I vacationed in Washington DC with my family this last week.
Great trip. So much to see and do. We really enjoyed ourselves. As we were
walking down 14th Street toward the Washington Monument my wife
said, “I couldn’t live here.” She went on to say, “It’s a great city with
so much to see and do. Such amazing architecture. But for me, too many people.
Everything seems so crowded. I just wouldn’t be comfortable.”
This got me thinking, geographical preference is such an
individual thing. A lot to do with a person’s frame of reference. Being born
and raised in Iowa and vacationing mostly in places such as beaches in Florida,
her point of reference is so much different than someone else who was born and
raised in an area such as Chicago, NYC, DC and so on.
Naturally there are always going to be exceptions as
certainly there are people who were raised in Iowa that would much prefer a
Chicago.
But the fact is, certain people are just more comfortable in
a certain surrounding. To take such a person and place them in an area they are
not comfortable is a recipe for a failed relocation.
This leads me to my point, employers must take into
consideration a candidate’s spouse in the relocation and interview process. But
what's appropriate? What are some companies doing?
Over the years I’ve seen companies have the spouse or
significant other travel along with the candidate to the on-site interview. As
these companies realized that if this was going to work, the significant other
must be on board as well.
I’ve seen companies extend an offer to a candidate and part
of the offer process, invite the candidate and spouse/significant other to come
out to look the area over.
I’ve seen candidates even ask the company if it was okay if
they brought their spouse/significant other at their own expense. Sometimes the
companies will step-up and offer to pay for the spouse/significant other travel
expenses. That can go a long way to creating a very favorable view of a
potential employer.
The employer simply cannot overlook the importance of the
spouse/significant other to securing the candidate they wish to bring on board.
No matter how much you want a candidate to come on board, if their
spouse/significant other is not on board with the geographic location, it will
certainly fall apart at some point. I believe it makes the best sense to
determine this prior to an offer being accepted.
Scot Dickerson, CPC
President
President
Capstone
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