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 2009 Paragon Affiliate Conference
Paragon Relocation hosted its 2 nd Annual Affiliate Conference on September 15-17 in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting was directed by Liam Brennan, Managing Director of Paragon Relocation Holdings. In attendance were representatives from Paragon Relocation's offices in Hong Kong, South Korea, The Netherlands, Spain and the USA.
Conference sessions addressed current trends and challenges within the global mobility industry and also provided opportunities for networking and sharing best practices with colleagues. The agenda included presentations on key growth initiatives, cost control approaches and best practices adopted by companies in light of today's challenging economy.
Pictured from Left to Right: Geoff Mills, Manging Director, Paragon Relocation Holland; Joe Benevides, Sr. Vice President, Global Relocation Services; Rachel Hall, Business Development Director, Paragon Relocation Holland; Jay Yoon, Sr. Manager, Paragon Relocation Korea; Craig Selders, Sr. Vice President, Global Business Development; Angela Pirrie, Director, Global Relocation Services, Paragon Hong Kong; Kathy Trachta, Vice President, Global Consulting.
New to the conference was Soledad Aguirre, Managing Director of Paragon Relocation Spain. Asked about her experience at her first Paragon Relocation conference, Soledad commented that, "It was a great chance to brainstorm with colleagues in these tough times and gain new ideas."
"In today's challenging economy, businesses are continuously seeking assistance to address the new issues confronting them," said Joe Morabito, President and CEO of Paragon Relocation. "The Paragon Relocation Franchise Annual Conference provides an opportunity to discuss these significant issues with peers and take away solutions that will enhance our organization's ability to perform in an increasingly competitive environment."
"This is an exciting time for Paragon Relocation," states Liam Brennan. "This year we will focus on new growth projects and expanding the Paragon Relocation brand and global presence into key markets." |
President's Message
In 2009, we have witnessed a financial climate unlike anything I have seen in my 30 years in business. As we face these challenging times, companies have had to respond to the "New Normal". The term "New Normal" was defined by a leading economist who clearly determined that the financial crisis would be a 'game changer'. Companies are re-inventing themselves in response to the financial crisis to ensure future growth.
This is really an opportunity for companies to rethink, retool and reinvent themselves to emerge stronger than ever!
Paragon is wasting no time in making changes to reflect the current business environment, installing new technology and adding new service options to meet the needs of our clients and customers.
Beginning in January 2010, Paragon Relocation will be consolidating our California and Connecticut relocation operations into our Dallas, Texas office. This will allow us to expand our global relocation services, create more career opportunities for our employees, as well as streamline costs. Account Managers/Directors and Client Relations Consultants will remain in our California and Connecticut offices in order to provide assistance to our clients in region. Teams and managers will be connected via web-based video equipment which will allow for immediate face-to-face contact. In addition, our Paragon Global Customer Service Centers in Dallas and Chicago in the US, Dublin, Ireland and Hong Kong, China will be expanding office hours from 8 hour days to 12 hour days to provide better access for our customers.
At the same time, we are responding to the New Normal by reinventing our company. We've launched new innovative programs that address client needs and deliver "The Best Thinking in Relocation™":
- Our Client Rewards Program will be implemented to reward our long term clients for their loyalty.
- Money Back Guarantee which provides a money back service guarantee.
- Global Compensation Service which provides for compensation reporting to the employee, company and the company's preferred tax provider.
- ParagonGeoNetwork™ to expand and manage our global supply chain.
Finally, we've recently launched a new branded look for Paragon Relocation that includes a new website and new social networking presence.
The "New Normal" requires that we change the way we do business in order to be successful. It represents a fundamental change in business that requires a change in thinking. Same old, same old is no longer feasible.  President and CEO
Paragon Global Resources, Inc.
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Paragon's Joe Benevides and Craig Selders 'In the News' on Relocation Industry
Recently, Mobility magazine ran an article titled "What Our Industry Companies are Doing to Engage You," by Scott Craighead, SCRP, GMS (Mobility, July 2009 Ed. Pgs. 29-37). Craighead raised questions to employers and employees including what a company can do to ensure that its staff is valued, motivated and as productive as possible and what a company can do engage its employees. In the current workplace, many employees are hearing the mantra of "you're lucky to have a job" which can be comforting, but comes with the downfall of pay cuts/freezes and few rewards to congratulate a job well done.
For his article, Craighead reached out to Paragon's Craig Selders, Senior VP, Global Business Development for his input on how to keep communication and morale up in the workplace.
 Selders said one of the keys is to keep an open and continuous dialogue with your team about the health of the company and what strategies are being implemented to thrive in this economy. "We feel it is important to be open and honest with our employees about the state of the economy and the state of our company. In the absence of information, employees tend to create their own stories." Paragon also looks to rewards to encourage employees. Paragon continues with its competitive compensation plans as well as encourages its employees to pursue educational opportunities through online training courses and in-house educational formats. All of this is part of career development. Selders states, "As long as they are employed by Paragon, we want employees to feel good about the company and what we do to support them and their careers."
