Look for the relocation industry to adopt an e-commerce platform with “relocation stores”.
In this techno-charged global arena with its incredible rate of change, HR professionals struggle to allow their imaginations keep pace with technological advancements. Technology is framing and setting the pace for the future, and has indeed already done so in the field of global relocation.
Most HR departments already have intranets and special applications to support relocation. For those that don’t, most relocation providers will help firms tailor an intranet or Internet Web site through which to manage relocation programs.
The ease of administering programs and disseminating information throughout the worldwide expatriate community through the use of these tools is something that is already commonplace.
Statistics tell the story. According to the 2000 Global Relocation Trends Survey, conducted by GMAC Global Relocation Services, the U.S.-based National Foreign Trade Council and the Institute for International Human Resources, 35 per cent of companies use a dedicated Web site for departmental communication, 24 per cent use a dedicated site to communicate with other HR colleagues and 23 per cent use a dedicated site to communicate with expats.
Of those respondents whose companies did not have an expat Web site, 41 per cent indicated plans to build one.
Respondents report these intranets are highly effective for relocation program administration. Eighty per cent of HR respondents said it reduced the number of questions to staff, 71 per cent said it facilitated administration, 63 per cent said it improved program responsiveness and 51 per cent said it reduced administration costs.
But of those companies that currently use expat Web sites to communicate with assignees, only 12 per cent are pleased with the site and 80 per cent are working to improve them.
Expats themselves said technology is very important to them. Ninety-two per cent said that the Internet is critical to their lives, and 96 per cent said they use it daily for personal or business communications, according to the 2001 survey, Maximizing Your Expatriate Investment, sponsored by WorldatWork, the National Foreign Trade Council and Cigna International Expatriate Benefits.
These statistics doesn’t even begin to address the changes to come. The big innovation to watch for will be “relocation stores” on the Internet.
It is inevitable that the relocation industry will transform itself into an e-commerce platform, whereby relocation companies will create locations on the Internet for corporations and consumers to access. While they won’t replace the HR relocation function entirely, they will certainly ease the burden and create greater self-sufficiency on the part of transferees.
Some of these Web sites already exist:
•Homestore.com (www.homestore.com) helps today’s transferees with information on housing prices and selling their homes and information on communities, as well as mortgage pre-qualification tools from every major lender. Move calculators and checklists help the employee with almost any task involved with a move. Virtual tours of some accommodations are also available — something that is becoming common in the real estate industry.
•HRToolbox.com (www.hrtoolbox.com) helps manage expatriates by providing administrators with a system that helps calculate compensation.
•Expataccess.com (www.expataccess.com) provides information and connections between individual expatriates, managers responsible for expatriation and companies providing products and services to these groups.
•Expatspouse.com (www.expatspouse.com) helps HR by providing support to expat families throughout the expatriation cycle so they can successfully navigate the transitions associated with global relocation.
This is just the beginning. Over the past several years, technology has changed the face of international relocation just as it has everything else, but direct service to employees — be it cross-cultural training or homefinding or settling-in — has remained a face-to-face or telephone-supported activity with small exceptions. This will change.
Relocation stores will provide access to all relocation services people require, in whatever languages they are most comfortable, thereby reducing the need for HR involvement with the expat employee.
Relocation stores eliminate the relocation middleman and provide cross-cultural training, relocation checklists, in-depth information, discussion boards with people in the community, access to providers and other crucial relocation tools in a just-in-time, self-managed process consistent with the expectations of today’s global business managers.
Given the increase in international activity (even during times of economic slowdown), coupled with the shorter tenure of assignments, self-directed Internet services will become more necessary. These services fulfill the cost-savings and efficiency promise of the Internet while improving the quality of life for expatriates as they transition from one location to another.
Michael Schell is the CEO and co-founder of ExpatSpouse Inc. He can be reached at (212) 462-8900 or [email protected]
Most HR departments already have intranets and special applications to support relocation. For those that don’t, most relocation providers will help firms tailor an intranet or Internet Web site through which to manage relocation programs.
The ease of administering programs and disseminating information throughout the worldwide expatriate community through the use of these tools is something that is already commonplace.
Statistics tell the story. According to the 2000 Global Relocation Trends Survey, conducted by GMAC Global Relocation Services, the U.S.-based National Foreign Trade Council and the Institute for International Human Resources, 35 per cent of companies use a dedicated Web site for departmental communication, 24 per cent use a dedicated site to communicate with other HR colleagues and 23 per cent use a dedicated site to communicate with expats.
Of those respondents whose companies did not have an expat Web site, 41 per cent indicated plans to build one.
Respondents report these intranets are highly effective for relocation program administration. Eighty per cent of HR respondents said it reduced the number of questions to staff, 71 per cent said it facilitated administration, 63 per cent said it improved program responsiveness and 51 per cent said it reduced administration costs.
But of those companies that currently use expat Web sites to communicate with assignees, only 12 per cent are pleased with the site and 80 per cent are working to improve them.
Expats themselves said technology is very important to them. Ninety-two per cent said that the Internet is critical to their lives, and 96 per cent said they use it daily for personal or business communications, according to the 2001 survey, Maximizing Your Expatriate Investment, sponsored by WorldatWork, the National Foreign Trade Council and Cigna International Expatriate Benefits.
These statistics doesn’t even begin to address the changes to come. The big innovation to watch for will be “relocation stores” on the Internet.
It is inevitable that the relocation industry will transform itself into an e-commerce platform, whereby relocation companies will create locations on the Internet for corporations and consumers to access. While they won’t replace the HR relocation function entirely, they will certainly ease the burden and create greater self-sufficiency on the part of transferees.
Some of these Web sites already exist:
•Homestore.com (www.homestore.com) helps today’s transferees with information on housing prices and selling their homes and information on communities, as well as mortgage pre-qualification tools from every major lender. Move calculators and checklists help the employee with almost any task involved with a move. Virtual tours of some accommodations are also available — something that is becoming common in the real estate industry.
•HRToolbox.com (www.hrtoolbox.com) helps manage expatriates by providing administrators with a system that helps calculate compensation.
•Expataccess.com (www.expataccess.com) provides information and connections between individual expatriates, managers responsible for expatriation and companies providing products and services to these groups.
•Expatspouse.com (www.expatspouse.com) helps HR by providing support to expat families throughout the expatriation cycle so they can successfully navigate the transitions associated with global relocation.
This is just the beginning. Over the past several years, technology has changed the face of international relocation just as it has everything else, but direct service to employees — be it cross-cultural training or homefinding or settling-in — has remained a face-to-face or telephone-supported activity with small exceptions. This will change.
Relocation stores will provide access to all relocation services people require, in whatever languages they are most comfortable, thereby reducing the need for HR involvement with the expat employee.
Relocation stores eliminate the relocation middleman and provide cross-cultural training, relocation checklists, in-depth information, discussion boards with people in the community, access to providers and other crucial relocation tools in a just-in-time, self-managed process consistent with the expectations of today’s global business managers.
Given the increase in international activity (even during times of economic slowdown), coupled with the shorter tenure of assignments, self-directed Internet services will become more necessary. These services fulfill the cost-savings and efficiency promise of the Internet while improving the quality of life for expatriates as they transition from one location to another.
Michael Schell is the CEO and co-founder of ExpatSpouse Inc. He can be reached at (212) 462-8900 or [email protected]
