Letting People Go? Here's why Outplacement Will Help Your Business
Nobody likes having to lay people off. You feel guilty. You worry about their colleagues’ morale. And you worry about your employer brand – because laid-off employees talk.
In the current climate, layoffs are an unavoidable reality for many companies. If you’re having to let people go, or think you might, it’s well worth considering offering outplacement to your terminated employees.
What is outplacement?
Outplacement is a form of counselling focused on helping people recover their confidence and move forward after a job loss, which is often an emotional crisis as well as a financial one. Providing this kind of support will reflect well on your company and boost morale and loyalty among your remaining workers.
Outplacement counselling helps workers process their grief, assess their careers, and create an effective job search plan that will reduce the length and stress of the search.
Most outplacement companies offer packages at different costs depending on your needs. Before you pick a provider, ask them these five questions:
What services do you provide, and what do they cost?
A good outplacement firm should help with all the main elements of a job search: CV updates, LinkedIn, personal branding, networking and interviews, as well as creating a strategy.
How are your services delivered?
Most outplacement counselling today is delivered virtually. Ask the company if they offer group and individual sessions, and if they have webinars available on specific aspects of jobhunting.
Who does the coaching? Ask if their coaches are certified. What are their credentials and professional backgrounds like? Do they have experience in your specific field or industry?
Do you have connections? Good outplacement firms help people with networking by introducing them to recruiters, leaders, and hiring managers at other companies.
Can you show me testimonials or success stats?
While job success is difficult to measure, most outplacement companies can show you stats on how many of their clients have been employed, as well as testimonials from satisfied clients.
Why outplacement is a win-win
Forbes magazine likens workers who receive outplacement counselling after layoffs as vital “press releases” for your business, strengthening your company brand and helping you attract top talent. Outplacement also reduces the risk of laid-off employees taking costly legal action or ranting about you on social media, and boosts morale and productivity by reassuring your remaining employees that they’ll be taken care of whatever happens.
In other words, offering outplacement can significantly boost the fortunes of your company – which means it’ll hopefully be a long time before you need to offer it again.