Finding a Budget for Successful Family Relocation Experiences
Before Expat Valley existed, there was no global solution for internationally mobile children and their families. This was one reason why such solutions were not widely adopted by organizations that sponsor family relocations in order to fulfill a human resource need. Now that is out of the way, another major obstacle in Successful Family Relocation Experiences is budget: How are products and services that support successful outcomes of family relocations paid for? In this article we share best practices in finding the budget for supporting Successful Family Relocation Experiences.
1. Introduction as New Benefit
We are picking up more and more signals from the market that 2025 promises an additional budget for so-called “Value-Added Services”. Simply put: more budget becomes available under the condition that there is a business case which explains why the additional costs would yield a return on investment.
What that “return on investment” should look like, differs per organization. Some organizations are driven by research and data: they want to see third-party research on factors influencing successful relocation outcomes, and measure opportunities within their own organization. We are happy to facilitate organization-specific data collection through our Family Relocation Experience Survey.
Other organizations are constantly working on themes that overarch their global mobility practices: such as providing a great employee experience; improve diversity, equity, and belonging; or improve talent acquisition and retention. And sometimes, organizations simply rely on the judgment of those people involved in supporting the international relocations of their employees and implement our services “because it is the right thing to do”. In these instances, a Pilot Program has proven to be a good starting point, as it allows for qualitative measurement of success.
2. Adopt in Existing Policy
Unfortunately, in most instances it is not that simple. Having said that, a successful approach to finding a budget for Family Support may still be well within reach ánd come with additional convenience. A number of our clients have opted to add flexibility to their policies without increasing bottom line cost.
While we want to stay away from a conversation about risks associated with Benefit Policies that encompass a Core-Flex or Lump Sum component, we do want to highlight that such models have one great feature: they allow for adding additional choices to its users. We recently supported a client that is looking to do a full policy review and adopt family-friendly relocation practices throughout their program, but has added Family Support Solutions to its “Flex Benefits” in the meantime.
Another client we worked with earlier this year had adopted a budget for Partner Assistance in a previous policy update. Without hesitation from any stakeholder involved, they relabeled this to Family Assistance Budget. A similar approach could be taken when your organization’s current policy allows for Language and/or Culture Training for accompanying family members, or Pet Support.
3. One-time Policy Exception
While we are always happy to assist when a problem arises, this is our least favorite way to convince budget stakeholders about the need for Family Support Solutions. There is plenty of research out there (including a number of recent publications that we are happy to share at your request) concluding that Family Issues play a significant role in assignment refusals, and even more so in relocation failures. But, it is always painful when these statistics are only important after an employee and their family experience hardship first.
Many instances in which we get involved through a one-time policy exception evolve around mismanaged expectations: sometimes because employees genuinely believed that “everything was going to be taken care of” and since nobody mentioned their children it never occurred to them that this could be a source of distress, oftentimes simply because international migration is an overwhelming series of actions and decisions and employees had underestimated how different family life and provisions are in different countries. The same holds true for problems with accompanying family members as with any other problem: prevention is cheaper than cure.
If nothing else…
Finally, if you are a relocation professional that wants to promote Successful Family Relocation Experiences but feel that your hands are tied, there are three things you can do that don’t cost any money:
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