Outplacement services are booming

In the film Up in the Air, George Clooney’s character, Ryan Bingham, flies all over the US firing people on behalf of their heartless and faceless corporate bosses – a cold-blooded HR gun for hire whose sole ambition is becoming an air-miles millionaire.

The film might seem like a flight of fantasy; a service so cold, brutal and uncaring can’t surely exist. But in fact employers can engage a third party to handle the layoff process, and its origins show far more compassion than Clooney’s corporate assassin.

‘Originally developed after World War Two to help returning veterans find work, outplacement services have evolved considerably,’ says Corinne Mills, managing director at Personal Career Management.

‘Today, they offer a range of career coaching, workshops, webinars, e-learning platforms and research services to help those facing redundancy to find another role,’ she says. ‘They provide practical help and advice alongside the emotional support and confidence-building that individuals may need if a redundancy exit has been painful.’

The demand for outplacement services surged amid the pandemic, as organisations were forced to shed staff into one of the most difficult job markets in years. ‘Since the pandemic,’ says Mills, ‘outplacement companies have also expanded their virtual services, with virtual coaching via Zoom, webinars and e-learning platforms, as people have become so much more comfortable with these ways of working.’

Ongoing support

For organisations going through large-scale restructuring and layoffs, or for smaller firms who want to provide a more comprehensive service than their HR team can deliver, engaging a specialist third party can help.

Done well, outplacement is more than simply swinging the axe with sympathy and kind words. It can support people beyond leaving a company, helping them to find employment, to retrain and upskill.

‘Companies usually don’t have the time or expertise to help affected staff find new roles, so it’s far more cost-effective and time-efficient to use an external provider,’ says Mills. ‘Outgoing staff also value working with someone who wasn’t involved in making them redundant in the first place.’

The idea is to take a life-changing moment, more often viewed as akin to a tragedy, and help people to see it as an opportunity. ‘The reality is getting laid off is second only to the death of a spouse as one of the most emotionally disruptive things a person can go through in their lives,’ says Lindsay Witcher, a senior vice-president at Randstad RiseSmart, a coaching and career transition organisation.

‘I can’t tell you how many people have started by saying their world is ending, only for it to end up being the best thing that’s ever happened to them because it gave them the opportunity to think about their career, what they really wanted to do and to land their dream job,’ she says.

Tech and touch

Up in the Air‘s Bingham, something of an old-school operator, fights against his own pending obsolescence as a new young colleague implements a virtual platform, which means greater efficiencies, both in work output and cost, much to Bingham’s chagrin as the new technology means he’s grounded: no flying, no air miles.

Witcher calls this a ‘tech-and-touch’ approach. ‘Services can be delivered virtually, as technology enables the deployment and scalability of outplacement around the world for large global customers.

In RiseSmart’s case, each client is provided with a team of three: a coach, a CV writer and a ‘career concierge’. These experts sit with them at a virtual table and support them as they go through the job search.

A key part of the process involves coaching people and ensuring that they’re prepared to navigate the job search. They learn about best practice, current trends, how to network effectively and create a personal brand, how to stand out from the competition, and how to interview effectively.

Some offer a dashboard in which participants can build a profile of their skills and experience, see learning opportunities, search job ads, practise video interviews, get CV writing tips and career advice, and communicate with their outplacement team. A person’s data can also be used find matches in a job marketplace.

Reputation control

And for businesses operating in a landscape of skills shortages and talent wars, where reputation and a well-regarded culture are vital, there is more to be gained than saving time and costs.

‘Outplacement helps reduce conflict and protects a company’s reputation because when individuals feel supported to find another role, their exit is likely to be more trouble-free,’ says Mills. ‘It’s also important for the remaining staff to see their colleagues well treated if they are to trust their employer in the future. You only need to look at glassdoor.com to see how badly handled exits can tarnish the reputation of a company.’