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Category: Corporate Relocation

How to Optimize Your Company’s Pre-Decision Planning Program for Success

| May 20, 2019

Man pressing on digital screen - pre-decision planning programGetting Started: The Initial Needs Assessment

The first phase of an effective pre-decision planning program is an initial needs assessment. The initial needs assessment typically consists of a brief, pre-initiation call or interview to gather key financial and lifestyle details on the employee and his or her family. These details should include information on:

  • The family’s current home and finances
  • The spouse or partner’s current employment situation
  • Expectations and requirements for the spouse or partner’s employment in the new location

Ideally, this interview is conducted by a third-party relocation consultant rather than a representative from the company. Employees might be reticent about sharing personal details with a coworker, and company representatives might not be sure which questions to ask to get a full picture of the transferee’s situation. Read More

Avoiding Unnecessary Employee Turnover & Recruitment Costs when Relocating Employees

| April 23, 2019

Part 1 of a 3 Part Series on Corporate Relocation Services and Group Move Management

Relocating employees after a company acquisition can be a challenging task, especially when asking employees to relocate to a perceived undesirable location. When a longstanding TRC client headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota decided to acquire one of its competitors based in Denver, Colorado, they knew that employees could be reluctant to relocate. After evaluating its talent needs, the company decided to offer a domestic relocation package to 59 of its newly acquired employees and their families, based in either Colorado or Wyoming, to South Dakota.

Through employee interviews and discussions with acquired management staff, the client confirmed that the employees viewed the move with hesitation and reluctance. So as the offers were being made to key employee talent, it was important that as many accept the move as possible.  To nurture a high acceptance rate, the company needed to be prepared to provide all the necessary information and support that would allow the employees to feel confident in accepting the move. Read More

Globalization vs De-Globalization: A New World of Bridges…Or Walls?

| February 4, 2019

Global mobility challenges Until recently, the world seemed to be moving inexorably closer, with “us” and “them” giving way to a more global sensibility. Recent populist political movements, from Brexit to Trumpism to Italy’s Five Star Movement and France’s National Rally Party, have challenged this narrative, advocating for a return of local sovereignty and the primacy of national interests. The implications are significant for global mobility and companies that depend on a free flow of talent.

In a recent TRC Global Mobility/Worldwide ERC Learning Zone webinar, Dean Foster, Founder, DFA Intercultural Global Solutions and Executive Strategic Consultant, Dwellworks Intercultural, discussed how cultures and companies are adapting and responding to the new post-global world. He noted that culture is the DNA of a nation. Everything else—politics, economics, social and business life—is a consequence of this culture.

Dean discussed some on-the-ground daily mobility challenges in three areas: Read More

Considering Gig Workers? Your Relocation Management Company Can Help

| October 25, 2018

Businesswoman pressing finger on world global locationsIn a gig employment relationship, companies do not employ workers directly and permanently. Instead, they contract workers as needed to complete a specific project or to serve for a defined term. When the contracted project work or term is completed, neither the worker nor the employer has any further obligation to the other party. The worker is free to move on to another gig. Subsequent projects might be with the same employer, a different company or sometimes even an industry competitor. Read More

Global Nomads vs. Global Gig Workers

| October 18, 2018

Businessman choosing gig economy button on touch screen “Global nomads” have been a fixture in talent mobility almost from the beginning: employees who left their home country years ago and have progressed from assignment to assignment and country to country. While they traverse the globe for their companies, moving from assignment to assignment and operating almost like gig workers, they are nonetheless permanent employees and managed as such. These individuals do not localize, but remain attached to their home country for the majority of their compensation and benefit coverage. Read More

Repayment Agreements: Today’s Best Practices

| September 25, 2018

Shaking hands on a payment agreementRecent Worldwide ERC® data shows that the average cost for a company to relocate a current homeowner employee within the U.S. is $79,425. International assignments are more complex, and not surprisingly, more expensive, sometimes costing employers $1m or more.

It has always been important for companies to protect this substantial investment, but the continuing talent shortage has added another imperative: your best and brightest employees—the ones you are most likely to relocate or to send on assignment—are prime targets of your competitors. They would be happy to capitalize on your investment in your employees, particularly when it comes to international assignment experience. Read More

How to Make Relocation Industry Conferences Work for You

| June 13, 2018

By Melissa Seitz-Medford, Manager, TRC Consulting Services

Global relocation industry conferenceAt the recent Worldwide ERC® Americas Conference in Dallas, I couldn’t help but notice how many individuals were wearing “first time attendee” name badges. Although this was not my first time at a WERC conference, I thought it was interesting and exciting to see how many new faces there were, and I looked forward to hearing what they had to say.

Forums like WERC provide a wonderful platform for relocation industry veterans and those who may be looking at global mobility with “fresh eyes” to share thoughts, professional challenges and solutions. Given all of the work that goes into producing these conferences, and the substantial investment companies make to participate, it is worth considering how you can make the most of your time at them. Read More

International Relocation Assignments and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

| March 22, 2018

International tax job cuts - scissors with hands and rescue floatThe passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has had far-reaching effects within the domestic sector of the global mobility industry, however, international employee relocations have been impacted as well.  All of the benefits that are affected from a domestic perspective will have the same implications on international moves if those benefits are included in an international relocation package. For example, household goods shipments and final move benefits are typically included in both international and domestic employee mobility packages.  As of 1 January 2018, both of these benefits have been deemed as taxable, with no distinction between the benefits being administered domestically or internationally.  It will be up to companies on an individual basis to determine if they are going to consider grossing up the taxes for both of these benefits going forward. Read More

Relocation Benefits Tax Changes: Key Issues to be Aware of When Completing 2017 Federal Taxes

| March 1, 2018

Relocation Benefits Tax ChangesWith the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, there are key changes to the tax treatment of several common relocation benefits. Whether you are an employee moving domestically or globally or an employer who relocates employees, it is important to be aware of these changes as we head into tax season.

We outline these changes below and offer TRC’s recommendations on how to treat these benefits going forward. Read More

United Van Lines’ National Movers Study Shows Americans Continue to Move West and South

| January 30, 2018

So where are Americans moving these days, and why are they moving there? United Van Lines’ recently released 41st Annual National Movers Study holds a few surprises. The study tracks United customers’ state-to-state migration patterns during the previous year.

According to the study, Americans are moving westward, flocking to the Mountain and Pacific West, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to lose residents. In 2017, more residents moved out of Illinois than any other state with 63 percent of moves being outbound. Surprisingly, Vermont had the highest percentage of inbound migration in 2017 with nearly 68 percent of moves to and from the state being inbound Read More

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