DE&I Considerations: 3 Ways to Move Beyond the Basics

Many organizations have looked at their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) programs to ensure that language, policies, documents, and processes are supporting the company’s DEI initiatives. SIRVA’s recent white paper, Diversity Equity & Inclusion Considerations for Mobility Programs, explored four areas of impact to consider when aligning organizational DE&I initiatives with mobility programs— policy review, process and procedures review, vendor alignment, and analytics. Having addressed the basics, organizations are now looking for ways to provide more meaningful support that anticipates needs, provides easy accessibility to benefits for all employees, and allows for flexible or customized support.

3 Next Steps to Align Mobility and DE&I 

Meaningful Support

To provide meaningful support, organizations need to understand the evolving needs of relocating employees and their families. It is important not to assume that you know what your employees’ needs are based on past experiences, or that your mobility program needs are met because it is compliant and aligned with best practices. Take the time to:

• Fully understand the locations you are moving people to and from, and the challenges that might impact the employee and their family
• Ask the employee about their/their family’s needs 
  Seek feedback from employees on their unique experience and act on that feedback
• Understand how service delivery may vary by location
• Appreciate how disabilities may impact how employees engage services and proactively implement adaptive support protocols

 

Accessibility

To ensure that all employees have access to the same level of support, organizations are putting processes into place, or evaluating current processes, to assist employees who may require a different kind of support or may need to access support differently.

Several key areas to consider include:

• Ensuring that your relocation technology platform has inclusive design that accommodates accessibility needs including blindness, hearing impairment, hearing, motor/ physical, epilepsy, or neuro diversity. 
• Providing true global support including multiple languages, customer data tracked across all regions, and 24/7 support in any region.
• Offering flexible policy features that provide unique customization to fit employee and family needs. 
• Reviewing employee and stakeholder feedback frequently to ensure that mobility support is being provided in ways that are meaningful and accessible to all groups.

 

Flexible Support

Organizations are continuing to look for ways to provide support that is flexible and offers employees the opportunity to choose:

• When they want to engage support 
• What support they need on their own timeline
• How they want support provided, e.g., language training can be provided to the employee via a classroom, online with a personal coach, or via a digital, self-guided curriculum

Some examples of enabling employees the opportunity to customize their support include:

• Creating their own personal agenda or scope of work that the destination services provider (DSP) will support
• Choosing to have the DSP speak in their native language vs. the destination language
• Choosing the number of days of DSP support they need based on their family’s needs
• Selecting an allowance in lieu of a shipment
  Adding education support to benefits when needed

Employees may also choose to enhance the support they are already receiving. Several examples include:

• Applying a temporary living enhancement:
  • Grocery services upon arrival
  • General pantry set up upon arrival
  • Home office packages
  • Kids packages
  • Pet packages
  • Sanitization services
• Engaging an education specialist as part of destination support
• Applying a destination arrival enhancement:
  • Cleaning and sanitization services
  • Destination quick start program
  • Family support
  • Local network for spouses/partners

 

Staying in Synch with Company Initiatives

As HR managers seek to align mobility programs with your overall organizational DE&I initiatives, they will not want to look out of synch with company initiatives or find themselves in an area of risk because they had not taken the time to review their programs/policies. Organizations need to be thinking about the next steps in aligning mobility programs with company DE&I initiatives once they have addressed the basics. This will allow the organization to continue to improve upon their company alignment, provide more meaningful and accessible support to employees, and help support company goals.

For further information on aligning DE&I initiatives with your mobility program, or assessing your overall mobility program, contact SIRVA Global Advisory Services at globaladvisoryservices@sirva.com or reach out to your SIRVA account manager or SIRVA sales representative.