Choosing the right outplacement programme for your employees

Letting an employee go can be difficult and while you might be in a position where it’s the last thing you want to do, more often than not you’ll have no choice. In such circumstances all you can is ensure that employees receive the support and guidance they need, both before and after they leave the company. You can do this by offering your own time, as well as investing in an outplacement programme.

It is quite common for a company or organisation to simply arrange for an outplacement programme to help former employees without actually investigating in detail what the services include and how exactly they will help an employee. Many services only offer advice when looking for new employment, when ideally you should be able to offer your employees an outplacement service that provides a lot more than that, as it is likely they could be suffering other consequences as a result of unemployment. Here’s what we think makes an effective outplacement service…

One-to-one support

Many outplacement based services consist of a general programme that anyone can follow. They are often impersonal and can fail to meet an individual’s requirements. Seek an outplacement programme that can offer your former employees one-to-one support with direct interaction. This way, support will be pitched at a level right for them rather than an ill-fitting majority, and your employees will be able to receive the right level of assistance and guidance.

Personal coaching

When it comes to planning their future career, each person will have different areas they will want to work on, or various questions they want to ask. Some outplacement services will only be prepared to help a person in very general areas or answer specific questions, whereas a programme that offers personal career coaching in the face of a redundancy can work with each individual to devise a personalised plan and provide support to meet their individual requirements.

Counselling

Dealing with unemployment can be extremely stressful and can often lead to more serious problems, such as depression or anxiety issues. Finding an outplacement provider that employs the skills of trained counsellors who can support your former employees with stress, anxiety or any other emotional issues would benefit them greatly, and help them to stay on track and work toward moving forward in their career.

Ongoing support

In the wake of a redundancy, many employees may find themselves in a position whereby they have received severance pay and have the opportunity to take some breathing space in their career. In such instances, being able to provide ongoing support for employees who may need it months later will be much more beneficial than career guidance in their last few days of contact with your firm.

These are all services that are included in Renovo’s outplacement programme and can be read about in more detail on our website. Get in touch with a member of the team today to discuss the unique benefits Renovo can offer both your organisation and your employees.

Rectifying redundancy: the associated issues revealed

Outplacement support services can be used to help deal with the practical concerns of redundancy, but if you stop and think about it for a moment, you’ll realise that the effects of this process can be more profound than mere practicalities alone. Your employees will often find that a redundancy leaves them feeling emotionally and psychologically shaken and as their employer it’s up to you to ensure that the redundancy process does not have too adverse an effect on their mental wellbeing. By selecting your outplacement support services with care, you can ensure that the following five eventualities of redundancy are appropriately dealt with too.

Financial worries

One of the first concerns to cross your employees minds following a redundancy will naturally be: ‘where will the money come from?’ While a redundancy payment will help to overcome such a problem for the time being, these can be inconsequential and your employees will realise that they won’t last forever. Financial insecurity can be extremely distressing for a newly redundant employee.

A dip in career confidence

Losing one’s job can be a blow to the confidence, with many redundant employees being led to question why they lost out as opposed to their other colleagues. The idea of looking for another job, going through the interview process and starting life in a new professional environment can be daunting in such circumstances. Outplacement support services should be there to help restore an employee’s confidence.

Loss of colleagues

To many people, a job is more than just a paycheck. The familiar office, sense of routine and, above all, companionable colleagues help to make a good job a major part of your employees’ daily lives, beyond the cycle of work-and-reward alone. It’s common for people who have been made redundant to feel lonely and isolated after losing their jobs - an emotional side-effect that ought to be addressed with the help of career coaches.

Damaged self-worth

It’s remarkable what a redundancy can do to an employee’s sense of self-worth. While the choice to make someone redundant or not will often be taken out of your hands, it’s worth considering the effect the process could have on your employees. Redundant employees will often feel helpless, undervalued or even personally slighted after being made redundant, so it’s important that outplacement services are on hand to help restore their sense of value and self-belief.

Job search stress

Being suddenly and unexpectedly cut adrift from the workplace and forced into the job market can be extremely stressful, particularly when jobs themselves are so hard to come by. Your employees will have seen the news regarding graduate unemployment, scarce vacancies and a stagnant job market and will no doubt feel trepidation at the prospect of tackling such obstacles themselves. Outplacement support services can help to alleviate job market stress, giving your redundant employees a greater sense of positivity regarding their future prospects.

As you can see, there’s more to outplacement than the practical concerns alone. If you want to do right by your redundant employees this year, contact us to find out more about our flexible, personal approach to outplacement.

Renovo is one of the UK’s leading providers of outplacement and career transition support. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please call 0800 612 2011 or email info@renovo.co.uk