In this month's Mobility Magazine, Dr. Anne Copeland presents the findings of phase two of her "Voices From Home" study, which focuses on the impact of short-term international assignments and extended business travel on the spouses of relocating employees. (Phase one of the study focused on the impact on the employees themselves).

The study, sponsored by Full Circle and Relocation Support Services (RSS), found that the financial incentives of taking on an international assignment were not necessarily beneficial, as there were increased costs at home for child care, transportation, and household help. In addition, those employees who were coerced into accepting an assignment had a greater likelihood of having a negative experience, which meant that the family also had a negative experience at home. One positive aspect was that since the assignment was short-term, the spouse did not have to move, uproot the children, or quit their jobs.

The full article can be found here.

EM

In this article by Molly Feldman and Theo Kenealy of RAI (Full Circle's sister company), the authors explore the history of how Destination Services Providers (DSPs) assisting U.S.-inbound transferees delivered services a decade ago, and how post 9/11 security increases have impacted the service delivery processes for Social Security, banking, driver's license, and utilities. DSPs must stay on top of changes in homeland security, immigration, and the real estate market to minimize disruptions in delivering their services. What has stayed the same is the focus on helping the expatriate and their family with a successful transition to the United States.

The article appeared in the January 2009 edition of Mobility and can be read here.

EM

Check out this recent posting from the Relocation Journal in support of destination services, recommending them as a "low-cost, yet highly effective solution" for relocating transferees and their families. While the author believes destination services are a "must have," these are unfortunately the first programs cuts in expatriate relocation packages, especially in hard economic times.

EM

In the September issue of Mobility Magazine, ERC publishes the results of its latest relocation trends survey . No real surprises here. According to the survey, relocation volume is down slightly from 2007 and costs are up about 20% since 2006. Employee reluctance to relocate is primarily related to finances with large numbers citing a weak housing market. Companies have reacted by making changes to their relocation policies, often with the goal of preventing increased inventory from home sale programs. 

With few exceptions, real estate markets nationwide continue to show little sign of improvement and these trends are likely to persist in the near future.

PS

From the Press Room at ERC a brief look at volume, costs and typical benefits being offered by corporations to encourage domestic relocations.

PS

During a recent conference (hosted by GlobalHR News), KPMG's International Executive Services Department shared the findings of a 2006 survey titled "Global Assignment Policies and Practices". The survey, conducted among more than 350 companies, covered topics such as:

• assignment selection and management
• family issues
• home leave
• housing issues
• wills/estate planning

The survey is open to HR professionals who would like register. Please visit KPMG Virtual IHR to sign up.

EG

Closely related to the session on STAs (short term assignments) was the presentation at ERC in Amsterdam on Stealth Expats.  Defined as "someone who has a potential immigration or tax issue that the company is not aware of", stealth expats continue to expose companies to immigration and tax liabilities.

In reality, the problems are actually rarely with "expats" as these employees are on the radar screen and well managed by HR.  Rather, it is the business traveler (and sometimes employee on a STA) that poses the biggest challenge.  A simple three week business trip that gets extended to six may already create a costly tax liability.

Some suggested solutions for tracking employee movement and ensuring compliance:

• Mandatory booking of all travel through one agency or travel department
• Capture relevant data through time and expense reporting
• Use technology to better compile and query data for compliance

None of these solutions are perfect however and very few companies have a solid system in place.  In fact, according to an ERC survey, as much as 80% of corporate HR Directors suspect to have stealth expats in their organization.

RH

During ERC's Global Workforce Summit in Amsterdam today, Esta Loechter-van Lingen with Dow Chemical in the Netherlands, provided some insights on short term assignments (STA) and extended business trips (EBT) at her company.

One conclusion of her presentation highlighted the importance of tracking, reporting and above all treating STAs in the same professional way as long term assignments (LTA).  EBTs and STAs seemed to be simpler and less expensive alternatives to LTAs.  Consequently, many companies - Dow included - have seen increases in STAs and EBTs over the past years.  With that, immigration and tax compliance risks and issues have increased as well.  Proper tracking and reporting therefore is crucial.

Companies have also found that STAs are not always less expensive than LTAs.  Factors such as destination location, family size, immigration and tax regulations can make STAs just as complex and costly as LTAs.

Having learned from these experiences, Dow makes a cost analysis prior to an assignment to determine the best approach (EBT, STA or LTA).  It also improved its reporting and tracking of assignments and implemented new performance measures.

RH

Prudential Relocation and Worldwide ERC have just released findings from their study "Relocating Women in the US". Here are some of the findings:

• There is a war for talent going on due to critical shortages of skilled/educated labor. The place of women in the workplace has been transformed.
• It's become important to understand key motivators and key obstacles to accepting a relocation.
• Women and men share key motivators: pay increase, professional development, and enhanced job title. However, men are much more motivated by a pay increase.
• Reluctance to relocate is fueled by the same demotivators among men and women: financial reasons like higher cost of living/housing and family/personal concerns like disrupting children's lives or unwilling spouse. However, women place much greater importance on family and personal concerns than men.
• Companies are challenged to provide fair and equitable relocation benefits to both men and women while meeting their own manpower needs. A few suggested approaches include enhanced number of relocation services which include Destination Services,  enhanced flexibility using a menu approach, use of short term assignments.

For more information, a complimentary copy of the report "Relocating Women in the U.S." may be downloaded from Prudential Relocation's web site.

ST