Ensure your employee feels confident when they land in their new home

Your employee is excited about their new role and new home location, but how do they start figuring out what it really means to live in their city?

Destination services are designed to make sure your employee feels confident that when they land in their new home, be it temporary or permanent, they can find the right place to live, get set up quickly, and know that their local resources can be easily accessed and understood.

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Getting your employee accustomed to their new city is a critical part of the relocation process. That is why Odyssey’s destination services are aimed at helping the employee feel comfortable in their new surroundings and encourage the decision to accept their new role. We provide the following within the Area Orientation/Tour:

  • Welcome Kit – which includes a city map, regional road map, toll system information (if applicable), area demographics, home market data, local climate information, relevant child care and /or school information, options for mobile phone carriers, local holidays/custom highlights, and entertainment guides
  • Review of the local housing market
  • Information about community organizations and amenities
  • Information about commute patterns and transportation options
  • Guided tours of:
    • potential communities for the relocating employee to consider living
    • shopping areas
    • recreational opportunities
    • point of interest
    • cultural facilities
    • public transportation pickup points
    • medical facilities

Your employees want to completely understand the variety of housing options available to them in their new location. We provide several resources to ensure they have options that meet their lifestyle needs and preferences. Odyssey will cover the following Home Finding Assistance resources with your employee:

  • Needs Assessment – Family member overview, including cultural/social or lifestyle preferences, an overview of schooling options down to the family pets’ needs, target dates (move-in, move-out, etc), work or visitor visa restrictions, and more
  • Pre-arrival Overview – Overview of the current market and explanation of documentation that is required
  • Guided Rental Tours – We pre-screening of all apartments that are within budget, and provide a mapped route to view properties by appointments
  • Rental Assistance – Provide the employee with advice regarding their lease review and negotiation to include rate, terms, conditions, and regional clauses
  • Walk-through move-in assistance and protocol including managing your utilities
  • Assistance with initial inventory, furniture needs, and move-in inspection

Your employee has finally arrived in their new city, and now all those little details from emergency service information to mobile phone providers, need to be taken care of.  We help make this transition time easy for your employee so they can focus on getting adjusted.

Odyssey provides the following to make your employee’s transition into their new city as smooth as possible:

  • Emergency resources (medical, police, fire, etc.) contact information
  • International contact information for embassy or consulates
  • Information about community organizations and amenities
  • Information about commute patterns and transportation options
  • Information on local resources such as cleaners, home and or vehicle maintenance professionals
  • Accompanied support in setting up home utilities
  • Support obtaining social security/local registration
  • Support setting up a local bank account
  • Guidance on obtaining a local driver’s license, car registration, and insurance
  • Information about mobile phone providers
  • Recommendation for childcare, if applicable
  • Information about necessary insurance (including pets)

Finding the right rental in many markets can be just as challenging as buying or selling a home. Your employees that are renters will get full assistance finding that “perfect place”. Below are the steps we go through and provide your employees who are renters.

  • Needs analysis regarding lifestyle and housing
  • Selection of the rental assistance or real estate firm that is most qualified to assist the employee in identifying rental housing
  • Provide the selected rental assistance or real estate firm with information regarding the employee‘s needs
  • Furnish the employee with information and tools, which assist in performing a school evaluation
  • Counsel the employee regarding rental considerations, which may include but shall not be limited to, the following:
    • Rental applications
    • Rental deposits
    • Security considerations
    • Lease considerations (such as “build, buy, or transfer” clauses)
    • Renters insurance

When your employee first land in their new city, often their permanent housing is not yet ready or available, or they may still be on the hunt for permanent housing. Temporary housing provides your employees with a place to call home until they are settled. Odyssey can help by:

  • Performing a needs determination – including understanding the length of stay and housing requirements
  • Utilize our online sourcing tool powered by ReloQuest to determine the availability of properties
  • Electronically provide the employee with the available units that were sourced
  • Assist in negotiating terms of the lease in accordance with the appropriate reimbursement guidelines and employee requirements
  • Direct pay vendor invoices
  • Process reimbursements
  • Maintain communication with the employee throughout the temporary living period to coordinate changes or resolve issues and coordinate move-out dates with the termination of benefit and/or move into permanent housing

  • Provide oversight of the entire move process, through high performing agents, including:
    • Scheduling of packing, loading, storage-in-transit, delivery, unloading, and unpacking of goods.
    • Auditing household goods invoices for accuracy and adherence to your policy.
    • Following up on any claims for damaged goods.
    • Measuring service quality
  • Review performance of household goods providers and regularly report results to your company.

You employees want to feel just as supported when they end their assignment as when they started. Destination departure services help the employee feel confident that they can leave and know everything will be taken care of.

  • Termination of housing lease
  • Final walkthrough of the home
  • Facilitate the return of security deposits
  • Support closing bank accounts
  • Support deregistration with local authorities
  • Assistance with disconnection of utilities
  • Assistance with de-registration from medical facilities
  • Support with the termination of insurances
  • Support deregistration schools deregistration
  • Assistance with deregistration from clubs and/or organizations
  • Assistance cancelling household services such as house cleaning, yard, pool, etc.
  • Guidance on organizing pickup of rental furniture and other rental items as necessary

Your employee wants to know that when they go on an assignment with their family that their children can get a great education and have a choice of different school options. Odyssey’s team can help with:

  • Needs assessment which includes the number and age of school-aged children, address children’s academic, extracurricular and social needs
  • Provide an overview of the academic system and trends in the destination location
  • Provide a list of local schools for the families’ consideration. The list will include websites and key contacts within each school for all types of schools
  • Schedule viewing and visits

Part of Odyssey’s core DNA is our focus on providing a premier relocation experience for all employees at all levels. For Executive level employees, concierge-style (white glove) services are encouraged and available and can be highly customized to accommodate the Executive’s needs.

  • Higher quality amenities/products – examples of this would be: coordinating a penthouse for corporate housing or hotel stays
  • first-class travel for airfare
  • enclosed car carrier
  • concierge on-site move-in management
  • maid services at origin and destination
  • Concierge Services – this type of white-glove service is designed to remove or minimize the Executive’s involvement in the relocation process. Under this category, the Odyssey Relocation Consultant may work directly with an Executive Assistant for all coordination of benefits and services vs. the Executive directly. The goal is to allow the Executive to focus on the business and their personal life while Odyssey works on all relocation matters. Other options exist to remove the Executive almost completely from having to be present in either origin or destination for the shipment of their household goods and/or automobiles. Odyssey’s supplier partners have many options that Odyssey can recommend and coordinate your Executives or VIPs.

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