What Are the Benefits of Outplacement Services?
August 17, 2017 by Josh Hrala
Everyone knows what outplacement is and what service it providers outgoing staff, but what are the benefits of outplacement services for the companies that provide them?
Quite a lot, actually. The benefits of outplacement services stretch far beyond what they do for the employee, though the employee benefits should be at the forefront when considering what service to buy.
Side note: if your company is considering – or in need of – outplacement services, check out the pricing information for our outplacement programs:
Now, let’s take a look at how outplacement service can seriously boost a company’s overall performance and brand.
Your Reputation and Layoffs
Layoffs and other reductions in force are a fact of life in the business world. Despite that fact, though, every time one of these events occurs, it puts your company at risk of public scrutiny.
And rightfully so. When a layoff happens, no matter the scale, people’s lives can be upturned. While many reductions in force are needed for the overall business to continue marching forward, that fact is usually lost on the general public.
So, when it comes time to perform a layoff, HR should take as many precautions as they possibly can to ensure it goes smoothly and that the outgoing employee(s) are not resentful.
The best way to pull this off is to offer a great severance package that includes outplacement services.
By providing outplacement, you show your employee that you still care about them even though they had to be let go. You also show your “surviving” employees that – if this were to happen to them – that they, too, would be in good hands.
So, one of the benefits of outplacement services is that it shows the world, your employee, and the rest of your staffers that you don’t throw people out on the street, which seems like something that every HR department worth their salt should know. But you’d be surprised how many lawsuits pop up because of HR not handling layoffs in the proper way.
Reduce Stress Across the Board
Even if you are sure that your reputation is not on the line with your layoff event, they still cause an immense amount of stress for everyone involved.
HR is tasked with notifying and processing the outgoing employee, which can be an extremely emotional event because sometimes these employees have been working for the organization for many years.
By providing outplacement, the HR professional tasked with handling this whole ordeal can sleep better at night knowing that the employee will be taken care of and has a team of professionals working alongside them to get them back to work in a new, meaningful job.
Like we mentioned above, the benefits of outplacement services are also not lost on your surviving employees who may feel shaken up when a layoff event occurs. This stress has the potential to trigger a wave of turnover because people see that their jobs are not safe.
While most of the time a single layoff event is not cause for alarm, it’s hard to think that way when you are the one feeling the stress. Outplacement can ease these tensions by at least showing survivors that they will get treated well even if their jobs were to get cut.
A Strong Strategic Partnership
As we said before, layoffs are a simple fact in the business world, which means that it is likely that your organization will have to undergo them from time to time.
Because of this, it’s important to make sure that the outplacement firm you decide to go with is a strong strategic partner.
By having a firm on retainer – by the way, Careerminds doesn’t charge a retainer fee (just saying) – you can feel more free to hold downsizing events.
Even though they are often times painful, ignoring the need to have a layoff can be detrimental to your business, especially if your company is starting to take a financial hit.
This is one of the benefits of outplacement services that few people want to think about but is 100 percent logical: outplacement enables you to plan your workforce and do what you need to do to ensure your business continues being profitable while offering your current employees proper benefits.
The Benefits of Outplacement Services: A Brief Round Up
Let’s put this all together.
By providing a well-rounded outplacement service, you can ensure that layoffs go over without a hit to your reputation. You can show your surviving staff that they will be taken care of it happens to them, and you can reduce the levels of stress that come with any reduction in force. The biggest benefit is that outplacement can help you feel better about deploying a possibly company saving workforce overhaul.
If your company is considering outplacement, we want to again offer you this free resource to help you shop around. After all, using the wrong outplacement provider can be just as bad as not providing it at all. Download it here:
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At Careerminds, we care about people first. That’s why we offer personalized talent management solutions for every level at lower costs, globally.