The definition of family can be left up to much interpretation. According to the 19th century definition, a “family” is considered a wife and several children, making the assumption that the husband was a given and the core of the unit.
We need only to look to the entertainment industry to see how the definition of “family” has evolved from that traditional family unit, as depicted in shows such as “Father Knows Best,” to the “family” of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as “One Day at a Time” and “King of Queens,” which represent single-parent, multi-generational households, domestic partnerships, and dual-career families with or without children. The family is evolving from that 19th century definition to that of Webster’s, which includes the social unit living together, people descended from a common ancestor, and people having a kinship with one another.
As the family definition evolves, so should the mobility policies and offerings. That is not to say that the structure of a policy cannot be administered, but flexibility within that structure can prove to be a win-win solution for both the employer and transferee. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of dual-career earners increased from 44 percent in 1967 to 57 percent in 2005, with the working spouse’s salary accounting for 35 percent of the family income. With this documented increase, there is a strong likelihood that the spouse’s career and income stream will be affected by the relocation.
The Worldwide ERC® 2008 “Family Issues Survey” indicates that 60 percent of employers offer spousal employment assistance either by a formal policy or on a case-by-case basis. The survey also illustrates the growing trend of employers offering employment assistance to domestic partners. The percentage of employers offering assistance to domestic partners has grown from 7 percent in 1993 to 31 percent in 2007. An additional 15 percent of employers offer assistance on a case-by-case basis. With the significant number of working spouses in both professional and non-professional capacities, the individual needs can vary significantly from the traditional offering of assistance, which included networking and résumé preparation assistance. The offering can be expanded in scope to include other support needs in setting up employment, such as printing new business cards and stationery if self-employed, recertification of licenses in the new state, and possibly even elder care or child care while going on an interview.
Without increasing the cost to the benefit, offering flexibility in the use will ease the family transition significantly.
A recent transferee of Ciba Corporation, Tarrytown, New York, said, “When I relocated with my family, the spousal assistance offering was for job placement services. My wife had a home business, which was transportable to the new location. Our needs were different in that she did not require job placement assistance, but assistance in setting up her home business in our new home. My request was not for an additional benefit, but for the ability to apply the benefit differently for ultimately the same purpose. The relocation department was flexible in allowing us to apply those dollars in a different way, and it had a very positive impact on the transition of my wife to the new location.”
The homefinding trip benefit illustrates another area where flexibility in administering the policy can ease the transition to the new location. Many policy provisions include a designated number of homefinding trips for the employee and spouse.
What happens when the employee is a single mother, or the employee has an elderly parent living in the household? The Worldwide ERC® 2008 “Family Issues Survey” shows that 9 percent of transferees are single parents.
The U.S. Census Bureau projects that, by 2030, the older population is expected to be twice as large as in 2000, growing from 35 million to 72 million, representing 20 percent of the population. In addition, this is the time of the “sandwich” generation with multigenerational households. The statistics support potential for the composition of the household to be something other than the traditional make up. To modify the offering to the limiting number of trips for the members of the household not to exceed the traditional benefit is a way to achieve the flexibility necessary for the family/household unit.
Family Transition Assistance
Today, there is a greater need than ever for child care assistance because of many dual-income couples in the workforce, as well as single employees, each with dependent children. These working families need to rely on outside care providers to watch over their children whether for after school hours only or full day care. For families that are relocating, getting settled in at the new location will be easier and less stressful if they are able to make their child care arrangements as quickly as possible. Because the new location is virtually an unknown, this requires help in some form by the employer.
Findings in the Worldwide ERC® 2008 “Family Issues Survey” show that just over 30 percent of employers offer child care assistance on a formalized basis—which is surprisingly a decrease from 2003, when 39 percent of employers offered that assistance through a formal policy. Yet, at the same time, there has been an increase in the percentage of employers offering this assistance on a case-by-case basis—8 percent today versus 2 percent back in 2003.
The survey also indicated that the most common type of child care assistance offered was a child care pre-tax flexible spending account. Twenty-seven percent of employers offered it via a formalized policy and 2 percent through a case-by-case basis. The second most prevalent assistance offered was a list of child care facilities in the new location. Fifteen percent of employers offered it in a formal policy and 10 percent on a case-by-case basis.
