Corporate outplacement has and always will be a very difficult process for organizations to go through. In every situation they are transitioning employees from the organizations without their input or approval. The rationale can be a necessary reduction in force or performance based. In either case it is difficult for all parties involved.
The concerning trend has been the commoditization of outplacement services where cost become the most important criteria. What results is a decreased level of outplacement service provided, a candidate receiving a scaled back level of support, longer transition times for the candidate to find employment and additional resentment the candidate has towards his former employer.
What results is candidates who stop being consumers of the companies brand, candidates who will be very vocal to others about what a negative work environment their past employer has, candidates who stay on unemployment longer costing their past organizations more in insurance and lower morale from the organizations current workforce when they hear from their past teammates (and many times friends) how poorly they were treated during and after the transition process.
Question – how much is really saved when you begin to factor in the negative cost impact resulting from not treating transitioned employees with compassion and genuine concern?
Now is the time for organizations to rethink their outplacement strategy looking more towards how they can make the transition experience as positive as possible. Think of this as using outplacement as a recruiting strategy.
At The Frontier Group we view corporate outplacement much like we view our career coaching programs where clients personally pay for their career coaching services. We tailor our programs so that all of our time is spent one on one with the candidate in an effort to create a tailored program that will work for them.
While we contract with organizations on outplacement and will quote them based on hours delivered we routinely exceed that amount because it is our guiding philosophy to make the career transition process a positive one where the candidate that learn their value story, be able to articulate their value story in resumes, interviews, LinkedIn and networking and be able to develop a proactive marketing plan that connects them with their targeted organizations.
The experience ends up many times being a positive one and leaves the candidate having an enhanced opinion of their past organization. They can now see that while the outplacement was a business decision the organization was compassionate enough to help them.
Outplacement can be a recruiting strategy. Past employees can define your brand in many ways. Taking care of them during outplacement will help maintain your corporate reputation and your ability to attract top talent to your organization.
