Understanding The Benefits of Outplacement

At some point in a business’s lifecycle, the possibility of some sort of downturn, a merger, and/or catastrophic event may become a catalyst for downsizing a portion of the existing workforce. Unfortunately, this can have a negative mental and emotional impact on your staff and it behooves any company with any sort of values or ethics to make sure they take care of their affected employees and show they care about what happens to their team afterward. For affected employees, a layoff can be a tremendously painful experience and companies need to handle layoffs with a degree of tact and consider adding outplacement services as part of the severance package. In this article, we’ll explore outplacement, how to select a service, and highlight some of the benefits of offering such a service to former employees.

Outplacement Defined

Outplacement is a way for laid-off or displaced employees to find new work after leaving their former company. It covers everything from interview and resume preparation to helping place candidates in potential new jobs. One of these services’ goals is to ensure candidates are prepared for the challenges of not only obtaining a new job but possibly working in an entirely different career field. Through care/concern for candidates and personalized resources, outplacement serves as a way to ensure an individual gets the assistance they need to turn into a new career quickly.

How They Work

Every outplacement service operates under its own guidelines/parameters and helps prospective clients/job seekers in different ways. Outplacement services are complex and highly structured in order to maximize their effects. When a candidate first gets started with the outplacement service, the service will typically collect information about and interview them to determine how best to proceed with getting them a new job. They will receive advice and tips from a job coach and learn how to polish their resume and tailor it to a desired new position. Important meetings can happen virtually instead of requiring you to go to an office every day to find a new job. Candidates will also have access to job boards where certain job opportunities can help them rebound much faster. Using a blend of modern tech and adapting to the constantly changing job world, outplacement is uniquely suited to increasing candidate satisfaction/morale and helping them find a new career faster than leaving them to their own devices.

Selecting An Outplacement Service

Choosing an outplacement service is a highly nuanced, very specific process. Employers need to select a modern service to give their former employees a better opportunity at finding fresh employment opportunities. Modern services use a combination of technology and the human element to take care of candidates where it counts. Other things to look for in an outplacement agency are ensuring it can customize its programs to align with your company’s values and that will actually benefit former employees. A good service will also be accommodating to work with your individual needs and cement themselves as a valuable resource to any affected staff that was let go as well as offering counseling services to remaining workers. Ultimately, good outplacement services can provide the necessary tools and action to place candidates in new roles, at a reasonable cost.

Benefits To The Organization

Outplacement offers significant benefits for both your organization and the affected employee(s). When an organization has to let go of a large number of staff members or employees, it can have a deleterious effect on both the affected individuals and the organization. Worse, when remaining employees see these layoffs occur, their morale plummets and their anxiety rises. That ends up turning the current office environment into a negative space and may ultimately impact your business. Affected employees who are upset at the circumstances may decide to take their grievances over being let go to social media or workplace aggregation sites like Glassdoor. Potential future candidates may see this sentiment on display and decide your company’s core values do not mirror their own and may see it as a red flag to working there. Reputation is important when it comes to running a business, and failing to show concern for laid-off workers has consequences. Outplacement also reduces potential lawsuits and ultimately helps displaced employees after they leave the organization.

Benefits For Former Employees

Outplacement is most beneficial to the affected employees themselves more than anything else. As potential job candidates, they need to be provided the necessary tools to get a new job fast. After a layoff, affected employees will also need a bit of concern and care on the part of the employer. The employer should communicate and offer support in addition to helping any way they can. Supplying the outplacement services as part of a severance package (or merely as a decent thing to do after a layoff or downsizing) is crucial to improving the candidate’s morale and positioning them for success in any future endeavors. Luckily, outplacement helps them find a new role quickly. Whether it means polishing email and writing skills, accessing a unique job board, or building a new network of professional connections to help land a new role, quality outplacement makes it possible.