process involves both
management and HR. A few well-placed questions and steps on your behalf
during the interview process can result in a higher success rate for your
new hire’s relocation transition.
First things
first
In your initial talks with this candidate,
preferably during the first interview, ask about the relocation
difficulties the candidate thinks they might encounter. Have they
thought about selling their home? What is the market like in their
area? Have they discussed relocation with the family? How would it
impact the spouse/partner’s career? If there are children, how would they
be impacted? If the candidate hasn’t begun to think through these
issues, your questions will steer them into researching what is involved
in relocating. You’d rather know now—before you have a lot of time
invested—if the candidate is going to back out due to relocation
issues.
One of the biggest concerns candidates have in today’s
economy centers around selling their house. In an earlier issue, we
discussed “Offering Solutions to Candidates in Today’s Housing
Market.” Click
here if you’d like to read that issue. This article
suggests creative solutions that you can present to candidates during the
offer stage to offset some of the most common relocation
problems.
Once you have established some interest in the candidate,
involve the spouse as soon as possible. Identify their concerns,
which will most likely include selling the house, renting vs. buying, the
spouse’s occupation, school options for the children, sports and extra
curricular activities, finding good doctors, and any special needs the
family may have.
When you know you’re
interested
You’ve talked with this person enough to
know that you’re looking at your next potential hire. You’re very
interested. The candidate is interested. You want them to meet
with the team and your boss. You’re focused on their potential integration
into your environment. Here’s where you need to take additional
steps to ensure that the family is just as excited about the opportunity
and their successful integration into new surroundings.
- Involve a good relocation specialist. Some
realtors just sell homes, while others are also relocation
experts. The right relocation specialist/realtor can help with
this integration and answer a lot of questions the family may
have. They also possess the knowledge to help blend the family’s
interests with the community, and you want the family invested in the
community as soon as possible.
- If your budget allows, give the potential employee an
opportunity to bring the entire family to the new city. They can
visit houses, neighborhoods, parks, restaurants, and any special sites
and events your location has to offer. According to Mickey
Matteson, CRP, an Account Executive with Recruiter Relocation in
Scottsdale, AZ, bringing in the family “sets the stage that you are an
employer who is really concerned with making sure the candidate and
family find the job and the area to be a good fit.”
- After the visit with the relocation specialist/realtor,
Matteson also suggests getting feedback from them since they have just
spent a fair amount of time with your candidate and their family.
They should have valuable information about what the candidate and their
family liked and disliked about the area.
- If your company doesn’t have a formal process assisting
trailing spouses/partners, offer to help make introductions to
recruiters and/or networking contacts for assistance in their job
search.
- Do you have employees or employee spouses who would
make good ambassadors for the company and the city? Is there
someone in your company who has recently and happily relocated their
family? If so, set them up with the potential employee and family
during the interview process and after the offer has been
accepted. A great ambassador can alleviate a lot of fears and
hesitation.
During the
transition
The offer has been accepted and the
candidate and family are in the process of relocation. This is probably
their most stressful time, and you want to keep them looking forward—not
back. The following suggestions are easily implemented by the hiring
manager and will be appreciated by the candidate, even if your company has
an onboarding program:
- Stay in touch with the new hire during their
transition. Keep them excited and interested by letting them know
that you’ve ordered business cards and a new computer.
- Take care of administrative details such as voice mail,
e-mail, access to the building, etc. Being pro-active with these
administrative details eliminates distractions later on.
- Discuss job duties and expectations. Talk with
the new hire about current projects so that they’re involved from day
one.
- Congratulate and welcome the entire family. Give them
something special to look forward to. Perhaps send them tickets to an
upcoming event or attraction in the city-tickets to a ballgame or an
amusement park or a schedule of summer festivals in their new hometown.
If you’d like additional onboarding tips, click
here. If you have any specific questions, be
sure to email me at jim@midwestheadhunters.com
Most of all, genuinely welcome your new hire and
let them know that you and your team are excited to have them join the
company. Involving the spouse and family might seem like an extra
step, but your chances are much better that you will actually see your new
hire on their start date.
(As always, we value your input regarding the
content for our newsletter.
If you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics, be sure to
contact us at jim@midwestheadhunters.com
We look forward to hearing from you.)
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