What KPIs should I set my outplacement provider?

According to the latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics, short term employment forecasts in Britain remain challenging. The unemployment rate reached 4.7% in mid-2025, reflecting a steady cooling of the labour market and the sharpest fall in vacancies for over two years. In its most recent outlook, the OECD noted: ‘Slowing growth and tightening labour demand are expected to weigh on employment prospects, even as public debt and fiscal pressures rise significantly’.

With hundreds of job loss announcements continuing across multiple sectors, from retail and hospitality to tech and financial services, the need for effective workforce planning and redundancy contingencies is as imperative as ever. One important consideration for organisations is the provision of outplacement support to those employees directly impacted.

However, many business leaders remain uncertain about the value of offering career transition support after organisational restructure, particularly with ongoing cost pressures. If organisations could consistently measure the impact of such investment, including outcomes such as time to re-employment, quality of new roles, employee wellbeing, and longer-term engagement with retained staff, the decision as to whether to provide support would become much easier. Clear evidence of tangible benefits would help leaders balance cost considerations with the reputational and operational advantages of supporting employees through change.

With that in mind, here are 5 key performance indicators that a good outplacement provider should be able to demonstrate in 2025:

Engagement

How well you and your organisation have planned for and communicated outplacement support is often key to levels of employee take-up. A good outplacement provider should take the lead on communications, work in partnership with HR to ensure effective project management and provide timely reporting on engagement rates, including demonstrating how quickly employees access the support available to them. Access to a range of tools to help drive engagement should be available, whether this is through the provision of employee awareness sessions, or written materials such as booklets or flyers introducing the support.

Resources/Coaching used

If your employees have engaged with outplacement services, the next step is understanding how effectively they have used them. Whether it is coaching hours or access to digital resources, a good outplacement provider should deliver insight into the average number of coaching hours that have been used or document another pre-agreed metric to document usage levels. One way to assess the quality and impact of these services is through participant feedback. For example, over 95% of the participants Renovo support rate their Career Coach as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’. If your provider is unable or unwilling to offer these metrics, then they may have something to hide.

Transition rates

Making the next career move remains challenging. For some it means retraining or moving sectors, while for others it may mean self-employment or a portfolio career. A strong outplacement provider should demonstrate how quickly and sustainably participants are moving into their next role. At Renovo, we measure metrics such as average time to re-employment, quality of new role, and retention at six to twelve months, which are increasingly seen as valuable indicators of success, with 83% of participants on our Professional Programme moving back into work within just three months.

Brand reputation

A redundancy process handled poorly can quickly damage an employer’s brand. With platforms such as Glassdoor, LinkedIn and X amplifying employee feedback, the reputational risk has never been higher. An effective outplacement partner will help mitigate negative sentiment through practical and timely support that employees value straight away. In fact, Renovo’s approach is reflected in the experience of their clients, with 70% of participants reporting a more positive view of their former employer after receiving support, providing a clear measure of how well the process has been received.

How much work has HR had to do?

Finally, one of the clearest measures of a successful outplacement process is the burden left on your HR team. Has the provider taken ownership of planning, communications, and employee engagement? Or has much of the work still fallen to internal teams? A strong provider should take on the heavy lifting such as managing referrals, keeping employees informed, and supplying regular updates and reporting whilst ensuring HR remains focused on supporting the wider business through the change.

You can see Renovo’s outplacement results here, or if you’d like to talk to us confidentially, get in touch at info@renovo.co.uk