6 Outplacement questions we hear from HR Managers

For many companies, a lot more time and effort are put toward developing their onboarding process than their offboarding process.  Those companies often overlook and misunderstand outplacement services, such as HTI’s Career Transition Services.  So, what is outplacement and why should I care?  Let’s look at the answers to some of these most asked questions.

Why isn’t severance enough?

While severance is an excellent start to assisting affected associates on their way to a new career, it’s not enough. People are often at a loss when it comes to a job search after a layoff – not knowing where to start, dealing with loss of self-confidence, and lacking motivation.  A few extra weeks of pay doesn’t help them process what they are feeling and keep them looking forward to new opportunities.

What is Outplacement?

Outplacement is a service, companies typically offer along with severance, that partners the affected associate with a career coach. Program components often include resume writing, job seeker training, and, at HTI – networking. Most importantly, the career coach serves as a counselor – instilling self-belief back into the associate; an advisor – providing guidance on how best to leverage the hiring process; and an accountability partner – ensuring the associate stays engaged during the process and moving forward in a positive direction.

Does someone really need outplacement in this job market?

When the job market is hot, HR managers might assume that a displaced associate doesn’t need any assistance. In reality, a person might not be in an extreme long-term unemployment situation, but with our help, an outplacement participant can still find a job up to 4 times faster than counterparts without outplacement assistance. That alleviates the stress of a job search and gets the participant looking forward to the new opportunity. Plus, your company reduces its’ unemployment cost!

Why should I invest in outplacement if this person won’t be with my company anymore?

There are several reasons, but one key factor is your company’s positioning in the marketplace. A recent Glassdoor survey shows that 69% of job seekers would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed. Companies that truly take care of their associates will undoubtedly attract top talent once they are able to hire again. We’ve seen it repeatedly, companies that put people first are successful.

What are some different options we can provide for our outgoing associates?

The awesome thing about outplacement is nothing has to be one size fits all! We love to listen to our clients and design programs around what is going to be most helpful for the affected associates. So, if your tenured associates haven’t written a resume ever, we can absolutely write their resume with them! However, if your high-powered executive already has a flawless resume, then let’s not waste time there and get right into networking training.  Some of our options including resume writing and/or evaluation, job search strategies training, social media networking, and successful interviewing strategies.

What is the advantage of going with HTI vs. a large national provider?

First and foremost, customization! We enjoy tailoring our programs to our clients and their associates. But, on another note, we strongly believe in partnering with a smaller business who can give more to their outplacement participants. For instance, it’s a common occurrence to be working with a participant who mentions a local company being a target employer for them, and someone in our company has a personal connection into that target company. We love to leverage the connections our company has to further the job search for our participants.

 

Since the great recession of 2009, layoffs and reductions-in-force have become more common as organization strive to optimize costs and constantly improve. Offering outplacement is just the right thing to do for your associates. So put our recruiting knowledge and network of contacts to work for you.  Our individualized and personal approach is why HTI has been trusted by organizations throughout North America as a career transition partner since 1999.