Preparing your employees for their relocation

Moving to another country alone or with family can be very confronting and challenging.  Good preparation is the keystone to a successful relocation.  Even if you're relocating to a country that speaks the same language you will encounter cultural differences that will be unsettling.  Cross Cultural preparation will enable your employees to settle into their new location more smoothly, armed with good quality information and expectations.  Sending them on a "look/see" visit prior to the permanent relocation will help address some issues including cultural expectations, lifestyle and real estate "reality" and education and support for their children.  That way there are no rude shocks after arrival and a relocation or cross cultural consultant can help prepare the individual or family for their permanent return.

Australia is a sought after destination, and as such can present challenges as far as the rental market and school placements are concerned.  Best to find out about all this "before" the move so expectations can be managed.

Remember:  "Seek first to understand and then be understood" - this applies to your new location as well as your new business colleagues!

Cross Cultural Seminars

Exciting news - Crossing Cultures is bringing a seminar series to you! The Series is entitled "Diversity - Navigating YOUR World of Difference" - we are starting with a seminar in Melbourne entitled "Culture at Work - Understanding Australia" - a good place to start.  We will be attaching our flyer soon.  1st seminar will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday 12th July.  Watch this space!

the virtual world

Hi everyone, we've been talking about how the internet has changed the relocation industry. Not only are we dealing with internet savvy Gen Y's but the real estate world has finally embraced the internet. The rental market is highly competitive and service from real estate agents varies - but what we need to be aware of is that properties advertised on the web may not be available as some sites are slow to remove them. Also the internal pictures may not be accurate - some agents use old pictures of properties from previous sales compaigns. It's tough out there and the agents are finding people are also difficult to deal with, very stressed and in some cases putting in multiple applications for properties. This means they take us less seriously which is a shame. We reassure them that our policy is to guide our clients to be sensible about this and only apply for properties they either have a good chance to get and really want. The speed of searching on the internet on laptops and mobile devices means we need to be up to speed with our clients - but we can't look at every single property advertised. It's hard enough to get to view some of them and our knowledge and expertise of suburbs, neighbourhoods or previous inspections of properties does help. The best approach is to have a good drive around during an orientation, narrow down the suburb choice and focus on the area you want - it makes the whole process less stressful. If nothing else it's less confusing for new arrivals and means you can concentrate on the best that comes up in that particular area. Melbourne has a large metropolitan area for instance and it can be quite daunting to travel from one end to the the other! Presenting well at an inspection, keeping children well behaved, being polite to agents all helps to position you for a successful application. Happy hunting.

Pre-arrival tips

Some important tips for new arrivals:
- furnished houses are hard to find and expensive
- most houses have built in wardrobes so leave large wardrobes behind
- homes for rent are managed by real estate agents' employees who are NOT on commission to rent the property - agents get their % from landlords only
- relocation agents are not on commission and agents do not multi list
- we tell the truth in Australia - what you see is what you get
- there are very few international schools - 1 in Sydney only and that is not close to the CBD - new expats assimilate into our local schools
- private schooling is popular for secondary and is very expensive
- rent is advertised as weekly but charged monthly
- the market is competitive and rental properties often don't include fridge, washer, dryer - only kitchen appliances
- landlords mostly won't add or change anything for a tenant
- 1 month's rent and and 1 month rent equivalent for bond is usually required up front
- opening a bank account is easy - passport holds for 100 pts up to 6 weeks after arrival - you can open an account prior to arrival on line