Employee relocation programs: Can they help your business retain staff?

Advancing technology has been opening a whole new world of possibilities for businesses – for example, by offering employees the opportunity to work anywhere across the globe.

More employees are therefore choosing to relocate and immerse themselves in different cultures, so much so, that 2022 saw relocation rates at their highest, with 55% of organizations stating figures had increased from the previous year, according to research from Crown World Mobility.

This year, however, relocation stats have decreased, mainly because of increased economic challenges.

However, 82% of businesses have still offered employees relocation packages in a bid to retain staff.

Additionally, the study – which asked 26 questions to more than 250 HR professionals in the US, UK, Ireland, Singapore, France, and Germany – found that 56% of respondents are comfortable with their employees on international assignments exclusively working from home.

This was found to be an emerging trend in the study.

“The working from home whilst on assignment trend raises valid questions about the purpose of relocation in terms of the ability to get the job done, in addition to mental health issues on assignments where employees are not interacting with local colleagues every day, and the associated issues with cultural assimilation,” says Nick Sutton, vice president for sales and marketing at Crown World Mobility.

“It is an area that we expect to see more discussion about in the coming year.”

Employee relocation programs as tools for good

As the report suggests there has been a reduction in relocation programs, reluctance or hesitancy was found to be the single biggest barrier to the success of many programs, above family, cost, or regulatory issues.

Sutton explains: “The attitude seems to be – if I can work at home from my sofa without any drawbacks to my performance or my role, why would I bother moving overseas? We may be starting to see generational differences play out in terms of interest in assignments, or it could be a personal preference that is gaining traction.”

Yet employee relocation can bring a wealth of benefits to help HR teams meet key business objectives.

“Respondents to the survey identified growth and expansion into new territories as the biggest benefit of relocation, which is great for businesses that directly link mobility to growth,” Sutton says.

“The second and third identified benefits are connected – the imparting of knowledge into a new location and the sharing of corporate values with employees in different locations.”

Sutton continues to explain that this ‘cultural/knowledge sharing’ ensures that the company acts as a cohesive unit; with everyone sharing the same goals within the same culture.

Many managers are now expected to manage across cultures, meaning it’s vital for the wider success of the business that they understand the cultural nuances of the teams they manage.

“Finally, the benefit of relocation as a retention tool was highlighted – staff attrition causes delays, loss of knowledge and know-how and costs to the business – a simple change of location can help to mitigate that.”

To achieve these, HR leaders must understand that there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to mobility.

“Rather than dealing with a mid-career man with an accompanying wife and children, the nature of assignees themselves is changing, along with the definition of “family”, including stepfamilies, LGBTQ families, and the impact of caring responsibilities for elderly parents.

“These factors, as well as the accompanying focus on DE&I, mean that companies need to take a ‘human-centric’ approach to the way they manage mobility,” Sutton concludes.

“This may mean introducing some element of flexibility in terms of benefits offered, reviewing the mobility policy through a DE&I lens to ensure it appeals to all employees, or simply looking at the key interaction touchpoints of an assignee’s journey.

“It’s no longer an issue of getting the job done, it’s how it’s done, and how the assignee responds to the assistance they receive.”