Understanding Personal Concerns Related to Relocation

As a business, your company looks at relocation with an eye towards numbers and the bottom line. How will relocating this employee or these 500 employees help improve business practices, productivity, or revenue opportunities? It is in the company’s best interest to help these relocating employees understand, too, how such a move benefits them professionally. But because employees’ lives involve much more than the work they do, it’s important to recognize that your team members will have a number of personal concerns that affect them during the relocation process.

For the last 20 years or more, the phrase “work/life balance” has appeared with seemingly increasing usage in conversations and articles about the American workplace. “Work/life balance” is all about the idea of employees finding a way to achieve a balance between both their professional and personal lives. At the same time, the phrase also suggests that there is some connection between the two parts of someone’s life. Perhaps most significantly, it may well be that nothing brings a person’s personal and work lives together quite like relocation. During such a transition, the work/life combination of an employee’s life becomes more important than ever. In the relocation process, employees move from one work site to another, getting used to new offices and co-workers and business dynamics. At the same time, your relocating employees also face the challenges of finding a new home, meeting entirely new friends, and identifying new resources such as doctors, schools, and grocery stores.

Understanding how an employee’s personal concerns affect relocation can play a crucial role in helping your company achieve success with relocation. What happens if Molly relocates halfway across the country and immediately becomes unhappy with her new work situation because she is stressed about finding a new place to live, getting her children into school, or trying to help her fiancé find a new job? Will your company see a long-term return on that investment if Molly becomes distracted and unable to perform well at her job? How will that affect your business as a whole, particularly if Molly – a valued team member – decides to look for alternate employment?

Be proactive in identifying and addressing the personal concerns your employees face with relocation. Perhaps you cannot resolve every concern, but remember that your employees want to be valued and respected for the role they play in your company. When they believe you are taking the time to hear, understand, and support them during an important transitional time such as job relocation, then they will respond positively. It may take time, and relocations may not always go as smoothly as hoped, but employees who believe that their companies pay attention and respond to their needs are likely to find greater job satisfaction in the end.

Once you understand the most prominent personal concerns that may affect your employees during this transition, you can next identify possible solutions to help alleviate employee stress. For example, Acclimation Support or Spouse/Partner Job-Search Assistance benefits can provide important support and resources to help your employees settle in to their new roles and communities effectively.  Vandover provides these services to employees with steady, individual support, listening to your employee’s needs and offering effective solutions to meet challenges as they arise. Through these services, relocating families worldwide have obtained important information that helps them find resources that help them transition smoothly to their new communities.

Sometimes, such support can make all the difference. Responding to and understanding your employees’ personal concerns as they adapt to their work roles in a new community helps them feel that they truly are part of the team and not all alone.