Employee retention w/ business relocation?

June 09, 2020

by a searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in San Francisco, CA, USA

Anyone have (preferably low-cost) examples of employee retention tools that were effective when a business relocates? My company is relocating ~30 mins commute time away from its current location. The new location will be nearer to ~50% of the workforce and further away from the other 50%, so there's a potentially added complication of whether I can "motivate" the employees to stay who will have longer commutes while not over-compensating those employees who will already be getting the benefit of a much shorter commute.

Apologies for posting anonymously as my move is still confidential, but if anyone is uncomfortable sharing their experience broadly and wouldn't mind sharing via dm, please leave a post to dm you and I will do so. Thanks in advance!

Reply by a searcher
from Harvard University in Omaha, NE, USA

I went through this last year when I combined two companies 50 minutes away from each other. For those affected, I offered a $1k relocation stipend which covered a move of this distance. I also offered a $500 one-time proximity bonus if their new residence was within 15 driving minutes of the new office. Of those affected, half of them moved and half of them quit. I'm not sure if you'd count that as a success, but it turned out ok for us.

Reply by an investor
from Illinois Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, USA

I did an acquisition where we were moving the target 35 miles from its current location. The guidelines at the time suggested that we would lose employees if they had to drive another 15 miles in LA. We offered no incentives and kept everyone. The job market at the time was not tight at the time.

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