Downsizing. Right-sizing. Layoffs. Downturns. Redundancy. These are all frightening terms in the world of work, and they can happen to anyone. From executives to tenured workers, sometimes layoffs happen. And they can be mentally or emotionally devastating (and sometimes both!) Outplacement is a service offered to the former employees of an organization to help get them into a new job or career following separation from the company. A challenging job market can make transitions difficult. To make the most out of outplacement, a candidate needs to benefit from an individualized approach to helping them get into a new work role. Here are five reasons to offer outplacement to employees at your business.
Reputation Protection
When employees are let go from an organization—often an organization at which they’ve worked for a while—it can be devastating. More than losing a paycheck, it’s a crushing blow to the psyche; a loss of identity and disruption of your routine. The company can offer severance to help, but sometimes an employee will lash out or the morale around the office will taper off as remaining employees start to wonder who’s going to be let go next. This can have some significant consequences on your company. Decreased morale can lead to poor productivity and eventually besmirch a reputation. Laid-off employees, who are upset, may turn to sites like Facebook, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and other social media to air their grievances. What they write can influence others not to apply for or patronize a company, which can put a damper on any future recruiting activities. Offering outplacement as part of the severance packages subverts these reputation concerns because it allows employees to take control of their futures and work with a firm that helps them land personalized job offers swiftly after a layoff. These services become a critical lifeline to any victim of downsizing while simultaneously keeping the company’s reputation fully intact.
In-Program Landing
The hallmark of resourceful modern outplacement services is how fast and efficiently they can achieve in-program landings for candidates. If you want to maximize the value you get from an outplacement service, seeing what kind of clear insights they can provide you into in program landings is critical. When the outplacement firm manages to help a candidate find a new job and they perform higher than the national average, you know that in program landings are not only possible but virtually guaranteed.
Future-Proofing
More than merely helping candidates get a new job, outplacement helps them future-proof their careers. By teaching them how to use technology to their advantage and understand what skills they need to thrive, outplacement can help them future proof their careers. Future-proofing is simply a way to ensure candidates learn and maintain the skills that’ll help them succeed well into the future. Colloquially, the phrase merely means changing something so it can evolve to the changes in the world around it. Through a mix of online resources, honing skills, webinars, and other tech-based programs out placement sets up any displaced candidate for future success.
Visible Insight Into Program Value
Measuring the value of an outplacement program is an important part of selecting the right ones for your former employees. Understanding what they do, how they do it, and measuring their progress are all crucial parts of getting the most out of investing in outplacement. Using state-of-the-art technology and analytical techniques, you can see in real time, how quickly candidates are being placed through the service. This also demonstrates the value of the service to both the organization and the candidates themselves.
Coaching and Resume Services
The most valuable service available with outplacement is career coaching and personalized resumes. The most important skills you’ll need for today’s job market include communication, understanding technology, and amping up your soft skills (like dependability, integrity, and teamwork). Career coaches help you reach deep inside yourself to bring these skills to the surface and thoroughly develop them into something that will help you succeed. Career coaches help candidates define their value and worthwhile teaching them how to thrive in the modern world– often from the comfort of their own home due to the use of remote technology. They can also guide you along the path of your career to set goals, build networking connections, and define what you want out of your next job or career. Then there’s the resume assistance. Career coaches either write or help candidates write thorough noticeable resumes. Resumes can often get lost along the path from application to recruitment. Bogged down, poorly formatted resumes can get lost in applicant tracking systems. Recruiters often won’t read longer resumes that aren’t applicable to the field. Navigating these roadblocks with aid of a career coach means you can find a new job where you’ll thrive without taking much time at all.
