How to arrange the right relocation and not mess things up

Companies continue to select employees by geographic location, forgetting that the Internet is blurring boundaries. Today it is very easy to arrange an interview via Skype or Zoom to get the best candidate from another region. Let’s take a look at what needs to be done and what to pay attention to in order for relocation (search for work with the possibility of moving) to become as effective as possible.

Advantages and disadvantages of relocation

Which vacancies are better to close with relocation than without it. And why?

IT. The specifics of working in the IT market means that employees have to adapt much more often to changes in the working environment, and therefore they are more flexible than employees in the financial sector, for example.

Top managers and heads of departments. To achieve the position of a manager, an employee needs to learn to look at things more broadly, and to separate the main from the secondary. The level of stress resistance of managers is much higher than the level of performers.

Why not look for performers and middle managers in other cities? In an environment where supervisors and team leaders are developed internally, responsible performers always perform better because they hope to be promoted. In addition, newly minted leaders immediately have authority within the team, and they need to spend less effort on gaining personal trust from performers. In turn, the contractor’s working time is a low-margin product on which you cannot save much. And by luring even a super-cool employee from another region to the same position, you run the risk of spending part of his productivity on dealing with stress: a new circle of friends, a new life, new public transport routes, new stores – all this puts a lot of pressure on a person. Do not forget that in big cities you can find performers of any level and quality, you just need to be patient, because no one knows when the best candidate will enter the market.

What to look for when choosing a relocation candidate

Experience. Find out if the candidate had a relocation before you and how he coped with it. If there was no direct experience, evaluate how often he changed places of work and study. From the point of view of emotional sensations, even a change of school in the third grade is a kind of relocation: a person leaves his natural habitat and begins to adapt to a new one.

Moral fortitude. Among the checks of all personal qualities, pay special attention to checking the moral stamina of the candidate. Is the candidate aware of the estimated number of challenges they will face and how they will handle them.

Motivation and plan. Find out what motivates the candidate to move and whether they have a plan of action for the first time. For example: he wants to move on his own, and in three months to pick up his family, or he plans to immediately go with his wife and children; he is driven by a desire to conquer new heights, or he wants to escape from current problems.

How companies prepare for relocation

With the right organization, you can complete all the preparatory work without any special material costs, spending only the working resource of your team.

1. Create a profile of the candidate you are looking for: position responsibilities, plans and goals, personal qualities that you expect from the candidate.
2. Describe your company: the principles and mission of your company, the spirit in the office, the manner of behavior of your customers, if a new employee will work with them.
3. Structure the description, your text should fit on A4, and use it to describe the vacancy.
4. Start preparing the candidate already at the interview: while he is as involved as possible, you will prioritize the important points.
5. If the candidate suits you, describe your expectations in the form of a letter and send it to the candidate.
6. To reduce candidate stress, replace “probationary period” with “evaluation period”, and define a minimum duration of cooperation. So you will give the candidate confidence in the future, and you will understand that for this period the issue with the vacancy is closed.
7. Create an individual adaptation and development plan for a specific person, and ask him to draw up the same plan.
8. Together with the candidate, bring both plans to a common denominator.
9. Proceed to the registration of labor relations.
10. You can help the candidate with solving everyday issues: transport things, pay for the services of a realtor, or rent an apartment for the first time.
11. Think of a plan of action for a rainy day. We are all people, and it is simply impossible to predict all scenarios for the development of events. And the candidate may be worthy, and you can provide him with the best conditions, but the “chemistry” will not work. And how you deal with a person in the event of an early breakup will form his opinion of you. I advise you to think ahead at least a small plan. You can recommend the candidate to your partners, or provide him with compensation.

How can an employee prepare for a relocation?

The new world will beckon with its beauty and potential. And here it is important to calculate your strength, and concentrate on the main thing. It is best to build a clear action plan, and move on to the next item only after completing the previous one. There is no need to set time limits so as not to stress once again that they are violated.

1. Organize sufficient life: shops, hairdressers, hospitals, transport to work.
2. Concentrate on work productivity: become an expert and bring all the actions to the machine.
3. Move on to explore the rest of the new world: parks, landmarks, museums, and so on.
4. Move from sufficient living conditions to comfortable ones.

Ιnstead of conclusions. What will you get if you organize the relocation correctly

If you very roughly estimate the cost of finding a head of sales, then searching through a recruitment agency can cost you 2-3 thousand dollars. For the same money you can rent an apartment for a year and invite the same candidate from the province. And the difference will be that the first candidate will be worried about maintaining his reputation, and the second – for justifying your trust. What do you think, what motivation will be more profitable for your business? Don’t be afraid to take risks to build the most effective teams. Recall that you can also search for a job on the Jooble website.

Author: Alekseenko Andrey, founder of Jumb studio