What Does a Relocation Consultant Do?

A relocation consultant is a service professional who helps employees plan and manage the logistics of their corporate relocation.   

Most relocation consultants are employed by relocation management companies, or RMCs. However, an employer that manages its relocations directly may also employ in-house relocation consultants. While not all corporate relocation programs include the services of relocation consultants, the majority do. 

Needless to say, relocation consultants spend much of their time interacting with the employees they serve. Most work one-on-one with specific employees throughout the course of a given relocation. Throughout the process, their duties typically include:

• Helping employees understand their specific relocation benefits, as well as the best way to use them.
• Coaching employees on relocation best practices, in terms of planning, scheduling and arranging their move.
• Introducing employees to vetted vendors, such as movers and realtors and, in some cases, helping employees book their arrangements.
• Making employees aware of resources and information at their disposal.
• Generally answering questions, troubleshooting problems and finding solutions to atypical situations.

In short, relocation consultants often assist employees with every aspect of their move, from shipping household goods and vehicles and facilitating home-finding trips to securing short-term housing, if needed.  

In addition, most relocation consultants work hard to ease employees’ stress throughout the relocation process. After all, moving and switching jobs are among life’s biggest stressors—which is why an effective relocation consultant may come to be viewed as an unflappable, knowledgeable resource for employees.

RMCs: One of These Things Is Not Like the Others  

While relocation consultants perform many of the same functions regardless of who they work for, there is one important distinction.  

There are two types of RMCs: traditional RMCs—which are powered primarily by relocation consultants—and modern, tech-based RMCs like UrbanBound—which also offer employers and their employees access to move management software.