Elder care is the least offered family assistance service. Currently, only 17 percent of employers offer elder care assistance via a formal policy and 7 percent through a case-by-case basis. As referenced earlier, by 2030 the 65 and older age group will be double what it was in 2000. The result of this could very well mean that employers will have to strongly consider offering this assistance to support this growing need if they do not want it be become a reason for reluctance to relocate.
Of the employers who provide elder care, the most prevalent form of assistance is moving the elderly relative with the family but only if the relative lived with the family at the old location. Sixteen percent of employers offered this in their formal policy and 6 percent on a case-by-case basis. The second most common form was simply to provide a list of elder care facilities. Twelve percent of employers offered this in their formal policy and 6 percent on a case-by-case basis.
Michael G. Drew, II, CRP, director of consulting services at AIReS, Danbury, Connecticut, comments, “We have seen an increase in lifestyle resource support policy offerings over the past decade for what is now generally classified as ‘soft services’ or more formally as ‘family transition assistance.’”
To win the war for talent and protect their return on investment, employers are recognizing the need to provide viable support not only to their transferees/assignees, but for each dependent family member, as well. Spouse/partner employment assistance, employee assistance programs, work/life referral services, elder care, child care, settling-in assistance, and concierge services—not to mention the more traditional destination services—are additional labels for provisions that are designed to provide counseling for employees, the family, spouse/domestic partners, dependent adults, and children. International assignment policies note additional spouse/partner assistance offerings under the label of “continuing education allowance” in addition to the traditional school search, homefinding assistance, and the newer trend of employment assistance provisions.
AIReS benchmarking indicates that more than 40 percent of employers offer some level of formalized family transition assistance in their relocation policies. The benchmark increases to as high as 82 percent if expanded to include the additional provisions noted above.
Around the World
Global delivery is different because, in addition to the challenges of the move, the family and spouse are encountering an entirely new culture, way of life, and sometimes language. According to Mary Quigg, SCRP, CEO of Vandover, St. Louis, Missouri, “Moving to a new country requires changes to every aspect of your life, thus the situation requires more personal and tactical support delivered over a longer time frame than the typical domestic move. The changes that contribute to culture shock can take a long time to fully hit a family, which is part of why the time frame for services must be longer. The immediate needs of setting up a household take precedence for the first month or two, but it is months three through nine that the rest of the adjustment takes place and a new lifestyle pattern is created. Needs that you do not foresee during the first month can become critical around month five, once there’s been enough time to process and realize that the need exists. Special services for families relocating internationally include extensive support for dealing with culture shock and locating resources to meet unusual needs, like maintaining second or third languages, navigating a new health system, and maintaining ties with home country friends and family.”
The composition of the family can be an additional concern when transferring an employee to another country. Joleen Lauffer, CRP, GMS, director of client services, AIReS, indicates that “information sharing related to the family structure, especially when non-traditional, is essential when planning an international relocation with the third-party partner. Certain international destinations simply may not be a viable option for non-traditional families. Examples of situations that should be addressed in advance include foster or adopted children not sharing the same family name, as well as same-sex or unmarried partners. Employers and third-party partners must collaborate in advance to ensure that entry to the country as well as legal residence and employment are possible for these and all candidates.”
The family stress level that comes with an international move increases in many ways. The way the employer steps up to the plate in support of the transferee and his or her family can have a tremendous effect on the ease of acclimation to the new culture and environment.
A Ciba Corporation transferee recently relocated from Mexico to the United States with his wife and 9-month-old triplets. While the complexion of the family was that of a traditional family, the triplets added a new dimension. From the transferee’s point of view, “It is not easy moving from one country to another, especially when you have a family to take care of. We felt like we had to start from the beginning with no credit history, no credit card because we had no Social Security numbers and driver’s license. I could not have managed without the company support. Things we take for granted when we go on vacation like stopping the mail and caring for utilities caused stress because everything and every process is different.
