Techniques, tools and experiences for developing appropriate and effective relocation services and re-designing them for todays' expatriates.

Transcription

1 FIGT Session Michele Bar-Pereg, Naomi Hattaway. March 2015 Techniques, tools and experiences for developing appropriate and effective relocation services and re-designing them for todays' expatriates. This was an interactive session using the experiences and information from the Delegates in the audience to create a brand new approach to the support given in any relocation process. I have been living with a driving need to see a massive change in the type of care and the costs of relocation support. I already work with global corporates using her self- help, self-driven method, with great success, I wanted to explore, with an experienced audience, what should be contained in a relocation package, emotional, domestic and practical. Once this is established we intend to bring these ideas into one document for change and propose these changes to the Corporates we work with. For the purchasing public be they corporate or individuals we need to make relocation cost effective for all. Be they employees, their families or Joe Public moving for a new academic life, or a doctor moving to another part of the world for a world health organization. I want to empower us all to make significant changes to the relocation process and how better to start doing that than with an educated audience who many have felt on their skin just what it means to relocate, both badly and well. To examine relocation services- what needs to be on offer, what can be ditched and how long does one need support? Joining me on this session is Naomi Hattaway, a professional in real estate, carrying her family and her portable career on her back around the world. She says to her audience: Where can we ALL make changes in our relocation?. What goes wrong? We want the audience to speak to gather the evidence. Her story was told as follows. Many of you would recognize her points! So there was I, I have just unpacked boxes from my 13 th move. Four of them were carried out for overseas relocations. Out of those four, the first was accomplished solo, without the aid of a mobility company, relocation outfit or HR department. The remaining three were done with very well known relocation providers. Do you know which one went the smoothest? The one I managed myself

2 She mentions numerous people in charge of her move so she had no idea which way to turn, vast differences in time zones making it impossible to get immediate help. Relocation professionals introduced themselves as your main point of contact and then proceeded to be completely unavailable to her for questions and concerns and instead directed her to be in touch with one contact for the vehicles, another for the packout, another for the transportation piece of our move, another for the animals, and another for the new location unpack, and another for the you get the point?! Michele Bar-Pereg, Naomi Hattaway. February 2015 This is interactive session using the experiences and information from the Delegates in the audience to create a brand new approach to the support given in any relocation process. Naomi Hattaway. Where can we ALL make changes in our relocation?. What goes wrong? Let the audience speak and let s gather the evidence. So there was I, I have just unpacked boxes from my 13 th move, and four of them were carried out for overseas relocations. Out of those four, the first was accomplished solo, without the aid of a mobility company, relocation outfit or HR department. The remaining three were done with very well known relocation providers. Do you know which one went the smoothest? The one I managed myself. In one relocation where I was still in Singapore and my goods were arriving in Florida, USA, my counselor was located in Seattle, Washington at the opposite end of the country. No worries, you might think, as we had my sweet mother-in-law on site to oversee the unload portion of our move. However, when the piano specialist and the movers began yelling and arguing in my driveway about whose job it was to offload the piano, the person in CHARGE of my move wasn t yet at the office that morning due to the time zone difference. In another, my relocation professional introduced herself to me as my main point of contact and then proceeded to be completely unavailable to me for questions and concerns and instead directed me to be in touch with are you ready for this one contact for the vehicles, another for the packout, another for the transportation piece of our move, another for the animals, and another for the new location unpack, and another for the you get my point!! [Geef de tekst op]

3 This is not a complaint and a moan, its simply to give an example of how BIG of a mess some large, and well known, relocation companies allow to occur. It would have been far more helpful and intuitive to be given the tools to work on each component of our move with resources and guidance from those who have the actual experience. The woman I was given was completely at a loss when these situations happened, but to give an example of how BIG of a mess some large, and well-known, relocation companies allow to occur. Instead of trusting my family s relocation to a woman who said to me that she had no idea what it was like to move and added while she laughed shoot, I still live in the house I was raised in as a child, it would be much better to explore the opportunity to be guided by LOCALS, people who have been there, done that. If you ask me, it would have been far more helpful and intuitive to be given the tools to work on each component of our move with resources and guidance from those who have the actual experience. Surely you have your own experiences with relocation companies, some that might make us shake our heads, and others that went so smoothly you barely had to lift a finger or utter any concern. We d love to open the floor to you and ask What would you say to your Mobility Managers? This a summery of the questions and responses we got. Was enough info given before you left your home country? Let s not get reams of information and data on the location, we want the data that works for us personally The move starts when we are deciding what to do, we could do with some assistance right then We would like to understand the cost of living in relation to our move and contract offer We would like more local choices proposed in our contract offer so we feel part of the management of our move. We would like to have more input into our relocation planning We simply didn t always trust the information given to us We would like corporates, if they move families, to have more of a full family mindset when they consider sending us Nobody seems to care about us- we felt abandoned

