Office Relocation Notice to Staff
Relocating your office is a major change and shift in a company's development, which in turn, can have an impact on your staff. Giving early and correct notice to staff about your office relocation plans is essential, and this is where HR has a major role to play in your office move.
This article looks at 5 things you need to get right when notifying your staff about an office relocation:
Reasonable Notice
Give staff reasonable notice about the office relocation as early as possible. Once the decision has been finalized, you need to inform staff, as you don't want them hearing about the move from another source and receive the wrong messages.
Reasons for the Move
Let staff know the rationale behind the office relocation so they get buy-in. This can also be reassuring to them during this turbulent time of change.
Offer Counsel
Meet people personally or within their teams to discuss the relocation. This gives staff a chance to ask questions and voice any concerns on how the move might affect them. Staff may take the office relocation quite personally and seemingly trivial matters to you may be a major hurdle for them. The key is to listen and offer support.
Be Open
Moving to a new location may pose commuting problems for some staff, so be open to alternative ways of working in order to retain them. Look at where staff live, particularly key staff, and consider whether people need to be in the office every day. Working from home for some staff may be a cheaper and viable alternative.
Regular Updates
After giving notice to staff about the office relocation, they also need to be updated on progress of the new office and be briefed about your proposed moving schedule. This will help keep staff motivated and engaged so that morale isn't affected as a result of the move. Set up notice boards, a section on your company intranet about the move, or provide regular email updates with information about how the new office build out is progressing.
Essential Reading: Download the free HR Guide to Moving Office for practical tips on notifying staff about an office relocation.
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