Duty of Care During Natural Disasters

For the Dwellworks Corporate Housing team, it’s an essential part of our job to be vigilant in our support for our clients, supplier networks, and transferees during their entire stay -- especially in the event that a natural disaster occurs. Over the last couple of years, our Operations and Supply Chain teams have implemented a process that allows us to keep track of transferees during times of crisis so we can ensure their safety and inform our clients of their status.

Our Duty of Care procedure takes the upmost priority for our teams globally. During the recent earthquakes in Mexico City and Puerto Rico, the main focus of our operation was to find out the status of all of our transferees. Here is what our three-step process looks like in the event of a natural disaster: 

1. We make sure that everyone in our offices are safe. Once everyone has been accounted for, we establish a group chatin order tocommunicate more fluidly. Our local staff assists our team in the deployment of these measures.
2. We establish impact and non-impact zones based on local reports. We then print a list of our occupants and break it into levels: 1 – areas where the disaster impacted, 2 – areas close to the impact zone, and 3 – areas completely out of the zone. This list gives us the ability to prioritize our initial efforts while keeping in mind that the people we are reaching out to for updates are experiencing the disaster themselves. For example, during the 2017 earthquake in Mexico City, we identified the areas of Condesa, Del Valle, and Tlalpan as level-one zones and responded accordingly to those directly affected.
3. We document the transferees' status and add it to our report. Once we have contacted all the transferees located in level 1 and level 2 areas, we send a status report to our clients. Our clients will then respond with their own Duty of Care plans, but we continue to offer updates and assistance until everyone is accounted for. We implement this process immediately, regardless of what time it happens, so that we can give our clients peace of mind as soon as possible. 

The Team Comes Together 

In some cases, our own employees will go to an affected area and offer their assistance or personally verify that our transferees, colleagues, and Corporate Housing units are safe and secure. I’ve always enjoyed working in the corporate housing industry, but it’s in moments like this where I’m proud of the fact that everyone comes together so willingly to ensure that people are safe, and our clients are well-informed.

Dwellworks Living: Global Solutions for Corporate Accommodations 

Dwellworks Living is committed to providing our clients and their employees with the best possible corporate housing and serviced accommodations experience. With a global network of property partners, a tri-regional team of customer experience and supply chain professionals, and a wide range of services for global mobility and travel customers, Dwellworks Living can provide the perfect corporate housing solution for any need or budget.

Dwellworks Living is the global corporate housing solution of Dwellworks, an award-winning, business-to-business provider of global mobility and business travel services. As a global leader in corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions, Dwellworks Living is uniquely positioned to meet the temporary living needs of businesses and their employees who are relocating or traveling on short-, medium- or extended-stays. With 60,000 high-quality professionally managed properties in over 125 countries worldwide, Dwellworks Living is the preferred housing solutions partner of many Fortune 1000 and leading relocation management companies.

Dwellworks Living's corporate housing and serviced accommodations solutions are designed to help businesses attract and retain top talent, support employee productivity, and ensure a smooth and successful relocation or business travel experience. In addition to our core global accommodations management services, Dwellworks Living, through our worldwide network of local experts, is uniquely capable of offering our clients expanded and related services, such as area orientations, group move assistance, destination services and intercultural training.

Whether you have corporate housing needs for an individual employee or a large team, Dwellworks Living can provide the serviced accommodations solutions you need anywhere in the world to ensure a safe and successful stay. Please contact us to learn more or visit our Properties page to begin your search for global corporate housing accommodations.