Be a Part of the Solution

As a consultant, I have the luxury of coming into a company with no (or very little) preconceived notions about that company and working to help them achieve whatever they have hired me to do. All companies have a personality. I guess some might refer to it as its culture. But it is an amalgamation of many personalities that have created this entity and the way it operates. Sometimes company cultures are a hangover from long gone people or processes. Culture can be hard to change, but definitely not impossible. There has to be a motivation. It could be profits or company image or growth opportunities. Nothing worse than hearing someone say ‘that’s just the way it has always been done’ when a change is proposed.

When I observe Relocation Departments and their leadership teams, there can often be a disconnect. It makes perfect sense to me that these two groups would not be in lock step at every given moment. They each have different audiences, goals and influences and certainly have different agendas. They even have a different language. We in relocation use anagrams, acronyms and various industry slang that can be foreign to those just on the peripheral of the relocation world.

People involved in the day to day of relocation operations, often find it hard to step out of that world to get perspective. I see it in the way we write and speak. It’s not a bad thing until we are trying to get the support of those that aren’t immersed in the day to day of relocation drama.

Branch managers, leadership and broker/owners are dealing with recruiting challenges, retention issues, diminishing profit margins, leadership development tasks and trying to drive sales. That is not in the forefront of relocation staff on a day to day. We have an entirely different set of things we deal with on the daily. But I advise relocation professionals to reposition the discussions they have with their leaders to see how they can address and become contributing solutions to the above concerns with support from the relocation department. Sometimes we have to get out of our own heads to see the best way to get the support we need.

I have the luxury when working with brokerages, to form my opinions based on my observations in a very short period of time. That is why it is critical to share everything with a consultant such as historical events that might be a holdover in the perception of the relocation program in the company. It’s kind of like an attorney representing someone in a trial. The last thing you want is to get surprise witness in court. It is important to know all of the back story before we get to work. That is why we have a confidentiality agreement. What we don’t know about, we can’t help address. We’re not here to judge, we’re here to help with the path forward. When communicating with your leadership, keep in mind all of the history that may cloud their perception of relocation. History is important, it helps us remember where we came from. But it shouldn’t get in the way of progress.

So when you are crafting your messages internally to your leadership team, keep at the top of your mind what the key issues are that are keeping them up at night. Think about how the Relocation Department can become not only a provider of referrals to the company and profit to the bottom line, but how you can help with the pressing challenges brokers face every day in this competitive world of real estate. Once they feel you are sensitive to their challenges and prepared to help where you can, you are likely to see more reciprocal behavior when you need their support. Be a part of their solution.

 “Identify your problems, but give your power and energy to solutions.” ~ Tony Robbins, Motivational Speaker and Coach