4 What do you wish you had to support you on arrival? More local help and not from a distance. Some attention for the spouse wishes, whether to follow a career, study or leisure activities it just was not considered seriously. Time zone synergy More local information and knowledge not standardized but realtime Solutions to immediate issues after arrival and settling-in had been taken care of from a distance A holistic approach to the whole relocation, we felt abandoned after the initial weeks More dialogue in the early months with people that know about local situation and our particular challenges and requirements. More commitment from the vendor towards our needs. Everything was segmented in the approach to our relocation. Our costs went sky high in the first year which we never realized Other questions we asked we had no time in the session to ask but they are important to mention. What would you need on your orientation? What did you know about the housing situation? Did you know what your budget could offer you? Would you have liked to see where other expats lived? Would you like to have lived like a local? What did you need 1 month, 6 months, a year after arrival? At what point if any did you feel lost and need help? What help did you need? Did you have to give up a career- did anyone care? Were you or your family appreciated by the company on repatriation? Did your children know what was happening? Michele mentioned just why she using experiences as a base for change. Empowerment! [Geef de tekst op]

5 She believes that we need to make room for Empowerment within the relocation process for the assignee. To provide a single source for all needs and requirements, practical and emotional, newsworthy and relevant, when planning a move to a new location and subsequently to support the transferees lifestyle and ongoing requirements. Expatriates can call for help whenever they need to get a task completed or want to ask questions. If they feel worried or if they want data for their own research. The relocatee should be in charge of how they manage their relocation. I support the idea that the employee is capable of handling and coping with the challenges of a relocation process. Being an expatriate and settling in a new market place requires skills and knowledge usually beyond the reach of the average transferee and yet the very course of researching for yourself and taking advice from other locals is very appealing. The expat has to weigh up for themselves what is important to them. This will give confidence and trust in decisions made. Breaking up the requirements and information needed- together with expert local advice- will lead the expatriate to think about what will happen to them before, during and well after their relocation. Instead of approaching it as one long challenge to be coped with in the 1 st month after arrival only! To break it down into what they feel they can cope with and what not. What support can they use today and what will they need tomorrow? So this analysis has brought me to invent new relocation concepts because of these following failures that I am probably many of you have spotted:- 1. Costly failures: The hidden costs of failed relocations are not taken into account as the relocation progresses. 2. Partner Options. Taking note of the variety of needs professional, domestic and social required to have a happy partner. 3. Children: Needing help in adjusting and understanding their loss and their gains from moving abroad. Still considered a soft option by today s mobility policy. 4. Children & Education& Day care: trends have shown me that there is a local feel to educating for and caring for children. One observes the rise of good local schools, running classes in local and English at a national level. Giving more local options for parents. Ensuring good education and one that can follow on once the assignment is completed. 5. Cost of Living : Needing to really understand and take responsibility for costs and obligations, financial needs, pensions, insurance, selling or renting homes and consequences of a long term move back to repatriation. Understanding what s in your wallet before you make the decision to move abroad.

6 6. Repatriation: The end product of a move abroad creates deep challenges. Who cares once the assignments are completed? What has been gained in knowledge, expertise and management of a life abroad is not recognized or supported or often not continued once the return has taken place. 7. Losing networks, home, family and friends, the toll it takes, the breadth and depth need to manage the change 8. Assuming that a relocation package fits the same for everyone, cookie cutter relocation services, packing up standardized tasks, cutting costs and offering same old,same old services, making relocatees feel they are in a sausage machine and not in control of their situation.! Being supported by a hub of relocation account managers somewhere far away from where they are going! Emotion Unleashed! The emotional stages an expat passes through as they prepare to relocate is best described as a rollercoaster. Plenty of twists and turns and peaks and drops and being turned upside down, and all of it is lived at a frenetic pace. It can be overwhelming: you re leaving behind one life to start another. You re giving away your possessions. You re farewelling your support networks. You re cataloguing the lasts': the last time you ll go for coffee at that little shop around the corner, the last time you ll be able to duck out for dinner with your friends, the last time you ll get to see your beloved football team play in the flesh. This time of your life is stressful and tumultuous, and it s completely reasonable to be in a mess. It s a big step, even if it is one you ve already taken before. So how come the relocation services on offer now all leave you at the door waving the moving van goodbye?! I want us to support the right of the individual to make a happy and successful life abroad. If Corporates and the relocation industry would get it all right, then people would not be searching for making a change in the relocation services. I am one of those who are making the changes necessary to offer new ideas for driving successful relocation. This is all part of the change that I envisage. Part of that drive for change involves using the very people who have moved already. The expatriate who has moved many times, with training, can be the very best guide and personal handbook for those that come after. Michele and Naomi have opened their talk out to the audience to ask for help and expereinces from the audience and are open to their ideas. We want to learn more, so do please contact either of us if you have ideas for the re-design or want to work in managing [Geef de tekst op]

7 local mobility yourselves, we are listening and can support your ideas. END