In the continually changing world of business – and especially recently during the COVID-19 pandemic – the difficult decision to lay off workers may come up for various reasons. Perhaps your sales have fallen off, or you lost a credit line. Maybe you’re concerned about a looming recession or decline in the industry. Regardless of the prompt for this action, it is vital to take care of displaced employees not only for the sake of their health and well-being but also to preserve your company’s reputation. Layoffs are often hurtful to those affected and can cause even more significant morale problems among remaining staff. It’s a great source of contention among those affected, and it’s always in an organization’s best interest to maintain a sense of community amongst its staff.
The right outplacement partner can help preserve your organization’s reputation while enabling displaced employees to find happiness, retain dignity, and find new employment. Here is a short guide on what to look for while finding and selecting the right outplacement partner for your organization:
Personal experience for the employee
Every employee is unique and should be treated with compassion and respect. Using an equally compassionate, professional outplacement partner plays into that uniqueness while demonstrating concern for downsized employees. Doing so empowers employees to find a new job much faster and drastically reduces their time on unemployment. Moreover, by showing compassion for displaced staff, your organization will boost morale and productivity among remaining employees. Personalizing the outplacement experience is simple. Through resume/job coaches, personalized job recommendations, and networking training, you can take care of affected employees while preserving your company’s reputation.
Fast and efficient results
Finding a new job after a layoff can often be a lengthy, challenging exercise for even the most qualified applicants. Downsizing impacts businesses in different ways, but it can take a toll on the employee. Helping them find a new job with comparable pay quickly is in both the company and employee’s best interest. Partnering with the right outplacement services will give employees all the necessary tools to start applying for new jobs right away. The service can customize the experience, providing an accessible list of suitable job openings tailored to the individual. In this manner, the employee can find a comparable job in their industry without jumping through the hoops of using a job board or finding a positing on some corporate website.
Transparency and Visibility
Deciding on downsizing or layoffs is never an easy decision. It’s best to handle it with care and full transparency. Providing an outplacement service as part of the process is vital. Usually, HR will send a list of affected employees to the outplacement service and hope for the best. A quality partner will provide a real-time tracking system to see the progress of the impacted employee. To that tend, you can see if they’ve secured a new position while assessing and reviewing any reputational impacts (via Glassdoor, LinkedIn, etc.) on your own company.
A strong connection to new local or remote jobs
Sometimes landing a new job requires a move. It isn’t always practical for the applicant, so some outplacement offers the ability to find more local or remote options. COVID-19 threw a wrench in the future of work, and more people are working remotely or from home than ever these days. So, where does that fit into outplacement? Employees can access everything the service has to offer from an online hub. The employee can then work with their transition/job coach over email, online chat, or phone calls. Then, the applicant doesn’t have to travel anywhere and focus exclusively on the job search itself. When choosing an outplacement partner, consider if they offer an online service like this. It could mean the difference between successful outplacement and angry employees.
Reduced workload for your HR department
Outplacement isn’t just for the employee; it’s a boon to the HR department. A right outplacement partner will provide training for interacting with employees, teaching you how to reduce a layoff’s emotional impact while instilling hope in the affected employees. Using an outplacement service to handle off-boarding and transitions for your employees minimizes your HR department’s workload and helps place them into new jobs. Furthermore, it will help employees hone their resumes and interviewing skills to find new, satisfying work in the same industry. By investing in outplacement services, you’re reducing costs associated with unemployment and severance while simultaneously investing in the future of your former employees.
