Scaling the levels of relocation technology

The impact of the Internet on relocation will be profound — mainly because it moves technology from the backroom to the front porch.

For the most part, technology applications in relocation have concentrated on backroom activities such as tracking home purchases, monitoring operations and recording expense reports.

The real change in relocation dynamics will occur when Internet technology fully empowers the transferring employee — when the employee becomes directly involved with the corporate employer and all service providers through the Internet.

But this is all new ground for companies and service providers.

Many issues emerge. What will be the new role of the relocation consultant? Which tools will transferees find useful and which not? What will be the role of IT professionals in service provision?

There are essentially four distinct relocation service levels that take advantage of Internet technology, each with its own characteristics, issues, advantages and disadvantages.

The levels represent increasing costs of development and increasing complexity. Any single application will likely be a combination of levels.

Level 1: Access. This level represents a simple and common use of the Internet as a means of obtaining information. The user accesses a Web site to get information about a company or a service, or to obtain cost-of-living data or area information.

Level one is the simplest to understand and implement. Employees are already accessing the Internet to obtain information to help them with their relocations. But this process can be very inefficient. A transferee’s time and energy can be easily wasted browsing literally thousands of potentially useless sites.

A successful version of level one helps transferees with pre-screened sites that are specific to their needs. The corporate HR representative or a relocation service company can collect information on useful sites, and then provide these to relocating employees.

This level has a number of advantages. It is easy to implement, in fact most companies could implement this model immediately by simply consolidating the Internet site information that transferees are already using.

It is also relatively affordable. However, there will be costs to monitor and evaluate sites and add good ones while discarding poor ones.

On the other hand, most free sites are driven by the advertising, which can cause problems. Employees will be exposed to offers and promotions that the employer may not support.

Level 2: Transaction. This is one step more complex than level one in that it introduces transactions into the mix. In a level two application users not only access information, such as an online catalogue, but can take action to purchase items.

Through a corporate intranet employees can both receive information from, and provide information to, a database and keep records up to date.

Most corporations either already have or are developing intranets that provide employees with information concerning internal operations of the company, corporate policies, benefits plans, personnel records, and so on. Intranets are now commonly used to access relocation policies and forms. For example, a hiring manager who completes a form on the intranet and starts a relocation is using a level two application.

Level two can provide many benefits. Much of the paperwork to complete a relocation can be available on a Web site. The relocation policy or a checklist of actions can be accessed from any location by the employee. And the cost is relatively low for setting up the system and maintaining it. The potential problem here relates to selecting and purchasing intranet software or getting the IT resources dedicated to effectively support a relocation system.

Level 3: Collaboration. Level three applications involve multiple participants using a combination of the Internet and an intranet around a business purpose — the relocation of an employee. This model can connect the corporate HR department, the transferring employee, a relocation management company and a variety of relocation service providers. Participants each maintain their own sites. The relocation management company or the in-house HR staff co-ordinates the various participants. Sites can be tailored for use by the transferring employee and may require a password for access.

For example, a household goods company could prepare a site for a particular client that allows the transferring employee to submit information so that the van line can make a cost estimate and schedule service.

The major advantage of this level is that it shifts a significant amount of the paperwork and communication involved in the relocation process to the Internet or intranet. Additionally, participants can be pre-selected for their ability to meet specific needs of the transferring employee.

The major disadvantage of this approach is that the transferee is likely to experience different levels of performance and content from the different service providers. Co-ordinating all participants can also be a problem.

Level 4: Workflow. Relocation is a complex workflow process that involves many participants. In the course of a three-to nine-month relocation process there will be a variety of communications, decisions and actions by as many as 10 different participants.

This level puts all of the communication and all work processes among all participants on an extranet managed by the employer or a relocation service provider. For example, an authorization would start with a corporate client. The transferring employee would add personal information. The form would also be immediately available to the relocation services company. Information from the transferee is distributed to participants based on their specific need. All documents are transmitted via the Web, including reports from the relocation management company to corporate client, expense reports from a transferee to the accounting or payroll department and so on.

Applications at this level work best when all participants are tied into the same extranet platform (servers and software). In the fully developed model, participants have unique sites that are tailored to specific needs.

A key participant in this process is the transferring employee. In the more sophisticated versions of this model, a site is tailored specifically to the individual’s needs, that is a specifically tailored policy is available on each transferee’s site. The services authorized and the specified service providers are related directly to the unique circumstances of that employee.

An issue at this level has to do with the amount of participation by experts and consultants. Currently, relocation consultants, whether with a relocation management company, or in-house with the employer, are key participants in the process. They provide information, answer questions, guide the transferring employee and family through the process and, most importantly, lend a sympathetic ear during periods of high anxiety and stress. When the process becomes highly automated, what will their role become?

There appear to be two approaches emerging: One is “high touch” and the other “low cost.” In the “high touch” model, the assumption is that the extranet takes over the mundane tasks of relocation and creates an opportunity for a consultant to deal with real problems encountered by the transferring employee and family. In the “low cost” version, the extranet replaces many of the tasks that have been performed by the consultant. The people who support the system work in a “call centre” environment providing support where needed.

Level four offers a definite improvement in the quality of the relocation experience by the transferring employee and other participants as well. It also offers significant opportunity for increases in productivity and reduction in paperwork.

The major disadvantage is cost. Extranet applications can be expensive to develop or purchase and they require constant maintenance and updating.

Future levels?
It is possible to project to a point where the relocation process can be fully automated. The software that drives the process will not only consist of a workflow model (level four) but also contain “expert systems” that guide participants through the process. Visualize a process in which the HR representative, without any experience in relocation, logs on to a site that guides her through a process of selecting a policy and the assistance for a particular transferee, and creating a relocation plan and budget.

Next, the transferee accesses the site, which contains all the information needed to manage his relocation, on his own schedule, on a self-service basis.

No consultants or human participation is necessary, except to program and fine-tune the expert systems.

Frank Patitucci is the chair of the board and chief executive officer of corporate relocation services firm ReloAction. He can be reached at (925) 734-3834.

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