Despite the fact outplacement services have been in operation in some form since the 1960s, the industry has revolutionised the way modern business works.
When they first started, they were more about offering out of work people somewhere to craft their CV and boost their skills. But these days, they are more about working with employers to assist outgoing employers into a new job.
It’s a big bonus offered by employers and is becoming more common within UK business. There are plenty of reasons you would want your business to use an outplacement support system. It’s become important for HR leaders to consider investing into.
Outplacement Defined
There are many ways to define outplacement. To put it simply, outplacement is about assisting employees who are leaving your business in finding new work.
The service is offered usually when your business has to let go multiple employees due to issues such as downsizing or financial constraints.
There are a number of ways outplacement firms offer this service, it’s usually done with the offer of career coaches. Aside from coaches, they also offer multiple resources through a technology platform.
Once hired by a business, they will correlate with HR managers to find out what can be done, then they will work with individual employees on a number or points. Such is the job of a career coach.
They can assist in CV building, cover letter use, interview practice and general skill assessments and tests.
What you get from a business point of view, is a partner who assist you in areas they deal with almost every day. They’ve dealt with the burdens and will do all that they can to deliver peace of mind at all levels.
If you’re involved in HR, it’s certainly worth looking into outplacement support, you may be surprised how many benefits it could offer you.
Reputation Protection
If your business is a business that is utilising outplacement services, then you can be sure that your reputation will be more trusted and higher than otherwise.
Handling outgoing redundancies poorly will damage brand image. A poor brand image will decrease future talent looking for employment with you.
So, assisting in the support for employees in finding their new job will demonstrate your values both as an individual and a business.
When your employees have eventually left your business, you want them to only have positive things to say about their employment with you. Let’s remember, there are many websites online where former employees can leave their reviews of their time in employment.
Often, potential employees before applying or even accepting interviews or job positions, will look at these sites to see if it’s a place they would want to work. This is, of course, when you’re in a position to hire once again, you want to be able to find the best.
Morally Right
It should go without saying that ethically, if you have to remove someone from a position of work due to circumstances out of everyone’s control, then it’s only right you assist them with moving on.
Especially if it’s happening suddenly. A good example of sudden change that may have been a reason for displacement, was the impact of COVID-19. With many members of staff placed onto furlough, financially, it wasn’t possible to retain them once everything opened up again.
So, when having to let some employees go, it is only fair that you offer advice, and outplacement services are the way to do this.
Outplacement providers serve as a focus for employees affected by downsizing, meaning that they are often empathetic as they have gone through the same thing.
Assisting in a time of great uncertainty offers real value. Randstad RiseSmart understands the need for this service, and offers HR teams the resources to navigate change with confidence and ease. Not only do they understand the needs for employees requiring outplacement, but they understand the business needs, ensuring future success and providing lifetime cost-saving recommendations.
Support For Staff
When jobs are at stake, it can be an emotional affair. These emotions will usually lead to conflict, if not handled correctly.
Upset employees make take out their frustrations with senior managers, which isn’t good for anyone involved. Whereas if they offer an external outplacement provider, then the hope is that the employees are more understanding of the situation, as they can see how much effort has gone into supporting them.
So, supporting your staff will lead to your staff supporting you. In the end, the job of outplacement providers is to assist in support.
Reducing Business Costs
As you can imagine, getting an outplacement service is a cost. Usually, It is sold as an employee package to companies. The costs can vary depending on number of employees, services you wish to employ and programmes you want to get involved with.
That means there’s no concrete figure. Roughly, it can cost a few hundred to a few thousand per employee, depending on the level of service required.
So, you may be surprised to hear that the service will, overall and in time, reduce business costs in the long term. Think how much more it would cost you not to have an outplacement service for employees having to leave. Reputational damage to your firm and lost productivity from demotivated remaining staff can be costly.
The local and national news always have a field day when it comes down to reporting on redundancies. So, consider the change in press and reporting you’d receive if you offered all your staff a benefit such as this. Long term, positive media coverage and positive reviews will boost your business.
Even if you don’t know about paying out the costs right now, not doing so could lead to worse costs over time. Importantly, your former employees may continue being in the industry, whether that’s as a customer or competitor. So really, it pays to have them approve of your business.
In the UK, there are laws when it comes to redundancy, having to let someone go due to situations out of their control means you have to pay a severance package. In addition to the hard cost of the redundancy, someone, probably in your HR department, will need to do all the administrative work in connection with the redundancy. This is an additional cost to your business. If the situation then becomes problematic there is the risk of a tribunal claim and possible compensation payout.
Aside from that, you also have to account for the cost of lost productivity and employee engagement across the board. Essentially, you can see why it’s worth having a support plan in place, to get full value from outplacement.
Company Culture
Sometimes, it’s worth using outplacement services even without the current need to downsize or cut jobs. It’s much more of a modern affair to have an outplacement support system in place, as it reassures new employees coming in that they will be protected if their jobs have to end.
It helps promote a culture of caring within your business. It’s a fact of life that most employees won’t stay in their current workplace for more than a few years, due to wanting a change of pace and challenge.
So, it’s a benefit for you to have a service ready for when it’s time to leave. In fact, it’s worth having the system ready, prepared for the future, just in case anything terrible was to happen further down the line. It’s a forward thinking move.
