What is Outplacement Support?
Outplacement support is a service that helps people source new employment after they have been made redundant. It can be provided by an external agency or an internal HR department. During the outplacement process, departing team members will receive help with developing their resume, optimising their LinkedIn, improving interview skills and assistance in developing a suitable job search plan.
It’s common for businesses to provide outplacement support to employees who have lost their job due to restructuring or transformation processes such as mergers and acquisitions. Outplacement typically involves support for internal stakeholders as well, with a focus on guiding employees remaining within the organisation through the change.
What are the Benefits of Outplacement Support?
Outplacement support carries a series of benefits both for employees and the business itself.
A sense of security
When you lose your job, it can be difficult to see beyond the immediate impact. Outplacement helps employees deal with this by giving them an outlet for their emotions and providing them with support throughout the process.
Helping people to source new employment
Outplacement assists employees in their search for new jobs by helping them develop a job search plan and optimise their resume.
Networking
The advantage of enlisting the support of an external outplacement provider is that they will often have a wealth of contacts who they can refer affected employees to.
Knowledge and Skills
Outplacement providers help equip departing team members with guidance and coaching that will help them secure their next opportunity faster. This may include:
- Interview preparation and training
- Career coaching
- Advice on how to address skills gaps to assist in transitioning to new opportunities
Stability
The first step in supporting employees through change is to provide them with accurate information. Outplacement helps with this by providing employees with consistent information on the company’s situation, the changes that are occurring, and what the next steps look like.
For organisations undergoing change, there is still a need to sustain operations while pivoting toward the new strategy. Outplacement facilitates stability and alignment to new strategy by:
- Supporting retained team members through change
- Assisting retained members with their changed role remit, or transitioning into entirely new roles as a result of restructuring
Following a restructure, retained employees will often have negative sentiment, particularly if close colleagues have been impacted. The knowledge that their impacted colleagues are receiving support can be effective in preserving staff morale, which may help team members adapt more readily.
Brand Reputation
It’s important for companies to show that they can navigate periods of uncertainty with their ethics and integrity intact.
Take a quick browse on LinkedIn and you’ll quickly see that companies around the globe are undergoing restructures and conducting mass layoffs. Today’s volatile economy adds an extra layer of complexity, given that redundancy in this environment can have an even more severe impact on a person’s life.
An organisation showing that they value the welfare of their people is hugely important for the preservation of brand reputation. A considered outplacement strategy can actually bolster a company’s reputation by establishing them as a socially responsible business that looks after their people during times of change.
What is the cost of outplacement support?
Outplacement is a broad area and many factors will influence the cost, including the scope of work and whether outplacement is conducted by an external provider.
What is more certain, is that the costs of not providing outplacement and support to navigate change can be quite significant. Potential costs include:
- A compromised brand reputation, and the associated costs of rebuilding it
- Loss of productivity due to low morale of retained team members
- Employment costs associated with replacing team members who leave the businesses because they are dissatisfied with how change has been managed
- Loss of efficiency because of difficulties getting retained team members aligned with the new direction
In summary, outplacement support is an important part of the organisational transformation process as it:
- Demonstrates that the company cares for its people
- Assists impacted employees in coping with change and finding their next opportunity
- Boosts morale among retained team members and enables them to adapt more quickly to the new strategic approach
If your organisation needs assistance with outplacement as part of your transformation, Nova Partners has a wealth of experience with businesses of all sizes across Australia & New Zealand.
To learn more, contact Liz Crowe on 0425 202 159 for a confidential discussion.
