When a business makes an investment, it’s banking on a positive return—aka, its ROI. And that applies to corporate relocation plans, too.
But there’s no set formula for calculating the ROI of relocation benefits. For example, what value do they provide, and how does this contribute to the bottom line? Is it even measurable, and if so, how do you go about it?
These are all good questions! Fortunately, we have answers. Let’s take a closer look.
Identifying the Value of Relocation Benefits
Most employers view relocation benefits as a recruiting tool—one that makes them more attractive to long-distance candidates. This is especially true in industries where there’s great demand for skilled talent, like healthcare.
In addition, relocation programs are considered an effective talent deployment tool, because employees are more likely to accept transfer opportunities when their relocation is covered and supported.
These are a given, but relocation programs provide less obvious benefits, too. Specifically:
Relocation Benefits Enhance Productivity
Obviously, employees like it when their employers invest in them. So, it’s not surprising that, according to one survey, 84% of employers say their relocated employees are more productive and engaged than their peers.
And on a more immediate level, providing a smooth, low-stress relocation experience improves productivity, too—because employees are free to focus on work, rather than the logistics of their move.
Relocation Benefits Increase Employee Satisfaction
Most employees relish opportunities to advance their careers and develop new skills. When employers provide relocation opportunities—and corresponding benefits—they allow employees to do just that, which elevates job satisfaction.
Satisfied employees contribute to a positive company culture—which in turn adds value by enhancing the company’s brand as an employer.
Relocation Benefits Improve Retention
Finally, engaged employees stay with their employers. In fact, 82% of employers view relocation benefits as a powerful retention tool. And when employees stay with an employer, it greatly reduces recruiting and training costs, while safeguarding the company’s institutional knowledge.
Tally it up, and the outcome is clear: all these advantages contribute to a better bottom line.
3 Ways to Gauge the ROI of Your Relocation Benefits
Admittedly, it’s difficult to measure the dollar ROI of relocation benefits (or any employee benefit, for that matter). However, here are several tools you can use to gauge its effectiveness:
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Retention Metrics
Your HR software’s analytics feature should allow you to track retention metrics, comparing those of relocated employees to their peers. Be sure to monitor:
- Retention rates (the percentage of each group’s population that terminated employment) and
- The average length of employment for each group
Performance Assessments
Performance assessments are composed of multiple factors, some subjective, but you may discover some helpful insights by comparing the performance reviews of relocated and non-relocated employees. For example:
- Does one group score higher than the other in overall rankings?
- Are members of one group promoted more frequently and/or rapidly than the other?
- What percentage of management has experienced relocation vs. the percentage of your overall workforce?
Post-relocation Satisfaction Surveys
It’s always valuable to collect feedback from newly-relocated employees. Many relocation companies ask employees to rate their relocation experience, and this is something employers can do as well, using that feedback to continually improve their offerings.
By the way, at UrbanBound, we’re big believers on measuring user satisfaction. For example, we’ve earned 4.8-stars on Google Reviews from our clients’ employees, as well as 4.9-stars on Capterra from our corporate clients.
Don’t Forget Relocation Program Costs!
No discussion of ROI is complete without considering the costs of providing your relocation program. Obviously, costs vary widely, depending on what benefits you provide and your choice of relocation provider.
For example, relocation programs administered by tech-based relocation providers like UrbanBound are much more economical than traditional relocation companies, because technology is much more cost-effective than manual labor.
Likewise, relocation providers that negotiate discounts with vendors—also like UrbanBound—are more cost-effective than those that tack commissions onto vendors’ fees (which, surprisingly, many still do).
While calculating the ROI of relocation benefits isn’t cut and dry, the key to improving it is—it’s by offering employees the best possible relocation experience at the best possible price.
If you’d like help measuring or improving the ROI of your relocation benefits, we’re here for you. Find more information here—or just ask for help.
