Outplacement - The beginning of a new journey

Responsible organizations realize that organizations outgrow people and vice versa and it is in the interest of long term engagement with their people that they help them find places where they can be more successful. Outplacement, in this context, can be then considered as a component of performance management – the right person with the right skills in the right job at the right time. The absence of any of these “rights” causes disengagement which hampers productivity for the company and causes stress for the individual. Organizations that consciously work on reducing this stress for their people have outplacement programs to help people find their way and make transition smooth.

In a survey by executive search portal HeadHonchos.com, about 13 per cent of employers surveyed have indicated a need for employee outplacement services. For some, this has become an interesting business model and is a source of significant revenue. Right Management that is Manpower Inc.’s unit, nation's largest outplacement firm, posted a 36 percent increase in the second-quarter revenue, costing for about $158 million, adding upto $4 billion-a-year in the outplacement business. Another big provider, Lee Hecht Harrison that is a unit of Switzerland's Adecco SA, had their revenue jumped to 57 percent which is $119 million in the second quarter.

Firms end up in situations that require outplacing people because of a variety of reasons. Business strategies such as outsourcing, offshoring, global sourcing; operational strategies such as automation, digitization, optimization; and financial strategies such as divestment result in situations that call for changes in people practices such as downsizing through layoffs or retrenchments, work execution through specially contracted workforce etc. These situations affect people who were used to a much lesser rate of change. 

Responsible organizations realize that they need to stay committed to people who stayed committed with them in the past; hence they adopt different methods to handle outplacement scenarios. Some companies have internal outplacement specialists who counsel employees, help them prepare for the job search, devise their CVs and employ the right tactics to become visible and attractive to prospective employers. In such organizations, the recruitment and hiring functions are more likely to manage the outplacement process with the employee communications and employee relations teams helping employees deal with the emotional aspects associated with what could be a life changing event. 

Few other companies hire outplacement agencies such as Right Management and Lee to bring specialized methods to help people. These firms help people in not only getting them content ready but also help them with contextual skills that can accelerate the process of them finding jobs. All these services are typically paid for by the employer. These efforts create goodwill with the employer even in the context of forced separation and it has been observed that in many instances, such outplaced employees become active spokespeople and brand ambassadors of the employer and are even willing to come back at the right time. 

Employees undergoing outplacement are better placed availing outplacement services as they are much more likely to be considered for employment for prospective jobs since they are pre-qualified candidates with ‘certified’ skills that they are looking to hire. While they get skilled in content for contextual skills, the outplacement instance also introduces them to the ambiguous reality that helps them become a lot more resilient to change, even welcoming of it, to use it to their advantage in the future. Viewed through an optimistic lens, the outplacement event that an employee goes through is an opportunity to pick up new skills and finding a job that she is more likely to be more successful.