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With terminations, restructuring mergers, acquisitions and layoffs, workplace reductions continue to make the news daily.
While departed staff are often left to lead their own job search or seek out career services, employers can choose to offer extended support to those they lay off or terminate through offering outplacement services.
Outplacement is an affirmative and person-centred approach to organizational change that allows the employer and affected employee(s) to transition through separation with dignity, understanding and mutual respect.
In Canada, there is no legislated requirement for an employer to provide outplacement services to employees. However, providing employees with outplacement packages shows that the company’s core values are not mere statements. Maintaining a good relationship with departed staff not only preserves the company’s image; it also ensures that any future dealings with them will be positive while maintaining a culture of wellness/well-being for existing staff.
Providing outplacement services helps mitigate damages to the company by helping the employee to obtain employment or a new career direction as quickly as possible. It helps their transitioning employees to:
- Better understand the business reasons for the company’s decision
- Vent their negative feelings in a consultant’s office rather than with their network of friends, co-workers and company clients
- Keep their focus on the future
Today, more than ever, executives are facing insurmountable decisions regarding the development of severance packages in effort of supporting departing employees. A solid outplacement or career transition program is becoming an increasingly mutually beneficial service to offer to departing staff.
What outplacement looks like
Through outplacement services, departed employees might work with a career transition coach who supports them to turn the negative and uncomfortable emotions associated with job loss into opportunity.
Additionally, it cannot be assumed that because a worker is an experienced professional that they know how to perform an effective job search. They may be out of touch with the realities of today’s marketplace and need a starting point to get re-engaged in job search practices.
Effective outplacement services will:
- Help the departing staff overcome their overwhelming grief, anxiety, anger, fear and loss of confidence when having to become re-employed – in the shortest time possible. Job loss often results in considerable strong emotions, and it is important to give people the opportunity to be heard.
- Support individuals to seek out new employment, covering areas such as career assessment, transferable skills, labour market research, effective job search skills, targeting the job market, resume writing, interview preparation, developing networks, social media, negotiation and more.
- Assist with providing consideration, coaching, and support of entrepreneurship, self-employment and/or (re)training.
- Equip departing staff with effective job search tools, strategies and techniques that are necessary to be successful.
All of this will mitigate risk for the employer which, in the end, translates to a cost-savings for the business. Ultimately, by providing outplacement services, exiting and existing employees have an increased positive outlook of their employer within and outside of work. People will always remember the character of the firm and how they handled their employees during tough times. This information is often used when attracting top talent for the future and can support employee engagement.
Part of the journey
Outplacement is a detailed and expansive career (transition) service option that is often a normal part of an individual’s lifelong career development journey. It helps departing staff with normalizing the emotions associated with job loss and reconnects them to customized, effective job search tools, strategies and techniques so that they can leverage their skills and find meaningful, alternative employment that meets their needs.
