Relocating new hires to a new city?
With a robust economy comes opportunity, and with opportunity comes challenge. Many of the incredibly talented people I have had the privilege of coaching lately have relocated to a new city to embrace new opportunities. The exhilaration of a new challenge and steps toward the achievement of personal and professional goals can be great, but how can an employer be helpful in making this move?
Here are some tips, drawn from experience:
Have a Solid Onboarding Plan- Nothing kills enthusiasm and momentum faster for a new hire that is being uprooted than finding out the host organization has not thought through their initial ramp up time. Assign a staff member to be their guide. This is especially important if the hiring manager or the CEO is not there.
Talk Renting vs Owning - Make it easy for relocating hires to find living quarters. Consider their life circumstances, not simply what they bring to your company. For example, some candidates are tenured and established in their careers, so they may have kids that are
‘grown and gone’, own a house that they may decide to rent out or use as a fall back for later, or sometimes the ‘trailing spouse’ decides to remain at home while their adventuresome other half pursues new opportunities. In many cases it is often best to rent in the new location until onboarding milestones have been hit.
Add Funds for Unknowns – There is always something in a relocation package that is either misinterpreted or comes off as ‘not as advertised’. Adjust your mindset and budget to add 5-10% for contingencies that may come up once the move is underway. This shows goodwill to the new hire and is a small price to pay for ensuring the relocating employee and their spouse’s attitudes stay positive and engaged.
Go Appropriately Slower at the Beginning - Establish the correct rhythm and pace for your new hire in the first 100 days. Remember, it is really easy to just become immersed in work while waiting for personal lives to catch up. This is a time of vulnerability for some. They often want to make something happen, and their intensity may be off-putting to their new work families.
Have them keep it at about 6 or 7 out of 10 on the intensity scale while asking lots of the right kinds of questions. This is the path to successful integration with the team.
Encourage Hires to Stay Physical – Listen and find out what they do to stay active and then provide a means for them to do that. It might be the gym, hiking, running, dancing, etc. Pro-actively provide opportunities for them to network with like-minded aficionados. This helps keep the stress of relocation, separation, new job roles in check.
Never Forget the Trailing Spouse – As some recently relocated workers begin to experience challenges, (personality conflicts, deliverables, initial performance validation, etc.), they are likely sharing some of the story with the spouse. Let’s make effort to keep that home dialog as happy as possible. Know the birthdays, anniversary dates, or important events in their personal lives and acknowledge them! The dinner you buy is as big of a retention and engagement tool as anything else you will do early in their tenure.
Do the Onboarding Follow-Up – Don’t wait to get input regarding their experience in joining your company -- actively seek it out on or about day 100. By the time we recruit them, hire them, train them and get to the productivity, we have a small fortune invested in the new hire! What we learn by just asking them what should have been done differently is preventative care against potential future issues.
If we follow these guidelines, we are well on the way to building esprit de corps with important new teammates and leaders. With a positive onboarding experience they may even refer people as you recruit for other key positions.
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Lee Hubert is a Speaker, Facilitator, Trainer and founder of iTrainManagerforSuccess affiliate of Voltage Leadership, with over 20 years of experience in human resources development in healthcare, technology, financial and energy sectors.
