Relocating the New Hire

A Family Affair

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 terri@integritypersonnelinc.com

(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  terri@integritypersonnelinc.com We look forward to hearing from you.)