That’s a big change from where we were a few years ago.” The mobility profession is responding with information technologies that help trans- ferees, employers and relocation profes- sionals stay in control of a complex, multi- variable process. Large relocation manage- ment companies (RMCs) have rolled out proprietary packages like Cartus’s BenefitsBuilder, which allows transferees to self-manage their core-flex plans. Elsewhere, transferees access corporate web portals to track where they are in the relocation process. Important steps can be flagged so they don’t slip through the cracks and RMCs can leverage data analytics to understand what works and what doesn’t in a relocation, refining their processes based on data gathered from past experiences. “We’re getting more requests from clients to focus on using the data we collect about their transferees and programs to help make better, more proactive decisions around strategic elements of their policy,” says Andrew Pierce, senior vice president of global supplier development at Graebel Companies Inc. “Data is the key, but data by itself is passive. It’s about analyzing the data to help answer their questions.” Graebel, like other relocation management companies, partners with technology firms to support its data gathering and analytics and complement its in-house technology specialists with data science expertise. “Even if you’re not a ‘tech’ company or use any technology the broad consumer is particularly interested in, you still have to behave the way people expect you to behave,” says Bob Johnson, vice president, strategic development, for Paramount Transportation Systems. “You have to actively manage data; you need to push information to clients and relocating employees; and you have to know what they should know and feed them that information so that they never realize how dangerous their not knowing it really was. The mobility landscape will be impacted by a company’s ability to keep pace with technology as it impacts the way business is managed and the way people use it to interact with each other.” Kirk’s observation that relocating employees expect the same level of self- service that they experience in other consumer interactions hints at one down- side to technology, at least as employed in relocation management. This is not an industry like other industries. “Attitud- inal expectations are changing, [but] the danger is that the consumer is transfer- ring that attitude to the very complex mobility environment, not realizing how dangerous that attitude transference can be,” says Johnson. In other words, when a transferee expects a relocation-related transaction to offer the same level of convenience and simplicity they experience ordering clothes online, bad things can happen. “We had a client who had lump-sum programs, and we found that their people were entering into accommodation where, in a couple of instances, the person they were dealing with didn’t even have the legal right to rent the property,” Johnson says. In the end, the transferees were evicted and lost their deposit. Part of the technology challenge is that clients typically don’t know what it is they are looking for, Pierce says. “They say, ‘We’ll know it when we see it.’ Our challenge is to design programs that will allow customers to meet needs they can’t articulate. Whether it’s data that’s been parsed into meaningful strategic recom- mendations or apps and tools that support our direct client relationships or their transferees, there’s an expectation that we’re going to continue to provide those – and continue to get better at it.” (UN)PERCEIVED VALUE? The acquisition of TheMIGroup by Weichert Workforce Mobility, announced in May of this year, highlights another recurring phenomenon in the mobility industry: mergers and acquisitions. While the pace may not be any more rapid today than it has been in the past, it is a sign that the industry is changing, and according to consultant Linda Ward O’Farrell, it may be creating a polarization in the profession. “At one end of the spectrum you have small and mid-sized RMCs, which are more flexible, more nimble and have a high quality of service delivery,” Ward O’Farrell says. “They aren’t looking for big clients. At the other end are the large RMCs. They have unceremoniously dumped some of their clients or decided not to bid on RFPs for smaller customers, smaller volumes. So you have large RFPs that are concentrated only on the large accounts.” Ward O’Farrell believes the Weichert- TheMIGroup merger is worth watching because the two companies were seen as being at opposite ends of this same spectrum. “It will be interesting to see Winter 2018 PERSPECTIVES 17