Outplacement Services: A Win-Win for Employers and Employees
Are you considering using an outplacement service? Perhaps you may have heard how these agencies can help both businesses and their employees.
Businesses of all sizes may occasionally need to let some of their staff go. Even when this is done on an amicable basis, the effects can be difficult to manage. Outplacement services can help.
Outplacement agencies help to ensure that employment separations occur with minimal disruption to both the employer and employee. In this article, we’ll discuss how this happens and explore the various benefits an outplacement service can offer to your business.
What Are Outplacement Services?
An outplacement service is a type of employment agency that focuses on helping the existing employees of some business or organization find new jobs.
Typically, an outplacement service comes into the picture when you’ve identified a need to let some staff members go for reasons other than wrongdoing on their part.
Services Offered by Outplacement Services
There are different types of outplacement services, and they may offer some or all of the same services. Generally, here are the services you can typically expect:
Career Counseling
The outplacement process typically begins well before an employee’s last day at the office. When designed and implemented properly, the first phase of the program would be counseling to help prepare individuals for the impending changes.
For some individuals, an outplacement might mean a complete career change. For others, it might mean moving to an entirely different area. For many individuals, being let go can be the catalyst for starting their own business.
Outplacement services that offer entrepreneurial counseling are particularly valuable in these cases and may, depending on the agency, be able to advise on everything from writing a business plan to getting an EIN.
Resume and Cover Letter Writing
Some outplacement services provide direct assistance with helping employees craft effective CVs and cover letters.
In many cases, staff who need outplacement services are people who have spent so many years in the same position that they struggle to effectively show how their work and achievements might be applicable in new roles or in different industries.
Professional CV and cover letter writing services can help bridge this gap, and most outplacement agencies offer this service. Jobseekers may also consider using modern tools like AI resume builders to create professional CVs that effectively communicate their value.
Curated Vacancies
A good outplacement service should also offer access to a high volume of job opportunities collected through both offline and digital job-hunting strategies. At the very least, they should have a broad network of industry contacts to help ensure that the pipeline of job opportunities keeps flowing.
Negotiation Coaching
Most outplacement services merely offer support till a jobseeker gets an offer. Some, however, will hold their hand all the way, even offering help to negotiate salaries, benefits, and so on.
What are the Advantages of Outplacement Services for Employers?
Is hiring an outplacement service worth the extra costs for your business? While the specifics of your circumstances matter, the answer will usually be yes. Here are some of the most important reasons why:
Protecting Reputation:
Letting staff go is typically a complex process, mainly when these staff may not have done anything wrong.
In the modern day, more and more businesses have to streamline their human resource needs as the rise of AI and automation leads to more efficient processes.
In the steel industry, for example, ERP software management has significantly eliminated hundreds of hours of manual work.
Generally, improved efficiency is great, but companies need to look after the people who might be affected by these changes too.
Rain Yang, Founder & CEO of WoodenAve shares, “Every business owner understands that layoffs are sometimes unavoidable.
However, the damage both to the business and to the people losing their jobs can be mitigated if businesses commit to providing thoughtful support.”
Maintaining Positive Relationships
Keeping a good relationship with departing employees can be difficult, and many companies find this unnecessary. However, this could be a mistake.
These days, a single negative review or LinkedIn post can do tremendous reputational damage to a business, but the reverse is also true.
As Gavin Yi, Founder and CEO of Yijin Hardware, puts it, "Regardless of business size or industry, the importance of ensuring a smooth transition for employees during a downsizing cannot be overstated. It clearly fosters some goodwill under very difficult circumstances".
3. Reducing Legal Challenges
Offering structured help with outplacement can mitigate the risk of legal disputes, as it demonstrates that the company is taking steps to ensure a fair and respectful transition for affected employees, helping to reduce the chances of wrongful termination lawsuits.
Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, shares the following insight: "Taking care of your employees even after they walk out of the door for the last time is not just good PR, it's common sense. You’d be surprised how many wrongful termination suits can be prevented simply by treating workers with respect and value even when you have to let them go".
What are the Advantages of Outplacement Services for Employees?
We’ve discussed some of the benefits of using an outplacement service for businesses. These benefits extend to employees, too, in the following ways:
Improved Personal Branding and Visibility
Getting a new job is always a highly competitive process in almost any industry or career field. With potentially thousands of job seekers competing for the same positions sometimes, building a personal brand to become more visible is always a smart idea.
"I’ve seen firsthand how building visibility on the platform of a personal brand—through a strong track record and experience—plays a crucial role in capturing an employer’s interest and advancing candidates to the next stage of the hiring process,” says Charles Platon, Founder at Peel and Stick Wall Murals
Some of the service's outplacement agencies offer are tailored towards providing this.
For example, an outplacement service might help you build your social media presence for B2B recruitment, focusing on platforms such as LinkedIn.
Access to More Job Opportunities
In addition to providing support for professional branding and visibility, which may help attract more and better opportunities, most outplacement services also offer direct access to job opportunities.
Some of these services may even have access to exclusive job offers that aren’t advertised publicly, giving their clients an advantage.
Network Development
Outplacement agencies may also offer their client's priority access to things like virtual career fairs and other networking events where jobseekers may meet potential employers.
On the importance of networking, Adam Tishman, Co-Founder at Helix Sleep, a U.S. retailer and kids mattresses manufacturer, says, "So much of success in business or in any field at all comes from simply understanding the value of building and maintaining strong networks. This is true whether you’re looking for a job or selling mattresses!"
Interview Preparation
It’s one thing to find available jobs and get invitations to interviews, but acing an interview is quite another thing entirely, and most people struggle with this.
Things like mastering case interviews can help improve a jobseeker’s prospects of success in an interview, and this is something an outplacement service might help with.
How to Hire the Best Outplacement Service
So far, we’ve looked at a few of the benefits of outplacement services for both employers and employees. To really achieve the intended effects, however, you’ll need to choose the right outplacement service.
Step 1: Identify Unique Needs
The first step is identifying your company’s specific requirements, including the scale of the downsizing, which will guide you in selecting the most suitable provider.
Look for agencies with a strong reputation and relevant experience in your industry. Some providers may lack the expertise to effectively support employees in certain sectors, which could hinder the success of the outplacement process.
2. Assess the Range of Services on Offer
When hiring an outplacement agency, ensure they have the tools and connections necessary to offer employees a range of opportunities for their next career move.
They should have access to multiple job boards and postings, including those not widely advertised, providing your employees with a competitive advantage in the job market.
3. Let Your Employees Have Some Input into the Process
Ultimately, even though a business might pay for the services of an outplacement agency, the real users of the service are the employees who need outplacement. For the best outcomes, letting these employees have a say in the process would make sense.
Final Word
As we’ve shown in this article, the benefits, both for businesses and their employees, far exceed any costs. Gary Hemming, Owner & Finance Director at ABC Finance, puts it this way: “Outplacement as a way of managing the termination of employment is not just a great humane gesture, but it also makes a tremendous amount of sense business-wise.”
Just remember to use the tips we’ve provided here in choosing the right outplacement partners.
Good luck!