Relocating employees is a great way to create a superstar team in the workplace, but it's not always easy. Whether relocating existing team members to a new location, or recruiting new candidates for a role that will require them to move, not everyone gets excited about the idea of relocation.
Packing up and moving away from their lives is intimidating in itself, and many people have good reasons to oppose the idea. If your employees (or candidates) don't want to relocate for work, there are things you can do to make the offer more tempting. Here are 5 reasons for relocation-resistance, and what you can do to address them:
This is the plain truth of the matter. It costs a lot to wrap up existing business, pack and move all of your things to a new location. Your employee is going to have to set themselves up in new living arrangements, switch utility providers, and update all of their information to reflect their new location. This takes a lot of time and money, and if they aren’t sure how much better off they’ll be, it may not seem worth it.
Be supportive and available to help. If this employee is truly an asset your company needs, you should vocalize how supportive you'll be to alleviate any pressure and stress during the relocation. Let them know the type of help you'll be offering both monetarily and from a support standpoint. The money is always a key consideration, but remember the stress factor. Providing relocation assistance, like help coordinating the move or a dedicated relocation consultant can lessen this stress big-time. Using a tech-driven relocation solution can also go a long way to showing employees they'll have ongoing support. Most people these days are used to online apps that simplify their lives, so why should relocating be any different?
The more information you give them, the more comfortable they'll feel and the more likely they'll be to warm up to the idea of relocation. Understand that this decision probably won't be one they take lightly, so you may need to do a little convincing.
If you’re eager to win over an employee, you may be tempted to exaggerate the positive aspects of the opportunity, or over-embellish. The problem is, people know if you're not being honest. Worse, if they happened to believe your grand description it would come as a harsh shock when they actually started the job, leading to a bad employee experience and most likely they'll leave soon after. If you're making a highly competitive offer that DOES offer great benefits, they may still think it's too good to be true.
Offer an unbiased perspective that highlights both sides of the coin. Allow the employee to speak with other individuals who they’ll be working with if they relocate. They're entitled to honesty, and you want it to be a good fit as much they do. Also, put your offer in writing so they can see it's official. If you have other employees that have relocated with similar benefits, let the employee talk to them to see how it went.