“Even the job was an adjustment. The customers were the same but [it was] a very different business environment. Trying to juggle everything and worrying about my wife and triplets was not easy. You really need time to adjust and absorb the new culture at the same time ensuring your family’s needs are met.
“From the perspective of the transferee’s spouse, destination services and settling-in services are critical to the success of an international move. If you like adventure, relocating from one country to another is one. It is a great experience but help is definitely needed because, as a housewife and mother, you need to buy groceries and know where the closest doctor is for your children. I had no idea where to begin until my neighbor gave me a recommendation.
“Something as simple as a map of the area was very beneficial. When I arrived, I took the car one day and drove around the area just to know where to find the grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, and a park to take my children. Doing that with triplets under one-year-old made it a challenge.”
Join Us at the Forums
Author Elizabeth Nunan, CRP, GMS, continues this discussion about developing policy to meet family needs in the Worldwide ERC® online all member U.S. Domestic Forum. To read Nunan’s September 1 post and to post your own questions, comments, and feedback about this topic, go to the Worldwide ERC® U.S. Domestic Forum by clicking on the “Communities” link at the top of the Worldwide ERC® homepage, www.WorldwideERC.org.
The three Worldwide ERC® all member forums (U.S. Domestic Relocation Forum, Global Workforce Mobility Forum, and The Green Forum) give participants visibility as subject matter experts within the industry and the ability to leverage the highly relational nature of their Worldwide ERC® membership.
To help you stay in the know, you should set up your own personal forum alerts—if you have not already. To do this, go to the “Communities” page and click on the forum in which you are interested. Then click on the blue hyperlinked text that says, “Subscribe to this Forum,” that appears at the top of that forum’s discussion page. From there, you will have the option to set up alerts for yourself that will come to your e-mail inbox weekly, daily, or every time a discussion in that forum is added and or updated. And, if you change your mind at any time, all you have to do is click on the “Manage Your Alerts” button located in the light blue toolbar on the left side of every forum page to update your alert preferences.
The Challenges of Family Issues
When asked what family issue has been their biggest challenge at Vandover, Quigg replied, “Split family arrangements are the most challenging family issue recently. In these cases, the employee must relocate to begin work, but the spouse/family stays behind for any number of reasons. While the family staying behind in order for children to complete the current school year always has occurred, more families are facing split living situations due to economic factors of the job market and housing market. This situation presents a significant challenge for the family facing uncertainty, as stress levels increase as the spouse/partner adapts to juggling a temporary single-parent lifestyle with all the daily errands, routines, and trips to the children’s schools, sports activities, doctor’s appointments, etc.
“At the same time, the employee needs lifestyle support services in the new—often temporary—location, which means lifestyle support services and research may require updating once the family moves to the location permanently. Spouse and family support services help balance the emotional, physical, and occupational needs of the employee, spouse/ partner, and family in terms of lifestyle support and career transition coaching.”
Around 10 years ago, many transferees had stay-at-home spouses and the family often made money on the real estate deals each time they moved. Now, according to Quigg, “there are many more dual-income families, and the housing market creates a challenging situation for many families. Back then, questions and support areas revolved around children’s adjustment and activities for spouse and children. Today’s issues are more focused on economics and the impact of the move on the total household income and expenses, which creates a lot of stress for the entire family. Family support services that provide guidance on the job search, dealing with stress during the move, and identifying necessary resources play a critical role in relocation success.”
Only recently, based on the downturn in the economy and real estate markets, have “family concerns/issues” been replaced as the number one reason for assignment rejection or failure. As employers redesign their strategies to address the current economic recovery process, the need for key resources and productivity will increase. Family transition assistance provides a vital key to the success and productivity of a relocation event.
Elizabeth D. Nunan, CRP, GMS, is vice president, global business development, Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate, Armonk, New York. She can be reached at +1 914 273 2800 ext. 267 or e-mail enunan@houlihanlawrence.com.
Susan Vittorio, CRP, PHR, is manager, people services of Ciba Corporation—Part of BASF Corporation, Tarrytown, New York. She can be reached at +1 914 785 2265 or e-mail susan.vittorio@ciba.com.