7 Employee Relocation Metrics Your CEO Actually Cares About

Reporting is essential to proving your relocation program’s effectiveness to the higher ups at your company. But too often valuable information can get lost in a sea of numbers, and your hard work ends up being a waste of time. What information should you highlight in a report? What does your CEO really want to know about your relocation program’s performance?

1. Cost versus budget of the average relocation

The bottom line is always on the mind of company leadership. Knowing how much the average relocation costs is valuable – not only does it give a good overview of your relocations in general, but it also provides a comparative standard. It's also important to be able to segment out such averages by move and policy type so you're not comparing apples to oranges and your numbers aren't skewed. If you need to discuss why one relocation was much higher or lower in cost than the average, your boss will understand what that means in relation to the typical move. Additionally, comparing the budgeted to actual costs gives a snapshot of how in line your planning is with reality.

2. Frequency and cost of policy exceptions

Policy exceptions are a big reason why relocation costs may not align with the budget, as discussed above. Examining the number and cost of exceptions is an easy way to demonstrate to your superiors whether or not your relocation program is really meeting your company’s needs. You can also look at exceptions as a percentage of total costs, which often helps visualize the impact of exception against the total cost. If a majority of relocating employees need exceptions granted because there isn’t enough money allocated in the policy, then a change should likely be made. Your policy may need to be redesigned to incorporate those frequently requested and granted exceptions.

3. Level of service to employees

Happy employees equal productive employees, and every CEO wants that. The satisfaction levels of employees who have experienced relocations is a quick and easy metric to look at and say, “yes, this program is working,” or “no, we need to make some changes.” Conveying this information to a leader at your company can help make your case for a policy or provider change or as proof that what you’re doing is working well. 

4. How long relocations took to complete this year compared to last year

Comparative information is always a good way to show improvement or highlight service failures. Year to year comparisons provide a snapshot of how your relocation program is trending. Looking at such data in relation to relocation completion time is meaningful. Getting an employee on his or her new job quickly and efficiently is important to those in charge – delays mean productivity loss and business complications. 

5. Number of intra-country versus global moves this year compared to last year

Again, showing last year’s numbers against current data is always a good idea. If your company does both domestic intra-country and global relocations, this number is an overview of where the business is going. Your leadership’s goals of expansion or focus on a certain part of the world can be reinforced by and analyzed through this view of the company’s relocations. A CEO wants to see that all aspects of the business are supporting such goals or are in line with company plans.

6. How long the average home sale process takes to complete

For U.S. relocations, the amount of time it takes to move through the home sale process can equate to much higher or lower costs for a company. Two metrics in particular to analyze for easy insight into how much the home sale process is costing your company are days on market and inventory costs. The longer a home sits on the market and the more homes you have in inventory waiting to be sold equate to a more expensive program. Often, loss on sale is the largest component of the resulting higher inventory costs.

7. Cost of full assignment, not limited to relocation

If your relocation company can manage your global compensation program beyond just the relocation portion of an assignment, they should be able to provide you with a total cost of an entire assignment, start to finish. An assignment of this nature includes two relocations, housing allowances, payroll, taxes and much more. Being able to present a single dollar amount for an assignment as a whole to your C-suite makes it easy to analyze the value of such assignments and have a quick overview of your full investment. If you’re able to pull that number with the click of a button from one place rather than adding up from different providers, your job is that much easier.

Reports are often overwhelming lists of numbers that make it difficult to see the important points. By highlighting these for your superiors, you can make their jobs easier while also supporting your department’s goals. You may find that a shorter report focusing on these metrics will be far more effective than a laundry list of data.

Can you easily access these metrics with your current relocation provider?

Would you like to see how easily these can all be tracked with the click of a button? Sterling Lexicon’s technology solutions offer a full suite of these metrics at your fingertips. Click here to request a free assessment of your technology and a demonstration of our customizable technology solutions.