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Building a Family-First Mobility Strategy

It’s easier – and more affordable – than you may think

Many HR and global mobility (GM) leaders struggle to balance dueling priorities of ensuring positive employee relocation experiences while controlling costs. The fact that what a successful move looks like will be very different for each stakeholder, especially employees traveling across the globe with children, further complicates that challenge. Fortunately, there are some steps companies can take to put more focus on the youngest members of a family on the move, resulting in better experiences for all. Even better, several of them involve little or no cost.

To help raise awareness about what some of those steps are and why they matter, Suddath recently hosted a “Building a Family-First Mobility Strategy” webinar. Joining the conversation with moderator Gavin Bosco, Vice President, Suddath Move Solutions were Karlijn Jacobs, Ombudsperson for International Children, Expat Valley; Paul Bernardt, Managing Director of Harmony Relocation Network; and Amanda Zielinski, Global Mobility Lead Americas, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

The results of a pre-event survey, panel discussions and webinar participant polls yielded several interesting insights. Here are a few that we feel can bring the most value to mobility program managers and their teams:

  • Family members’ happiness and ability to adjust are critical to assignment success. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) research found that companies report a 42% assignment failure rate. Another study by EY attributes a third of failed assignments to family-related reasons. While “assignment failure” may be difficult to quantify, there’s no question that falling short of the goals poses significant costs to an employer, both financially and in lost productivity. The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) puts the average overall cost of an international assignment typically between two and three times’ an employee’s annual salary. That’s a substantial investment to make and a significant loss to take if an employee decides to return early, or worse, leave the company altogether because of a bad experience or an inability to settle in.

    Most of our pre-event survey respondents shared that at least 10% and up to more than 75% of their mobile population are parents. A significant majority (80%) indicated that they have experienced current employees or potential recruits decline a move, specifically due to concerns related to their children. Of those, the reason cited most was reluctance to move a child at a crucial life stage or milestone, followed by a lack of suitable schooling options. In an era where competition for talent and skills remains fierce, those are some eye-opening statistics.
  • For many companies, knowing where to start is often the hardest part. Karlijn shared that she sees this often, and that many companies simply don’t have the right data available to make informed, strategic decisions about how to best help children. Amanda observed that for many GM professionals, the desire to provide family support while not asking employees for information that could be construed as too personal can also be a challenge. An audience poll reinforced this, with 55% of webinar participants indicating insufficient data is a top obstacle to launching child-friendly policy enhancements and 36% expressing concern for overstepping boundaries. The good news? Expat Valley has designed a free, short and simple survey to help companies get started.

    “Insufficient data is seen as a top obstacle to launching child-friendly policy enhancements“

    Another interesting pre-event survey takeaway is that of the 80% of respondents who indicated that they track policy exceptions by type of request, the most often-cited ask was for children to be allowed to join employees on a home-finding trip. Putting more focus on making the children feel involved and included in key decision-making early is clearly an employee priority and can go a long way toward setting up for success.
  • Support for children involves more than just their schooling. There is no question that finding the right fit for a child’s educational needs is an essential part of any move, and in some locations, long waiting lists or insufficient options to meet special needs may thwart an assignment before it even begins. Most company policies support some form of school search assistance, whether it’s helping to understand and navigate available options, completing applications or aligning the transfer of grades and records between home and host locations.

    But it’s important to keep in mind that the child’s experience of a move starts well before and encompasses so much more than discussions about where they will go to school. Many children may wonder why a parent’s job is so important that they must move for it in the first place, or why they are being asked to say goodbye to friends and other family members and loved ones. They very likely will have worries about whether they will make new friends, adapt to a different culture and/or learn a new language. Amanda noted that, given that employees tend to have naturally built-in networks of support through colleagues and the work they are engaged in, language and cultural training may be even more important to offer to spouses or partners and children.

    Karlijn pointed out that for many children, a huge part of their identities involves doing what they enjoy or do best – from sports to hobbies and clubs – and helping them find ways to maintain some of those interests while being open to new ones is another important key to success. She also shared that, just as adults do, children experience a rollercoaster of emotions across the six stages of a temporary international assignment: involvement (signing the agreement, understanding the benefits, researching the new location and preparing to move); leaving; transitioning; entry; re-engagement; and coming home. Being mindful of those feelings and focusing on keeping kids involved from the very beginning is critical to their emotional wellbeing and adjustment. How and when parents choose to share the news of an assignment opportunity will vary by family, of course, but to help young children understand and appreciate the “why” behind the move, the Expat Valley team have also developed a child’s assignment letter template. Companies can customize the letter to explain what their parent does for the organization and how their skills and contributions will help the company.
  • There are low- and no-cost ways to make a significant difference. As representatives of the global moving industry, Paul shared that the Harmony Relocation Network team was intrigued and inspired by research into how Third Culture Kids (TCKs) – children who spend a significant part of their developmental years in places that are not their parents’ homeland – experience and contribute to the world. They decided to team with Expat Valley to see what moving companies could do to help foster greater awareness and support for the unique needs of TCKs. Earlier this year, they launched a pilot program with 19 Harmony Relocation Network member participants from the Americas, Asia and Europe, including Suddath. With a goal of fostering the “World’s Happiest Relocation Companies for International Children,” participants engaged in a series of sessions to brainstorm ideas for managing expectations and adding value to customers, while extending more unique levels of care and attention to parents and children alike. Those efforts yielded a variety of tools and resources that can help kids feel valued, know what to expect and how to process their feelings. Ideas included sending a cake or other goodies from the company to a child’s goodbye party or providing them with special packing boxes and stickers they can color or draw on to ready their most prized possessions for the move. Some companies have developed welcome videos from children of other employees on assignments. So far, the Harmony and Expat Valley pilot program has yielded:

    • A ‘Best Friends’ book to help children celebrate and say goodbye to friends in the home country and establish new relationships in the host location.
    • A family card game to help them process and discuss unique emotions like stress, worry and excitement about the move.
    • A set of postcards can help them stay in touch with family members and friends, sharing news about their new relocation adventures.

In addition to providing details about these resources, Paul also made the point that one of the most valuable tools you can offer is time. Even with ample support, families are under a lot of pressure managing the many complex details involved in an international move. Giving them sufficient time between their assignment acceptance and host-country arrival date can help all family members adequately process what’s happening and allow for the all-important closure with other family members and friends.

What’s Next?

If you have struggled with knowing how or where to get started, you are not alone. Many of the partners you work with may have resources that can help with emotional wellbeing and adjusting to change, including your healthcare or employee assistance program (EAP) provider. While this webinar focused primarily on the first few stages of a move, it’s important to keep children at the center of a move throughout all phases, including acclimating again when it comes time to return or move on to a new location. The bottom line is that happy children tend to result in happy assignments. Choosing to work with moving and other service companies that prioritize family and child-friendly resources, practices and programs can not only help you improve your own employee’s experiences, but perhaps help you cultivate the loyalty of future generations to come.

Interested in learning more about what resources are available? Contact us to get started.

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