Career mobility can mean transferring departments, areas or cities

By JANINE OGIER

Catherine Ledingham left home last month and moved from Christchurch to Auckland on an internal transfer with her company.

Leaving her family was a big step in itself. Moving at any time is a stressful event, ranking near to divorce or the death of a loved one.

Then add to the equation the pressure of settling in with new colleagues in a different work environment at the same time as adjusting to another city.

But Ledingham has been well looked after - her company planned and arranged the move so the transition was smooth.

"I haven't had to worry about anything, which is good for settling in - those first few weeks are always going to be the hardest," she says.

"It has meant I am freed up to focus on my new position and learning my new role without the distraction of being stressed about moving."

That's not always the case, says Dr Polly Parker, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School.

Historically, organisations took good care of their staff when moving them. Then there was a change to a no-care ethos within business, Parker says.

Now companies are settling into the middle ground where it's up to staff to negotiate as smooth a transition as possible, she says.

Ledingham is a sales manager for duty free retailer DFS, which runs the DFS Galleria stores in Christchurch and Auckland.

Patria Reid, the company's director of human resources for New Zealand, says the company arranges for a relocation company to assist in packing up and transferring staff and their families to where they are going.

Temporary accommodation is provided while staff search for a place to live; an orientation visit to the new location is provided before the transfer; and the relocation company helps with advice on areas to live, schools and facilities.

Once the employee is in the new city, there's an orientation of the company's premises and introduction to the new job.

For Ledingham, the transfer was "a career opportunity and the next step for me to gain experience in a bigger location".

Parker says career mobility used to be associated with switching to a new organisation, but now companies are working hard to retain the best people.

Often that means providing staff with opportunities to develop skills in different areas by transferring departments or areas or cities.

"People will stay with a company today as long as they are still learning," says Parker, a specialist in career development.

"Most learning happens on the job so people need to be provided with opportunities at work to develop different sets of skills and be exposed to people with different areas of expertise," she says.

When considering transferring internally, people need to weigh up what they will learn in the new position and if the learning has a limited lifespan.

An employee might be selected to move because of a strength that they have, but they have to ensure they will continue to improve their skills.

Taking a transfer involves developing adaptability and flexibility and showing willingness to learn and to change. Those are critical career competencies which are more important today than a job title, Parker says.

Ledingham is part of the management development programme at DFS, which includes the ability to relocate around the company's operations as a prerequisite for participation.

Staying with the same organisation has cemented her place on the corporate ladder and their support of her study and fast promotion up the ranks have ensured her loyalty.

A professional advantage of the transfer for Ledingham is the additional contact with the company's senior management in Auckland and with the buyers who source products for the firm.

"It's a diverse company to work for and you meet so many people. It is not just a daily office job as every day is different. I love the people side of things."

DFS made her move easy and were supportive in terms of moving her possessions, providing accommodation on arrival and setting up a four-hour orientation tour of Auckland.

"Obviously you want to keep talented people in the organisation. Sometimes they need to be moved to other countries or other positions within the organisation to give them the next career opportunity," says Reid.

"It is hard to find talent in the wider market so if we have it internally we want to nurture it. If it means losing somebody from our New Zealand division to go to Australia, Singapore or any other of our divisions, then we are very supportive and happy for them."

Flexibility was the key strategic ingredient when insurance giant IAG New Zealand last year transferred more than 40 staff around New Zealand as part of the amalgamation of NZI Insurance into the company.

The IAG national office, incorporating State Insurance, was in Wellington, while the NZI headquarters was in Auckland. In the amalgamation Auckland became the main location and many staff moved north.

The company deliberately did not prescribe where national positions needed to be based.

"What we wanted to do was keep our key talent and skills and work through where they needed to be based," IAG HR development manager Rose Beets says.

"If we could, we wanted to have some flexibility around that, so people might be able to stay where they were and work in the new roles."

Managers assessed the importance of having their team in one place or managing remotely and it was resolved that some could have their staff split between Wellington or Auckland while others needed everyone in the same place.

Executives worked to balance the needs of the business and individual circumstances when deciding if different positions could be flexible on the location, Beets says.

Jobs were advertised with "location undetermined" so people could apply based on their interest.

Then a removal company ran a seminar in Wellington to provide staff there with information about Auckland areas and schools.

"It was important because people didn't know enough about whether they would want to move or not. That allowed them a better understanding of what the decision might mean for them and their family," Beets says.

Managers had flexibility over when people moved, so staff could arrange their transfer around school terms, sports commitments, selling their house, and partner's work responsibilities.

Now the company makes more use of video conferencing to bring teams in different locations together for occasional meetings.

And the staff who transferred are still with IAG.

Making the decision

* Consider what you will learn in the new job

* Consider the skills a transfer will develop

* Think of the long-term consequences for your career

* Seek information about the place where the job is based so you can compare the lifestyle

* Compare a career path in the same company with moving to a new organisation

* Sharpen your negotiating pencil to bargain for a good transfer deal once the decision is made

* Reduce your stress by getting someone else to organise the removal process

* Research your new location so you can choose a neighbourhood with confidence

* Choose your new locale with care to prevent the need for another move

* Time the move so the transition is less painful for your family