A global pharmaceutical client experienced a surge in its employee base over the pandemic, prompting the need to reinvent its talent and recruiting strategy.
With the guidance of Weichert’s Advisory Services, this client created a global core/flex framework implemented in domestic and international phases. In early 2023, the program went live and Weichert Go captured a full year of data, allowing the Weichert team to calculate the program’s effectiveness, cost impact, and customer experience. Weichert also developed its GoFlex tech tool to help the client seamlessly manage and report on its flexible moves.
The priority for this client’s program manager was (and still is!) to protect the value of the mobility program and always keep the employee experience at the forefront of every decision. Among the key data points that we identified in evaluating the impact of their program were the number of exceptions and overall costs.
In this case, the overall cost of exceptions related to the total spend was meager, less than 1% of total program costs, but maintaining this rate required an enormous governance effort on the client’s part and often resulted in uncomfortable situations with mobile employees feeling at odds with their company during an already stressful time in their lives.
One year after implementing their core-flex program, the overall results have been outstanding, with the financial impact surpassing the client’s expectations (we love it when that happens).
In one year, the costs of approved exceptions decreased by 70%. Even more remarkable: the company achieved these savings while experiencing an 85% increase in year-over-year volume, a real testament to what flexible mobility can do!
Looking further into the data, two items reveal a more profound story. Thanks to this GoFlex-powered core/flex program:
This translates to less time spent by our client’s managers and mobility team members investigating exceptions and seeking approvals.
Equally important is the impact on the employee experience. Empowering employees with intuitive tools to choose their benefits, paired with the guidance of the Weichert Counselor, gives them control over their journey and keeps them engaged in their relocation.
Meeting their needs with flexibility (rather than having to run a series of requests up the flagpole) results in a smoother and less stressful process that also drives higher approval/satisfaction ratings for the mobility program and the employer. For this client, that translated to a slight increase in an already very high overall satisfaction rating but a full doubling of their net promoter score over the year prior!