BTE Think Tank members Mark Ziegler, Senior Travel Manager, Global Travel Services for NetApp, and David Smith, Travel and Relocation Manager, Americas at AmDocs, explain their companies’ different approaches to the logistics of employee transfers.
POINT
Mark: My company approaches relocations by outsourcing most of the process. Human Resources owns the relocation process. They hire the outsourced organization to manage the day-to-day needs of the relocating employee and the family. The Travel Department is a partner to the process but does not own it.
Travel supports the process through the travel booking procedure and the corporate credit card program. We have decided that centralizing all air bookings to the United States gives Human Resources and the outsourcing organization more control over the process.
A single credit card account is used to pay for the travel. The only time Travel gets involved is when there is a problem with the booking process or an error in the payment. For example, if an Indian employee is moving to the United States for an assignment, the booking takes place here and the ticket issued from the US even if the cost is higher than it might have been had it been issued in India. A US credit card is used to pay for the Indian point-of-travel ticket.
This centralization gives my company the visibility at headquarters to the all the costs focused in one conduit. Outsourcing to a professional relocation company ensures that all the core competencies for a relocation are done by those who are managing relocations on a daily basis.
COUNTERPOINT
David: Each corporation has its own unique requirements and multiple stakeholders to satisfy, beyond even the relocating employee. This is another place where I believe there is no “one fits all” solution.
With the needs and requirements of my company, simply outsourcing the relocation process to a third party is not an option. Relocating employees is a complicated business; in addition to employee and family travel, it involves HR, moving companies, cargo, passports, insurance and housing – both temporary and permanent – just to name a few items to manage. Adding to the complexity, different relocation packages offered to employees contain different services.
To satisfy all stakeholders and meet our requirements of a global solution and global polices, regional relocation coordinators and focal points receive the requests, approvals and service our employees from end to end. Vendors for all services are limited to meet our corporate requirements and cost savings, while at the same time a number of choices are offered to the relocating employee.
Our corporate apartment solutions are utilized for both relocating employees and transient employees, driving volume to our preferred partners and creating greater savings. All of this is still a work in progress for me as we adjust and improve on service delivery, communication and organization tools.
We are that duck gliding smoothly across the surface while paddling like mad under the water. Wish me luck while I learn this space as I go!
