Everybody knows that if you want to build the best business, you need to have the best team. Now, it’s true: some of these team members can operate remotely. But just because you can hire remote workers doesn’t mean you have to hire remote workers. In fact, for your company, having everybody in-house might be the way to go.
So many business owners and entrepreneurs assume that, by insisting that their team all operate in-house and be locally based, they can only choose team members from an already locally-based pool of applicants. This is absolutely not true! You can open up applications as widely as you like. If you want people to move to take a position in your office, though, you are going to have to offer them a pretty sweet deal.
A Word About Wages
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you have to pay through the nose to get someone to relocate for your company. While, obviously you want to pay your people (and pay them well), there are other things that you can do to make a relocation more palatable to a potential recruit.
Offer Reimbursement
Moving to take a job is tax deductible, sure, but it is unlikely that your new recruit will be able to claim 100% of his expenses as part of that deduction. This is why it is better (and easier for everyone) if you simply reimburse your recruit for every penny that he or she paid out of pocket to come and work for you. This way your new employee isn’t out any money and you can deduct that expense on your company’s taxes.
You can, of course, offer to simply front the cost of the move ahead of time either by offering the person a pre-paid stipend to cover costs or by arranging things like movers, transportation, etc. yourself. Mayflower movers recommend using a relocation service to help these moves go more smoothly. You can use these services for a variety of things, from the actual transportation of belongings to help with housing, etc.
Provide Housing
One of the hardest things to do when you have to move to a new city or state is find a place to live. You don’t know the area and you might not be able to afford to take a bunch of exploration and scouting trips before the big move. This is why it is a good idea to provide some sort of temporary housing to your new recruit. You can set up short term housing in a corporate apartment or, if your new recruit will be bringing a family, rent a family sized apartment for six months while she and her family explore the area, check out schools, etc.
Pay for Travel
If you’re truly interested in someone, you’ll pay for them to fly out and meet with you (or you can fly out to meet with them). Then, once this person has been hired, you can offer to pay for travel between her current home and your office as she starts training for her new position. Obviously you’ll also want to pay for hotel rooms or corporate housing for these trips as well.
Paid Vacation
Your new recruit will have been traveling to and from your offices for at least a few weeks while he or she prepares for the relocation. It takes time, after all, to sell a house, pack belongings, get kids ready to move, etc. This is why, once your recruit and his or her family have gotten to town, you should offer him or her at least a week of paid vacation time to settle in with his or her family without having to worry about coming in to the office.
Basically, to entice a new recruit to move, you have to make the moving process as smooth and as lucrative as possible. Yes, it will likely be expensive but your new recruit will be worth the expense!