KPIs: measurement to drive relocation performance

Which KPIs should you choose to measure your relocation programs?

What is a KPI?

KPIs (Key performance indicators) are indicators that allow you to measure the effectiveness of the actions implemented. This measurement of effectiveness will allow us to determine precisely what the overall performance of an HR system or process is.

KPIs are a real decision-making tool. These key indicators will help you adjust or correct processes that do not comply with your objectives.

As you can know, KPIs are closely linked to objectives. Above all, clear and realistic objectives must be set for the measurement tools to be meaningful.

Sometimes objectives are not easily quantifiable or measurable when creating your KPIs.
You can start by developing simple intentions that will be refined as you think about them. For example, your intention might be to improve the moving department as this is an often-critical phase of international mobility.
Then, you could specify this intention by setting numerical results to be achieved, such as, for example, a claim ratio not to be exceeded.

KPIs: why integrate them more systematically into your relocation programs?

Measuring the economic performance of the relocation activity

The international mobility sector is a major cost center for the company. Accommodation and destination services constitute a large part of the external expenses of expatriation. With Covid, other expense items have been added to the envelopes to be spent on employees sent abroad (sanitary measures, masks, increased rents for certain already expensive cities).

Keeping track of these costs and allocating them to make your relocation programs more efficient will become a must in the coming months.

Financial indicators will help you measure the progress made or to be made towards your objectives of cost control, savings to be made, balancing expenses according to the services offered to employees, etc.
Activity indicators are a great ally to monitor your global relocation budget and to demonstrate the economic performance of your mobility programs.

In the future, what if your superiors ask you about the relevance of your relocation programs, their ROI, their optimization?
What will your answer be based on?
You know how to explain the benefits of mobility for the company, whether it is a question of talent acquisition, retention or image…
And with this data-driven approach, you will be able to provide quantified measurements to demonstrate the success of your actions.

Measure the experience of the mobile employee

Some expatriation missions can be evaluated strictly on financial criteria, while others must be part of a long-term ROI strategy that includes human factors.

When we talk about expatriation, we are above all talking about people!
And even if each employee experiences mobility differently, the quality of its organization will have a significant impact on the overall ROI of the mission.

International mobility is a transition period that can last a long time! From the moment the application is received until the settling-in in the host country and the start of the contract, your employee may have to deal with unforeseen events or difficulties.
It is better not to wait until the end of the process to react if problems arise.

You would like to carry out this close monitoring during your employee’s journey? But how would you do it? You cannot afford to dedicate daily time for each employee.
With the quality performance indicators, you will be able to detect, instantly and continuously, if the services delivered by the relocation providers correspond to your quality standards.
If you use a mobility expert to manage all logistical aspects, you will quickly know if this partner is bringing you added value. You will also be able to react, contact your employee in difficulty and provide him/her with real support for his/her integration in the country.
Do not wait for the return of your expatriate employees and use the data to measure the satisfaction of your mobile workforce.

If there is only one advantage to using KPIs, it is that they will help you make the right decisions!
In international talent management, where you are often torn between more human support or more cost killing, all this data will help you make trade-offs and take informed measures!

Which KPI to choose for your relocation dashboard?

To gain efficiency, it is recommended to choose less than ten KPIs in order to define a clear strategy and not dilute your efforts.
If you accumulate useless KPIs, you risk of drowning under an avalanche of data will prevent you from acting and taking concrete measures.

How to set up relevant indicators?

Focus on your priority objectives to manage international mobility

Your relocation programs are established. You would like to develop them or simply test their performance.

You have identified priority objectives:

• improve the employee experience,
• reduce the cost of services at destination,
• evaluate authorizations more accurately
• test service providers’ quality of service

Here are some examples of KPIs you could use for your programs:

#1 KPI: Actual vs. Estimated Costs

With regular data on expenses and their breakdown by line item (moving…), you can easily compare the budget gap between your estimates vs. your actual costs.
Few companies do this comparison on services. By doing this, you can see if your numbers are on target… or if you are way off.
Compare the reliability rate of estimates from year to year.

#2 KPI: Percentage of savings achieved

You can calculate savings and compare your performance over time. Calculate how much you are saving compared to previous years!

#3 KPI: Package forecasts and mobility trends

The profile of your employees, their family composition, their geographical distribution.
All this data will allow you to better anticipate the calculation of authorizations and packages and to observe trends.
On this last point, let’s take the data visualization which allows you to see where expatriates are located? In times of health crisis, this information is crucial but not the only one. This data can also be used for talent management purposes.
Which destinations are preferred by my mobility policy? Does it correspond to the aspirations of millennials?

# 4 KPI: Measuring satisfaction

The percentage of employee satisfaction is a major indicator for evaluating your programs.
As you know, collecting employee feedback is not an easy task. Large surveys launched during campaigns by the company, out of context, generally bring little feedback and are difficult to use.
If you set up tools to receive on-the-spot feedback from your employees, not only will you be able to monitor the effectiveness of the service providers hired, but you will also be alerted to the state of mind of your expats thanks to the collection of qualitative data.

What KPIs can help you make the right decisions?

At MRS, we have set up various activity indicators for your management.
It is also possible to build customized KPIs to your needs.
Let’s talk about it together!