Consulting & Benchmarking

Mobility can be an essential piece to your talent acquisition strategy and managing corporate relocation services has become yet another task in an HR Manager’s role, so we strive to provide the support and resources to help your program succeed. We provide a customized relocation program for employers that allows you to select the services important to your mobility needs while working to be an extension of your team.

We also offer a robust program, giving you access to a secure portal that shows real-time data for each initiated relocation, as well as overall reporting and spend figures. This customized approach allows us to develop a program unique to your organization.

Policy Development & Consultation

Watson Relocation will help with policy development or the review of a legacy program to ensure it still meets business objectives and is competitive for attracting today’s talent. We work with you to develop a policy with attractive ideas that are customized to your company’s culture and philosophy.

Our mission is to help develop a tailormade plan that meets regulatory guidelines and does not incur unnecessary expenses for the organization. Our fully integrated expense management program will track all expenses with full payroll integration.

Several key factors influence your company’s ability to control relocation costs and keep employees engaged: relocation policy, management practices, vendor selection and administration. Through our experience with these factors we can help you arrive at important policy decisions.

As a part of our relocation consulting services, we will:

• Review current relocation policies
• Develop and write new policy recommendations as needed
• Assist in formulation of cost-effective tax savings strategies
• Provide an employee handout that explains the program, process, and policy
• Review the relocation program and procedures with relocating employees

Policy Administration

Implementation
By initiating each move with our trained team, employees are assigned to one point of contact who manages the logistics of the move. Our mobility experts utilize a system of highly vetted vendors to ensure employees work with trusted sources during each facet of their move. We pride ourselves on offering each employee a high-touch approach which improves the employee experience.

To maximize an applicant’s time, during the interview process, Watson Relocation will coordinate an area orientation tour prior or after the job interview. If possible, build additional time into the interview itinerary for a two-hour comprehensive tour.

Program Analytics
Our online portal provides real-time statistical information on current employees during their mobility process. Additionally, we work closely with you to develop customized relocation reporting, comprehensive trend analysis, and forecasting of your mobility program.

Expense Management
The fact is, few know the actual cost of relocation; many companies end up overpaying or underpaying their employees. Identifying and tracking costs associated with relocation can be very time consuming – not to mention the time spent keeping current on all tax issues. That’s why we coordinate it all on your behalf, from expense tracking and reporting to withholding and gross-ups.

All moves are initiated in the relocation portal including full relocation benefits, lump sum and direct reimbursement. The portal provides real time reporting and relocation spend for each transferee. Additionally, the use of the portal provides a higher level of oversight through the relocation process.

The expense management portion of our employer portal provides functions such as:

• Policy Compliance
• Tax Code Audit
• Processing of Expenses
• Funding to Employee
• Tax Gross Up / Integrated Payroll Reporting
• Data Centralization

Consultation & Benchmarking
We provide ongoing consultation of program metrics, as well as an annual review of your mobility spend and approved exceptions. Benchmarking the policy against other industry offered programs is essential to remain competitive for today’s talent. Our team will facilitate these discussions, keeping you up to date with best practices and current trends in the industry.