I’m Wendy Mahle, the Chief Human Resources Strategist with SMARTer Job Hunting. For over twenty years, I’ve been the HR leader for fast-growing national or even international companies. Many of the companies I have supported have been actively involved in M&A and de novo growth. Having worked in HR for so many years, I have also seen the effects of right-sizing, down-sizing, job eliminations, layoffs, and sensitive terminations, and I wanted to share with you my thoughts on why provide outplacement.
Whether you are a manager or you work in HR, it is important to understand why you should provide outplacement when you have a layoff or one of those sensitive terminations.
Outplacement helps protect both the company’s reputation and the affected individuals. When you provide a severance package to assist the affected individuals financially as they transition, you are providing part of that protection.
But let’s face it. Losing your job is traumatic, especially when it is not your fault. Finding a new job is hard. Finding a new job when you are not employed is even harder. With today’s trend of so many people talking freely about their situation publicly on social media, especially if they feel they have been treated unfairly, you know your customers, shareholders, current employees, and potential job candidates will all see what is happening when an employee is laid off or terminated. If all they see and hear is what was shared by a disgruntled individual on social media, they will respond to the information they see on social media.
This is why providing Outplacement is so great when you need to lay off employees or conduct a sensitive termination. Companies add Outplacement to their severance packages because it is the right thing to do. Outplacement is good for both the exiting employee and the company providing it.
One of the primary reasons that companies provide Outplacement services to help exiting employees find a job is that it’s the right thing to do when someone has lost a job through no fault of their own. Outplacement services can assist the individual in finding a job more quickly, which minimizes the impact of the job loss, personally, professionally, and financially.
Providing Outplacement services also preserves the Company’s Reputation
When a company invests in outplacement, the company demonstrates that it genuinely cares about its employees. This minimizes the negative effect on future hires, customers, and shareholders through things like negative social media commentary that can occur when a layoff happens. And we all know that today’s candidates research a company’s reputation before deciding to apply for jobs, so this is critical in recruiting. See Forbes article.
Providing Outplacement also maintains Morale
– layoffs are hard on the employees who remain. These employees are often burdened with extra work from the departing employees. At the same time these employees are fearful that they will be next to be laid off. Seeing that the laid-off individuals are supported with outplacement services to find their next job helps the morale of the remaining employees.
Outplacement Helps Reduce Risk
– individuals experience strong emotions during a layoff. Focusing individuals on finding their next position helps them move on from the layoff and reduces the risk of legal action or, worse yet, workplace violence.
Outplacement also lowers the company’s Unemployment costs.
– When an employee loses their job because of a layoff, they are likely eligible for unemployment benefits. The sooner someone finds a job, the lower the unemployment expense that is charged to the employer, thereby reducing the effect on the company’s future unemployment taxes.
Why provide outplacement? When you provide a severance package with a non-disclosure, the departing employee cannot talk about what you have given them in terms of financial assistance to help them with the job loss. However, when they receive outplacement, they also receive counseling to help them move on from the job loss and effectively engage in the new job search. The difference in their actions versus a person not receiving Outplacement will be apparent, and this benefit need not be subject to a non-disclosure, again preserving the company’s reputation in a highly positive way.
For more information about SMARTer Job Hunting effective and affordable Outplacement products and services, visit our website at smarterjobhunting.com/outplacement or email outplacement@smarterjobhunting.com. You can also reach me directly at wmahle@smarterjobhunting.com
SJH provides your exiting employees with the knowledge, advanced search tools, career guidance and coaching support needed to accelerate finding a job they will treasure and shows your company cares for its employees. I look forward to speaking with you.
Further Reading:
Outplacement Research and Expertise
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
