5 Ways to Make Mobility Program Changes Successful

Kristen Hollinger has been with Aires for 15 years and currently services as the Aires Implementation Director. Kristen’s credentials include the Certified Relocation Professional designation from Worldwide ERC® and the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation.

Change, especially regarding your mobility program, is often viewed as something that is painful and scary. When reviewing your program, it can seem like an overwhelming amount of information to review, analyze, and ultimately overhaul. Considering data, trends, and costs are just a few aspects of the bigger picture – like your company’s goals and culture. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be scary. We have provided some helpful tips below to assist as a starting point for changes to your mobility program.

1. Don’t Rely on Benchmark Data Alone

Benchmark data is often referred to as “best” practice, but the reality is that it’s simply the most common practice. Yes, you should understand what your peers are doing; you need to be competitive in your marketplace. But, remember that old adage your mom used to tell you: if all of your friends jump off of a bridge, that doesn’t mean you should too. Yep, that applies here, as well! In my experience, trends should only be considered after evaluating the impact on cost, administration, employee experience, and how well that trend fits with a company’s culture.

2. Evaluate and Analyze your program from multiple perspectives

Cast your net far and wide to collect and analyze feedback about your mobility program. Groups you may wish to formally or informally survey include:

• Recruiting/Human Resources – who may be concerned with attracting and retaining talent
• Functional Department Leaders – who may be focused on cost or specific business objectives
• Payroll/Accounting – who may be concerned with the accuracy of financial reports coming from your vendors.

It’s also important to review exception reports and quality scores/surveys to evaluate the efficacy of your policies from your employee’s perspective. These internal customers all have valuable insight that should be considered before making changes.

3. Align your proposed changes with your organization’s strategic goals and objectives

You are much more likely to get a “yes” from decision makers when you can show how your proposed changes will contribute to the organization’s overall success. A simple grid like the one below is a great visual tool to explain the problem or issue you’re addressing, the benefits of change, and the consequences of not changing. Benefits may include cost savings but may also include time savings, employee retention/development etc. Quantify value when you can, but don’t leave out soft benefits in your analysis.

4. Identify an Executive Sponsor

You’ll need leadership support to evaluate and implement changes so identify someone who can authorize the project and help facilitate getting decision makers to the table before you begin. Skipping this step often leads to failure after valuable time and resources have been spent. Once you’ve identified your sponsor, provide them with a project charter/summary to ensure you have their support for any cost expenditures (e.g., benchmark analysis, design thinking workshops, policy design, etc.). Additional resources to consider are key roles such as a project manager, buy-in from other departments, and cost analysis.

5. Collaborate and Communicate

Take the time to identify and appoint all of the right stakeholders to the table at the onset of your project. This will help you identify supporters who may later become change champions, as well as detractors who may present obstacles if you haven’t developed an effective strategy to manage them. Stakeholders can also help socialize potential changes within their respective spheres of influence and alert you of potential roadblocks you may encounter. When it’s time to roll out changes, collaborate on a communication and training plan. Tailoring a change management plan based on your stakeholders’ needs helps minimize hiccups and confusion.

At the end of the day, changing your mobility program does not have to be painful. Identify areas that will enrich your company’s goals for mobility and support the overall company culture. Some additional time and research on your part (with the necessary help from others in your company) can mean attracting and retaining top talent with smart, savvy, and cost-efficient mobility policies. When you think of it from the perspective of enriching your organization, fear can quickly transform into empowered decisions that will impact your business positively for years to come.