As Big Tech lay-offs continue their march around the globe, organizations are increasingly evaluating additional ways to support their impacted employees.

Career Transition services, or Outplacement as it is widely known, has in recent years found its place as a standard offering in severance & support packages along with continued healthcare coverage, pay-outs to cover notice period, ex-gratia to tenured employees, unused vacation pay, etc.

A supported send-off to impacted employees helps organizations stay aligned with their values, lowers legal risk and protects their brand in the talent market.

The straight answer on whether organizations should offer company-sponsored Outplacement services to impacted employees is yes. The employee can be given an option to choose whether they would like to avail of the services or not.

The popular approach to choosing an outplacement partner is to look at lowest cost for highest value – unfortunately this does not work for outplacement.

The secret is to first analyse your impacted talent pool. Is your pool leaning towards early, mid, senior career or is it a mix? Is the talent specialized or industry-agnostic? Are there tenured employees?

This analysis will help you match the service provider with the right capabilities to service your talent pool.

The top 3 parameters to consider are:

1.    Does the service provider have deep industry knowledge and strong relationships?

Relationships with and access to the relevant points of contact in an organization’s talent acquisition team are of utmost importance for profile visibility and consequently placements.

2.    What is the quality of the team what will service your employees?

Empathy is the single most important trait to successfully handle impacted employees. Meet the team that will interact with your employees to know if they are simply following a script and process or are indeed putting themselves in the shoes of your employees.

Deep domain expertise is important especially while handling niche and specialized roles. A senior employee must be handheld by an equally experienced outplacement consultant from that industry to make the interaction meaningful.

3.    What are the milestones & outcomes that are considered as success?

The stark truth about outplacement is that there can be no guarantees any outplacement partner can provide for placements.

That said, much before the placement stage, outplacement services can fail at several levels for an employee e.g. if their calls are not answered by the consultant, if resume development support is not provided up to their expectation, if interview guidance is not provided and most importantly if their profiles are not made visible to the relevant employers.

Setting service levels in place at the contract stage will hold an organization in good stead versus merely focusing on just number of placements to mark success.

Of course, costs are an integral part of the decision. Being cost-effective versus opting for low value is key.

Lastly, outplacement service providers offer different features and methodologies. Making sure you are focused on value that is critical to your talent pool versus trying to make an apples to apples comparison between various services providers will help you succeed in making the transition as painless and smooth as possible for your impacted employees.

Have more queries on outplacement?

Write to us at advisory@abcconsultants.in to schedule a call with a senior Outplacement expert.

 Career Transition and Outplacement Services by ABC Consultants

ABC Consultants helps organizations support impacted employees by re-orienting them back into the job market. The moral support, career guidance and placement offered significantly helps stabilize laid-off employees during the sensitive time of transition.

Solutions are tailor-made for clients and comprise:

• A Sensitivity Workshop for announcement teams
• An introduction call to the employee followed by a deep discussion on skills and career guidance
• A dedicated Transition Advisor and Services Manager      
• Resume development
• Social media representation
• 360 degree job search guidance
• Interview tips
• Promoting profiles to relevant organizations
• Scheduling interviews
• Handholding on offer negotiation and closure

Our knowledge garnered over five decades, coupled with our strong relationships and market expertise, puts us in a strong position to help impacted employees.

Our services have helped organizations live up to their values and brand promise. For more information on ABC’s company sponsored Outplacement services, please write to advisory@abcconsultants.in