When relocating, people need people.

I read with interest "Words To Move By" (May) by Martha Frase-Blunt. While the importance of policy for relocations is evident, I believe that people make relocations successful, not policy.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Providing clear, constant communication tailored to relocating

I am confident that today's typical corporate relocation policies are well written and exist for the litigious society in which we live. However, I cannot agree with the attorney quoted in the article that, "Of all the steps companies take to ease a transition like relocation, having an agreement in place is the most critical." Successful relocations happen not because of policy but with the help of policy.

It would have been very beneficial to research how companies are providing service to assist relocating employees and their families as they face the stress of their relocation. These providers are making the policies work and helping the relocating employee become productive more quickly. Communications between providers, corporate clients and transferring employees is vital to the success of any relocation. As the communications go, so goes the employee's thumb up or down.

It would have been helpful to delve deeper into the study of relocations, stressing the need for good implementation of sound policy--through people--just as Steve Tattum of RelogistiX Inc. stressed in the article. Successful relocations consider schools, families, homes, cultures and whatever it takes to ease the stress for the employee. It's about people taking care of people.

Craig B. Toedtman, SPHR

Berea, Ohio