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This article originally appeared in the June 2020 issue of Mobility magazine. Updates have been made for relevance and length.

The war for talent has created a workforce that expects more from their employers, with job seekers choosing organizations that value their growth and development personally and professionally. The old concept of employee relocation, in which businesses are focused on moving people and their belongings as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, is no longer good for business.

With old-school relocation, the employee has a harder time adjusting to the new environment, new talent finds little motivation for moving, and, worse, the organization’s productivity and retention rates are negatively affected.

Why was the old-school approach so ineffective before, and even more so now? Because of the emphasis on people’s stuff rather than their feelings. Most employee relocation services are great at getting an employee’s belongings where they need to go. What’s lacking is attention to their emotions.

Employees and their families are often left to deal with very difficult situations that
evoke negative feelings toward the company. These situations and emotions, if left unaddressed, affect the success of an employee’s relocation more than any other aspect of the move. Add in significant personal concerns about safely connecting with all those involved in a move—and about individual well-being and safety in the workplace—and that emphasis on feelings becomes even more important. Relo EQ is key to talent mobility success.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) encompasses how you perceive your own and others’ emotions. Having a high EQ means you understand what motivates individuals and can develop strong relationships. Applying Relo EQ means that organizations implement a relocation program that can proactively address the emotions that naturally run high during the transition—from making
sure the spouse and family are taken care of and ensuring the employee feels confident onboarding into a new role to responding in a compassionate, proactive way when something inevitably goes wrong.

As a human-centered approach, Relo EQ is good for the emotional health of employees and the health of a business. In terms of standard emotional intelligence, TalentSmart found that EQ explains 58% of success across all job types. In another study first published by Ei World, organizations with managers who had high EQ saw their businesses have a 22% annual profit growth versus the average 15%. Leaders and organizations with high EQ are not only better equipped to inspire and manage their teams, but they’re also positioned to make their company more money. Applying EQ to a talent mobility program allows employees to integrate faster into their new environment, be more likely to recommend their company to others, and be more productive in their new role.

Employee Relocation and the Brain

In relocation, you can consider logistics such as moving household goods, lining up the mortgage, and getting tax information up to compliance as Relo IQ. The details of this information are processed by the prefrontal cortex, or the rational brain. When things go wrong, however, our thinking shifts to a different part of the brain: the emotional side of it. That’s when the situation calls for Relo EQ.

This matters not only because so many things can go wrong during a move, but also because relocation itself can be such a challenging experience personally for employees and their families. Each setback can have a negative effect on an employee’s experience. Boxes with cherished family heirlooms could get lost or broken in the move, leading to feelings of anger. The closing date on the new house could be delayed, creating frustration. An employee’s children could have trouble adapting to the new area, causing a productivity distraction. The accompanying spouse may be fearful about finding a new job, leading to questioning whether they made the right decision.

Internationally, the cultural differences that assignees and families confront will challenge their patience daily. Post-move loneliness, due to separation from family and friends, can become debilitating. Each of these issues influences productivity, engagement, and potentially, retention of talented employees.

When things go really wrong, the amygdala hijack may take effect. This is when a person has an emotional response out of measure with the actual situation because it stimulated a deeper emotional threat. What’s really going on deeper in the brain?

Director of the NeuroLeadership Institute David Rock created the SCARF model to explain a brain-based approach for collaborating with and influencing others. It outlines five key domains that influence our behavior when communicating with others. They are outlined in the chart below with some potential examples related to talent mobility that could trigger a threat response.

Research implies that when socializing with others, these five domains can activate the same threat and reward responses in our brains that we rely on for survival. That’s why it’s imperative for organizations to consider Relo EQ and have a process that will address those threats proactively, before they have damaging effects on the individual’s relocation experience and, potentially, their employee experience.

 
Why the Experience Matters in Talent Mobility

Mobility can be a great incentive to retain and attract top talent, but only if the relocation process is given the attention it requires. In his book “Everybody Matters,” Bob Chapman
suggests that leaders think of their employees as someone’s “precious child.” He explains that when people feel supported by their company, it improves their work life, which makes their home life better, and vice versa.

Helping reduce your employees’ loneliness, it turns out, is good for business. Lonely workers take twice as many sick days as nonlonely workers—9.5 days, compared with 4.2 days—according to Cigna. And researchers at Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business report that lonely workers are less committed to their organization and have lower performance ratings from their supervisors.

Helping employees manage emotional situations during a relocation is imperative, because if they feel lonely, fearful, anxious, or angry, their work performance will suffer, and everything from productivity and engagement to an organization’s recruitment efforts will be impacted.

Examples of services that make a difference in this way are settling-in services, spouse or partner employment support, and cultural training. These services enhance Relo EQ by minimizing the perceived threat level in the future state, thereby improving productivity and increasing employee retention and engagement.

When a spouse or partner of a relocating employee is out of work, the negative effects can lead to the employee’s resignation. Not only is the spouse dealing with loss of professional identity and loneliness due to lack of coworkers and friends, but there’s also stress from the loss of income. The uncertainty of that financial gap could be a major determining factor in whether a candidate will accept a relocation offer or not.

It’s also worth considering the emotional challenges that emerge from a prolonged job search in an unfamiliar city. Job search assistance is one concrete option that, for a minimal investment in the relocation policy, can significantly reduce the threat of future financial uncertainty and enable greater levels of focus and productivity for mobile employees.

Mobility in Talent Development

Talent mobility is a critical way for employees to develop their skills across functions, jobs, projects, and geographies, and many employees want opportunities to expand these skills. Mobility can improve critical thinking and help workers demonstrate their leadership—both of which are vital when vying for management or executive-level positions. However, mobility opportunities can backfire on an organization if the relocation experience it offers focuses only on logistics.

Organizations can no longer expect to source and hire enough people with all the capabilities they need. They must move and develop people internally to thrive. Our research at IMPACT Group found that 51% of employees accept a move for the purpose of career development and 22% say they moved for a promotion opportunity.

The winners of the war for talent will proactively align their talent practices with employee motivations. Through a more thoughtful approach to Relo EQ—taking a human-centered approach to relocation—employees will be able to better coordinate their personal goals with company goals. They will also be clearer on the “why” for the relocation and the “why” for their personal career.

The Evolution of Employee Relocation

With the promise of lifetime employment, employees used to pick up and move, no questions asked. There was also a time when relocation meant a significant financial windfall for employees. However, the concept of relocation has evolved. In the 1990s, we saw the dual-career couple emerge, as families had trouble supporting themselves on one income. We also saw the numbers of male accompanying spouses increase as more women took on the role of breadwinner.

Today, there is still competition for top talent, and new skills will be in demand. Employees are looking for organizations that offer a positive employee experience, and organizations are realizing the benefit employee engagement has on their bottom line. All of this has transformed, and will continue to transform, what is required in talent mobility.

As we address globalization pressures this decade, organizations should tailor mobility programs to ensure their relocating employees have a successful transition. Profits erode when companies incur moving expenses for employees who leave. To be successful, businesses need to shift their focus from logistics to helping employees through emotional situations. Relo EQ is the future of employee relocation. Organizations that focus on the emotional aspect of the move will ensure greater profitability from their efforts to mobilize global talent.