Times aren't like they used to be. Once upon a time, when a person was laid off from his or her job due to downsizing or other reasons, their next step to finding a new job was get in line at the local unemployment office or start circling the classified ads in the newspaper. Essentially, separating employees were left on their own to seek new employment. Nowadays, organisational restructuring can lead to generous financial benefits and employee access to outplacement programs which can ease the transition. Outplacement done well offers employees a far more palatable means of separating from an organisation, and can leave their former organisations a legacy of surprising benefits.
Outplacement programs are designed to assist in the career transition of laid off employees, helping both departing employees and their employers with various aspects of the employee separation process.
How an Outplacement Program Can Be Good For Business
Companies who provide a good outplacement program are supplying employees with a life line to regain that sense of personal security and control which is threatened in times of downsizing and redundancy.
A company benefits from an outplacement service in many ways.
- Ease the stress. The stress of having those dreaded redundancy conversations with employees is alleviated knowing you have the support of people who are specialised providers of these services.
- Bolster Productivity. Organisations in transition typically experience falls in productivity and morale due to uncertainty and distraction. Outplacement programs can go a long way to replacing uncertainty with greater resilience and focus, by supplying employees with new skills and a renewed level of confidence and control with respect to their future career, finances and personal resilience
- Avoid costly unfair dismissal claims. They can advise on constructing severance pay and ensure companies remain compliant with relevant awards and conditions.
- Improve the quality of your redundancy conversations. Specialist providers can counsel managers on what to say and how to say it and supply confidential counseling services to those employees whose positions are made redundant.
- Ease post-redundancy business trauma They can even come to the aid of managers and employees remaining with the business after the redundancy program is concluded A good program will help ease the tensions of these remaining employees who worry if they are the next to be laid off or whether can they manage the tasks left to them from a former employee.
- Ease the burden of managing employee transitions. An outplacement service can help ease the transition for employees who have lost their job as well as those who are remaining, while giving them and their former employer peace of mind.
The Components of an Outplacement Program
The services provided by an outplacement program include benefits for employers and employees. A good outplacement program can help to plan terminations and layoffs, severance packages and to train and counsel managers charged with the responsibility of conducting employee separations. These are tasks that normally cause a business manager a lot of time, money, and aggravation and can be costly if done poorly.
The program can provide trained counsellors to be on the spot the day of termination. The representative can meet with the employee immediately after news of their separation, advise on how to cope with the experience, and even counsel how to relay the news of the workplace redundancy to their family.
Through career transition assistance, outplacement suppliers offer separating employees the more traditional job search training and can link redundant employees with financial planning and family counseling. Outplacement services can also be extended to skills or managing change for employees as well as skills for managers in leading organisations in transition.
How to Select Outplacement Providers
As an employer, the responsibility of choosing an outplacement provider falls to you. There are a few key decisions to make and questions to ask in choosing help for you and your employees in the event of downsizing:
- What is the outplacement supplier's area of specialty and their experience?
- Do you need more than one supplier to adequately address your business needs?
- How long will the outplacement service last and how much will the service cost?
- What is the scope of their services? Do they support senior executives as well as employees?
- Do they have experience in the latest methods of job search such as internet search and networking?
- Is job search the only outplacement service you are prepared to support or are you willing to support counseling in more flexible alternatives such as career breaks, early retirement, volunteering or small business management?
- Do they offer one-on-one career transition services or will former employees only have access to job search materials?
Economic predictions for 2009 and even 2010 will ensure that the potential of downsizing and employee redundancy remains on the agenda for many businesses. For the business faced with these hard decisions, well-managed outplacement solutions offer the ROI of a sound risk management strategy, and may also be part of your industrial awards and instruments. Even without regulations, a good outplacement program is like having an extra insurance policy to help guard against the pitfalls of redundancy programs for the business, for the redundant employee, and for and those who will remain in the organisation.
© 2009 Di Worrall
Downsizing and Redundancy - Outplacement Programs and How They Can Be Good For Business