Enhancing the employee experience continues to be a topic of conversation in mobility. We've helped many of our clients dig into this. Along the way, we've noticed patterns that consistently emerge from client to client. Some of the most prominent patterns occur during the interview/initiation stage, including:
- The mobility team is either not involved or is not aware of what happens at this stage.
- Hiring managers or recruiters do not adequately understand mobility policies or how to align them with candidate needs.
- Candidates formulate unrealistic expectations around available benefits or the process of relocation.
- The time between accepting an offer to when the relocation initiates is too long.
The impact on the employee experience gets messy quickly, resulting in:
- Conflict with setting expectations
- Delayed payments or reimbursements
- And/or Delayed services
Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet for resolving each of these challenges as every company is a little bit different in how they operate. However, we recommend a proven approach rooted in human-centered activities to help you pursue the right change for your organization. This approach includes:
- Being collaborative – Invite representatives from the various groups involved to tackle the problems and generate solutions. Your group will likely include representatives from talent acquisition, hiring managers or Human Resources Business Partners (HRBP), global mobility, and the Relocation Management Company (RMC) or other key service partners. This inclusive approach will not only help with alignment but also with ensuring success in executing any new ideas.
- Defining success upfront – Formulate an initial set of SMART goals (i.e., Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to outline success. This often-overlooked step will help keep your team focused on the proper scope of work and know when they are done.
- Gaining empathy – This critical step gives people a chance to be heard and valued by discussing the mindset and goals of each role. It also serves to clear up misconceptions about each other that form from lack of perspective.
- Mapping your process – Beginning with the job requisition outline to what happens all the way through to initiating the relocation with the RMC. Be sure to capture essential details including people involved, systems or technology used, data shared, and time frames. Once complete, identify breakpoints or issues and work together to create solutions.
- Evaluating training – Conduct a retrospective on your current training on the mobility process, policies, and benefits. Be sure to ask for feedback on what is working, what isn't working, and ideas for improvement.
- Prioritizing & executing – Collectively deciding on the highest priorities for improvement, assign ownership, and execute! As part of this, consider hosting bi-weekly check-ins for accountability and demonstrating progress.
This can be a lot of work, so we also recommend enlisting the help of an objective and experienced facilitator. This person can help guide the team through the logistics and activities of the process, while you and your team focus on the content and outcomes. When we facilitate this process for our clients, we work with someone who understands design thinking (i.e., problem solving framework) and remote facilitation techniques.
But what about ROI? Glad you asked. Because employee satisfaction is not often measured during the interview/initiation stage, many clients don’t have a baseline to compare improvements to. Also, it is not always feasible to gain this information upfront. That said, you should certainly see an improvement in the time to initiate services (in some cases we’ve seen this reduced from 1-2 weeks to 24 hours). Other measurable gains include reducing escalations from improper expectations, reducing the volume or spend of exceptions, and improved post-relocation surveys. Your team will also likely see ongoing improvements to communication and collaboration between your colleagues and partners involved in the process.
For more information on how Aires can help your team improve the initiation process or the broader employee experience, please reach out to your Aires representative.