No need for the office relocation to be so moving

AS organisations downsize and take up new premises, staff can feel left behind, discovers Catherine Quinn

THE housing market might have slowed, but with companies continuing to upsize and downsize, the business world is still on the move. And alongside relocating, the recessionary fall-out has seen a record number of corporations merge, downsize, or rebrand.

For organisations, the logistics of packing up an entire workplace and workforce, even with specialist movers, is a highly involved process. So it’s perhaps no surprise that historically they have paid little interest to the thoughts of staff.

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But just as moving house is a stressful activity, switching workplaces can also be difficult for staff. Experts suggest that the impact of physically moving with a workplace shouldn’t be underestimated. Entire schedules must be re-jigged, from how the journey in will now be undertaken to where the lunchtime sandwich will be bought from. Not to mention the likelihood of working in general disarray for the next few months.

The stresses are such that many HR managers are realising that relocating employees without a clear plan to keep disruption low has a detrimental effect on productivity. And many are now putting tools in place to help ease their workforce through the move.

One such organisation is digital media agency LBi Bigmouthmedia, which recently merged two separate London and Edinburgh companies to a single Scottish office. In the process staff were moved, and two different working cultures were brought together. Realising the implications for staff stress, the company worked hard to make the switch work smoothly.

“We communicated the changes as early as we could,” explains Nicola McGouldrick, head of human resources at LBi Bigmouthmedia.

“As soon as we could, we started consultation with all staff, with regular consultation meetings, to listen to concerns and communicate the changes to everyone. The hope was that everyone felt involved and able to voice their views openly.”

The company also put several other measures in place to ensure staff felt they could voice an opinion, or gain access to information about the likely disruption. “We had drop-in sessions to ‘Ask the Exec’, when people could ask questions and get answers straight from the horse’s mouth,” explains McGouldrick, “and we opened an online comments box for people to ask anonymous questions and get answers which were shared with everyone. We also have our regular office meetings held by our MD.”

Unfortunately, not all companies are so understanding. While LBi Bigmouthmedia moved as the result of an expanding market, relocating goes in two directions, and for many companies, the reason is less positive. In situations where a company is downsizing, staff might find plans to ease their relocation are less considered.

“When companies are downsizing as a result of financial difficulty, it may be more difficult for them to keep employees informed of the process,” explains a spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

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“There is also more likelihood of them moving to a cheaper premises which might have less favourable access for employees, or be less central. The most common reasons for employees being unhappy with a relocation is a longer or costlier commute, being unable or unwilling to move home, or their family situation, such as moving their children’s school.”

So what are your rights if your employer suddenly decides to up sticks and move miles beyond your regular distance to work? “It depends entirely on your contract,” explains the DWP spokesperson. “Some workplaces have contracts which contain a ‘mobility clause’. In this situation you are obliged to move with the employer and you really have no entitlement to redress if that move is inconvenient.”

If you don’t have a mobility clause then you do have more rights – but these are still limited in the eyes of many employee rights groups. As the DWP explains: “If you don’t have a mobility clause and the move is more than a few miles, then you can decide not to move. In this case your employer can try to accommodate you in a more flexible arrangement, or make you redundant.”

Sadly, redundancy doesn’t necessarily include a generous severance package. Employers might choose to make a healthy payment, but it’s really up to them. Legally they are obligated to pay you no more than statutory redundancy pay, which stacks up at one week’s pay per year you’ve worked for the company – provided you’ve served a minimum of two years. Depending on the circumstances of the move, however, you may be in a reasonable position to negotiate for some costs being met. “If you decide to relocate then your employer doesn’t have to offer you any compensations,” explains the DWP spokesperson. “But many staff find they are able to negotiate that certain payments of costs be made if they put a good case. These might include help with moving expenses, or temporary accommodation, loans for travel expense arrangements and even help with legal fees on moving house.”

If your company has been bought out, then it’s possible that your new employer might help with these costs in order to smooth the process of merging. If down-sizing is on the cards then most staff are too concerned about keeping their job to risk asking about compensation. But if the move is for happier reasons, such as in the case of LBi Bigmouthmedia, it’s always worth seeing if there’s anything in the kitty.

Rather than financial compensation, however, many staff find the issue of differing work cultures can be the hardest aspect of a merger. And this is something which often comes long after the new commute has been established and the other logistics have been ironed out.

So what do staff advise when a move is on the cards? “Try not to be too proud or stubborn,” says senior digital account manager, Michael Jarratt of LBi Bigmouthmedia, whose working life changed in the upheaval. “A merger is something you can’t change so embrace it. Business is business. Mergers don’t have to change a company’s culture; it is the people within business who create that culture. Remember what kept your work place great and ensure this is distilled once the company has merged.”

The moral of the story is that not all change is bad. And while changing locations or accepting the arrival of a new working culture can be stressful, advantages might also come from the milieu.

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