Making changes to your company structure?
Poorly handled layoffs during a company restructure can be costly, impacting your employer brand, and leaving your business with a ruthless reputation.
It’s not to say you shouldn’t continue with your restructuring plans, as sometimes businesses need to make sweeping changes for sustainable long-term growth. But the key to doing it well lies in your people.
Studies show that 96% of employees believe showing empathy is an important way to advance employee retention, especially during tough times of layoffs and redundancies.
Check out our article “Surprising Statistics about Outplacement & Employee Wellness You Should Know!” for more on this.
A good way to go about it is by offering outplacement services to employees, a solution that lets employers’ transition outbound employees without a hitch by providing them with professional support.
Finding the Right Outplacement Service for Your Company
Poorly handled redundancies impact job satisfaction, performance, and motivation levels of existing employees while increasing voluntary turnover rate.
Implementing an Outplacement programme can help your company avoid a PR crisis, but finding the service provider with the right activities is key!
The right outplacement activities will help offer comprehensive support for your exiting employees that help:
- Retain a strong employer brand
- Attract the best talent
- Promote the performance and morale of existing employees
Not all outplacement service providers are made equal, knowing which activities to prioritize will help you choose the right vendor.
Here are the top eight outplacement activities to focus on to streamline the transition of outbound staff and their impact on your business:
Top 8 Outplacement Activities to Help Outbound Staff Part Happily
1. Psychological support
The uncertainties of the future and the trauma of losing the job can fill the displaced employee with fear, anxiety and depression. Emotionally unstable employees can cause problems for your business if they ever decide to take revenge out of spite.
Good providers offer comprehensive psychological and emotional support. Their clinical psychologist support offers safe consultation spaces and supportive environments for displaced staff to air their concerns and fears to look after their mental state of mind.
2. Career Coaching
Showing that your business genuinely cares about the career path of your employees goes a long way. You are not only helping outgoing employees land their next job but also shaping their career paths according to their strengths and interests.
Outplacement service providers help the displaced staff learn more about their passions and skills, enabling them to confidently choose a suitable career path. The best vendor offers one-on-one coaching to provide tailored advice.
3. Networking
An extensive network is crucial for both businesses and for employees in facilitating their job search. Learning to network with professionals and expanding connectivity can help outgoing employees land their next role and even line them up for opportunities further down the line. A provider will help set the networking foundations and support outgoing employees with their vast networks, while also helping increase your company’s connections.
4. Social Media Optimization – LinkedIn
With over 700 million worldwide users and 55 million businesses, LinkedIn is one of the most important social media channels for job hunters.
Recruiters search on LinkedIn using specific keywords for different positions and the LinkedIn profile of displaced employees should be optimised for these keywords.
An effective outplacement program provider spends time optimising and refining each section of the participant’s LinkedIn profile. This includes the profile, bio, image, education, certifications, and summary.
5. Resume Writing
On average, recruiters spend just six seconds on a resume. The top reasons why employers reject a candidate are that their resume
- is too brief
- is irrelevant to the posted job
- is disorganised or too long
- lacks keywords on specific skills
As a strong resume plays a key role in boosting the chances of your outbound employee getting an interview call, resume writing is one of the most important outplacement activities to look for.
Expert resume writers that top outplacement service providers have research on the skills that need to be highlighted in the resume. They ensure the right length, organisation and relevance of the resume. They also include keywords pertaining to the skills that help recruiters find and shortlist these employees.
6. Interview Rehearsals
Ideally, you would want your outgoing employees to perform well in interviews as it will reflect well on your business. It helps craft a reputation that high-quality employees come out of your company.
Outplacement coaches are experts in all types of interviews and interview methodologies. Based on the candidate’s seniority level and job title, the coaches help them rehearse answers to difficult and common questions so they can land the job.
7. Reference Checker
One of the important outplacement activities to look for in an outplacement firm is the reference checker. The participants need to be able to collect references from multiple sources which the outplacement service analyses to ensure the best references are used when applying for a job.
8. Connection to New Opportunities
Looking for new opportunities is a tough task for most outbound staff and the uncertainty during this time can be frightening. It’s great building the employee’s foundations but going that extra mile to connect them with the right opportunities will bode well for your reputation and can help you create connections with other companies.
The best outplacement provider offers comprehensive job search support by:
- using the right tools to promote the outbound staff’s resume on multiple channels to boost the chances of recruiters finding them
- assisting the displaced employees find relevant open positions across job boards
- offering ‘until placement’ support
Work with the best outplacement services in Asia-Pacific
Whether you are planning a merger, downsizing your workforce, or restructuring your business, protecting your reputation as an employer and optimising the morale of your staff are the top priorities. Given the unique needs of your business, you need a tailored outplacement programme that meets your company’s and employees’ needs.
Contact us now and let us know more about your situation. Our experts can help you plan and custom-build an outplacement programme that fits your business and outgoing employees!
Related Articles:
- 6 Myths About Outplacement Debunked
- 5 Steps to Manage the Redundancy Process Successfully
- Surprising Statistics About Outplacement & Employee Wellness You Should Know!
- Top 3 Reasons the Best HR teams Use Outplacement
- The Risks of Poorly Executed Workforce Layoffs
Links International is an industry leader in innovative HR outsourcing with services such as payroll outsourcing, visa application, PEO/EOR Secondment, outplacement, recruitment and more! Contact us for more information on how we can help leverage your HR function.
