Outplacement Services: Everything You Need To Know To Assist Employees

An outplacement service can be an effective tool at your business’ disposal. For employees within the business, they will be reassured by having them on hand, in case the worst was to happen. As a candidate, job security would be vitally important when assessing new jobs and whether you should apply, or at a later stage, even accept the offer. This article explains why you, as a candidate, should not be afraid of accepting different roles if it still matches your skillset.

For candidates and potential employees assessing whether to take a job, it could be worth looking to see if there is an outplacement scheme in place. Learn to see if those that leave are offered help in landing a new job, where they can leave with their heads held high to the relief of the Human Resources department.

What Outplacement Service Entails

Firstly, you should know what an outplacement provider can offer, if you don’t already. Namely, they exist to offer outgoing employees assistance in finding a new job. This is done via support, coaching and using contacts and experience.

It actually benefits both the employer and the employee in this situation. In most cases, the service is offered by a third-party business.

It can come in a few different ways, but they all ultimately have the same end goal, to help the employees and employer leave on amicable terms.

There are a few different ways in which a company may have to make employees redundant, when they’ve done nothing wrong. Most commonly, it’s when the business is going through a rough patch and has to downsize. Sometimes, it’s when something unpredictable happens, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Mainly, these businesses are brought in externally to assist everyone with moving on, as nothing has happened as planned. Of course, ethically it’s the right thing to do, as you don’t want to see hard working loyal employees casted out who perhaps would have stayed for life.

What It Means For HR

From the HR perspective, they will have to partner with these outplacement services to find the best solution possible, agreeing with redundancy terms that are fair to everyone, reflecting on the work offered.

These services don’t just come in and speak to employees, of course they do, but that’s not their sole purpose. They will work with HR the entire time, discovering the ethics and culture of the business, to ensure they are able to navigate these changes with confidence and ease.

The aim is to offer solutions that solidify the brand and reputation, hoping to lead to a return of investment further down the line. Mainly, they offer recommendations and hopefully some long-term cost-saving methods of employee retention.

What It Means For An Employee

Employees will be offered a whole range of different services, which are very different to the ones the company will be offered. These services are more tailored to individual needs, and mostly come in the form of career coaching.

These career coaches will come in and offer expert advice to employees about the industry that they work in. Some providers will also come in with job leads within the industry, as they will have connections with recruiters, allowing them to get first access to a potential interview.

Interview talk will also happen, including what to potentially expect from a modern interview if someone has been in work at the company for a number of years.

They will also be helped with CV writing. They will work with employees to help get their CV in top condition, get their social media profiles into line and show how to write an effective cover letter.

Questions You Should Ask Your Provider

Really, there are a number of different questions you should ask yourself when looking for an outplacement provider. Mainly, it helps to know how experienced they actually are, in terms of how long they’ve been working for, and how successful they are.

Reputation is important, and the aim of an outplacement service should help keep your own reputation strong. So, it stands to reason that you should find a provider with a high proven reputation.

A great outplacement business should be willing to walk you through its process and prove they’re legally compliant. For example, they should understand and access the I-9 form in front of you and explain how they will lawfully fill it out, should you request it.

If possible, speak to business leaders who have worked with outplacement, to find out how they got on with it, potentially teaching you any lessons they had to learn the hard way.

One such highly reputable provider is Randstad RiseSmart. As a leading career outplacement service, they can offer an industry leading approach, with career professionals on hand, supported by innovative and award-winning technology. These organizations also make use of programs related to remote interpreting.

In terms of asking yourself questions during your search for a provider, you should consider why you need to use the service to begin with. How many employees will be affected by this, and is it worth it?

Above all, you should be in constant communication with your team, as to be fully transparent and cover yourself if anything unexpected happens. After all, the end goal of a successful outplacement should be to keep everyone happy, and have remaining staff morale high.

Any remaining staff should see that your business has a culture of caring, in terms of how you dealt with the situation and what you plan to do for them in the future.

General Benefits

From a company point of view, an outplacement service is a benefit offered to their employees, helping in attracting highly talented workers and retaining them when they join.

Of course, employees will be able to settle into new roles much faster than they perhaps would have been otherwise. Because of this, it’s likely your working relationship with them has managed to stay intact. Which if they are joining another company within your industry, could benefit you entirely.

If a talented worker leaves you and has a negative outlook on your business, and they join another business, they could bad mouth the general business, leading to a potential loss of income.

Another general benefit is that it offers emotional support to everyone involved. Most outplacement services will offer guidance via their coaches, helping to better their employment prospects.

As most outplacement comes from outside of the company, the space in which employees work with their coaches is usually a neutral space, somewhere they may feel supportive and safe to speak out about what’s bothering them, if anything.

Other types of support available, include financial support. Of course, this is one of the main reasons to work with an outplacement provider, as not only do they support employees with redundancy fees and agreements, but also the company’s long-term financial goals.

The Costs Involved

Honestly, the costs of an outplacement service can vary, depending on the number of individuals affected, and what the company needs from the provider.

For example, the more people involved means more people that will need one on one coaching support. The coaching support isn’t just a chat either, it involves a much more thorough and practical process, such as CV writing and interview techniques.

In general, it can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand per employee. It really depends on mitigating factors within the company. If you’ve never used a service such as this before, then it could seem an odd decision to invest money into outgoing employees. Nevertheless, you should consider how much the cost could be if you don’t provide these services to the employees. Mainly, redundancies, especially on a larger scale, will make the news. The news could be the local paper or a national broadcast, the bottom line is that people will hear about what happened.

Negative media coverage will mean less applicants for future positions, especially highly talented applicants. Also, employees who leave with a poor outlook, may leave negative reviews on online employment sites, which everyone will be able to see.

Overall, all of these things could lead to higher costs in a years’ time, than offering your employees a fair leaving package.

We hope this article was able to better explain what outplacement service is, what it entails, and how it can be beneficial for your business. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write them below.