For those in charge of handling the intricacies of their company’s employee relocation program, ensuring you have all your bases covered can seem overwhelming at times. After all, a lot of thought and planning goes into moving people, establishing relocation policies, setting budgets, and ensuring that relocating employees are in good hands. For those HR professionals who partner with a relocation company, there are other considerations as well such as their company’s overall satisfaction with the services rendered, how well budgets were met, and how employees felt about their moving experiences. When taken together, it can be challenging for some to gauge how well their relocation program and policies both fit their needs and stack up to industry best practices. 

That’s why at northAmerican® we offer a variety of policy reviews at no charge to any company with no strings attached. To get a better understanding of the different types of policy reviews offered, we sat down with Bobbi Maniglia, Vice President of Corporate Moving and Relocation Services to learn more.

Q: What is a policy review and how often should companies have their relocation policy reviewed?

A: A Policy Review allows companies to see how their benefits compare with industry best practices and to make sure their policy aligns with their company’s goals and culture.  An annual review is an ideal opportunity to review any new programs that may be available and to optimize exception management.

Q: What is the difference between a relocation policy and a relocation program? 

A: A Relocation Policy outlines the benefits provided in a given Relocation Program.

Q: There are three types of policy reviews offered by northAmerican®. Can you explain what each type of review looks at? 

1. Tell us About the Household Goods (HHG) Relocation Policy review:

A: In this type of review, we focus only on the Household Goods Matrix or the services that are provided in the actual household goods move. For example, we look at days of storage, crating, auto shipment, and other services to compare their current policy to industry best practices.

2. How Does That Differ From a Relocation Policy Review?

A: The relocation policy review is more focused on uncovering potential cost savings, improving employee experience, and identifying opportunities to become more competitive in talent recruitment.

3. What Can Someone Expect From a Household Goods Pricing Review?

A: The household goods pricing review's main purpose is to provide transparency into what the household goods moves are actually costing them and to make sure their pricing is competitive in today's market. This means that companies who receive an household goods pricing review can make sure they aren't currently overpaying for their employees' household goods moves.

Q: How does the policy review work? What is the process?

A: The first step is a short discussion to understand what the company's goals are for their policy. I try to find out what they are looking for. Usually, it's about understanding if they are more focused on finding cost savings or if they want suggestions on how to make their policy more employee-friendly or more competitive in the market. From there, I engage our Global Advisory team to perform the review and make recommendations. It's really simple and easy for the company requesting the review.

Q: Why should companies take advantage of getting their free policy review?

A: It's a valuable service that can help improve their Relocation Program with absolutely no strings attached.

Q: What are the most memorable and impactful things you have identified for companies that resulted in major savings?

A: Honestly, there have been several instances over the years where we have uncovered literally thousands of dollars in savings for companies. Some occurred by identifying hidden or unrecognizable charges while performing a Household Goods pricing review. Other times, we have reviewed policies that haven't been looked at in years and uncovered potential cost savings. By updating the policies to be more in line with current best practices, we were able to save the companies significant sums of money.

I should also mention that in addition to policy reviews, northAmerican® offers free invoice reviews with accompanying analysis and comparison reports. These are great for companies that may have questions or concerns about what they’ve already paid to their providers and want to see how they stack up against the competition. The wonderful thing about this service is we compare pricing by line items, not just the overall cost. That way, if companies are paying too much, they can find out which services or line items were specifically inflated on their last invoice and learn which provider can offer the same services at a lesser cost.

Q: What are the most common mistakes made within a company’s relocation program that typically lead to the bloated costs and inefficiencies policy reviews help to identify? 

A: The most common mistakes we see are:

• Companies pulling the relocation trigger before thinking through whether they really need to relocate someone.
• Not having a policy around relocation components which lead to misinterpretation, wrong execution, and a lack of understanding of costs: home trip, travel, temporary living, household goods moving, and other facets of relocation.
• A general lack of visibility into the expected moving costs.
• Not fully understanding the relocation timeline and how long it will take for the employee to move.

Q: Can any company get a free policy review from northAmerican®?

A: Absolutely! And as I mentioned earlier, there are no strings attached. I truly believe that having a relocation policy that reflects the company’s values while providing a great employee experience makes the entire relocation process easier for everyone involved and makes for a much happier employee.

Do you think your company may benefit from a free policy review and invoice review? Want to make sure your relocation programs are competitive and cost-effective? Now is a great time to take advantage of these free, no-strings-attached services. Email Bobbi Maniglia directly at Bobbi.Maniglia@northamerican.com to get started today and request a copy of our Sample Relocation Policy guide.