 Also, Joe Benevides, Senior VP, Global Relocation Services and chairman of Worldwide ERCŪ, was tapped for an early October article posted on HumanResources Executive Online. The article, "Down, But Not Out," by Jared Shelly, focused on what HR and relocation professionals are doing to cut costs and refurbish packages for potential transferees in order to ride out the recession. Companies looking to cut costs in all areas of their budgets are finding relocation to be the easy target. Benevides estimates that 30 to 40% of corporate relocations have dropped since the economic crisis began. This is mainly due to a combination of companies reducing the number of their staff and implementing hiring freezes. The biggest percentage of relocation moves has always been newly hired people that an organization has hired to work abroad, but now the trend is finding qualified local people to fill positions instead of hiring and relocating.
In the article, Benevides offers great advice to HR leaders such as urging them to revise current relocation programs to be better equipped in counseling a potential relocatee. Also, it would be more financially possible to relocate employees by reinstating or increasing the level of benefits offered by the company.
As for the future, Benevides predicts we've seen the worst of it.
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Paragon Relocation Holland Supporting Bangladeshi Businesses Settling in the Netherlands
 Paragon Relocation Holland has recently been approached by two companies from Bangladesh for relocation support in the Netherlands. An herbal medicine manufacturing company and an export-oriented readymade garments company acknowledge the complexities of international moves and will rely on Paragon's local knowledge. Not only will Paragon Holland help these companies with offering relocation support to key personnel, they will also assist with registering these companies in the Netherlands and making sure they qualify for the Knowledge Migrant Scheme. Paragon's excellent network within local and national governmental organizations and in-depth knowledge gives clients a head start when it comes to starting up their respective businesses in the Netherlands. |
| Paragon Relocation Launches New Website with Latest Social Networking Applications
October 2009 saw the launch of the new Paragon Relocation website which has been redesigned with a vibrant new look, new content, social networking, significant layout updates and features the latest technology platform PRISM 2.0 which provides next generation global information management capabilities, designed specifically for relocation professionals.  The new Paragon Relocation website includes corporate information and background, company news, and a new resource centre where industry professionals will find aggregated news, white papers and webinars, which are available on-demand with recorded presentation and audio. Talking about the website, Maryvonne Tubb, Sr. Director of Global Marketing at Paragon commented: "We are delighted with the new website. It represents our specialist approach to global relocation and we believe it successfully conveys what our clients can expect from us in terms of service - professionalism, reliability and friendly expertise. Communications has become an increasingly important factor in the success rate of a relocation and our goal is to help our clients move their employees as efficiently and successfully as possible." |
Paragon Relocation is now on Twitter and Facebook!
Become a fan of Paragon Relocation on Facebook or Twitter or both! By becoming a fan you get updates about what we are up to - you'll be the first to hear about any exciting developments and special opportunities. You can also interact with other fans and post on the page any comments and even events you are organizing to help promote them. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
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| Paragon's Carbon Footprint: Update
In this economic downturn, businesses are constantly looking for ways to save money while increasing sustainability initiatives. Paragon is no different. In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, Paragon's Green Initiative has committed to streamlining our operations and cutting back on paper, office supplies, electricity, etc. We've consolidated our employees into a single workspace to save on electricity. Over the summer months, we reduced our usage of lights and  adjusted air-conditioning units to be active only during office hours. Since the beginning of summer, we've saved an average of 81.5 kWh a day!
Paragon is actively finding ways to reuse office supplies enabling us to cut back office supply orders from once a week to once a month. Emailing and scanning have allowed us to substantially reduce our paper usage. We are proud of the fact that we have cut back our paper usage by 73.6% saving an average of $3,000 a year. We have also seen a decrease in our trash collection fees and toner usage. To keep the cycle continuous, we are purchasing recycled products where it does not increase spending. To help cut back on reusable items and appliances that are so often thrown into trash dumps, we have begun raffling off items to employees. This allows for the item to be reused and for us to raise money for charity. Many of our recyclable items are donated to local schools for their use. Everything recycled, whether large or small, can make an impact for a better environment.
In addition, we are printing our brochures in limited quantities on recycled paper. Check out Paragon's new brochure available online.
Here today, here tomorrow.
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Congratulations Award Winners!
Double Diamond Award Winners
This quarterly award recognizes outstanding achievers who demonstrate Paragon's Core Values in their daily routine. The winners for the 3rd Quarter are:
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Darlene Bustamante (CA) |
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Rachael Tucker (IL) |
Peak Performer Award Winners
This monthly award recognizes outstanding achievers throughout Paragon who demonstrate the most exemplary performance in their daily routine.
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July 2009 |
August 2009 |
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Katie Ryan (IL) |
Christina Johnson (CA) |
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Peg Cich (IL) |
Dusti Kirby (TX) |
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Iris Choy (HK) |
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Events
October 2009
Paragon Relocation exhibited at the recent Worldwide ERCŪ fall conference at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, Illinois October 7-9, 2009. It was a tremendous success!
Hopefully you were able to check out the session Cost Reductions for U.S. Domestic Moves that Will Impact the Bottom Line Without Skimping on Service on Friday Oct. 9th from 9:00 - 10:30 am. We look forward to seeing you next time!
November 2009
CIPD is holding its annual conference in Manchester, UK November 17th-19th. CIPD is one of Europe's largest HR Conferences, attracting over 4,000 HR delegates from the UK and internationally. Please come visit us at booth #299!
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