As almost any HR professional can attest, one of the most challenging aspects of the job involves having to convey the news to an employee that their position is being eliminated. Whether it involves delivering this tough news to a new hire full of promise or a grizzled veteran who has given 20, 30, or more years to the organization, it's never fun -- and obviously never easy. Still, in most cases, the underlying business dynamics dictate that it must be done.
What Outplacement Is — and Why It Exists
Outplacement was created decades ago to assist employers with these very situations. While certainly not required as part of a severance package, providing departing employees with an outplacement benefit allows them the option of tapping into a set of expert, highly structured job hunting assistance designed to help them make a smooth transition and get back on their feet, career-wise, as soon as possible.
Why the Need Has Never Been Greater
Having been in this field for over 30 years, however, I can attest that the need for this support has never been greater. For starters, there's an almost unprecedented level of stress, fear, and anxiety accompanying most terminations today due to the current state of the economy and the fact that most news sources pump out a constant drumbeat of negativity. On top of this, the rise of AI technology represents perhaps the biggest monkey wrench thrown into the job-finding process since the dawn of the Internet, for both employers and employees alike. Almost everybody is confused about the role AI is playing in today's job hunting process, whether it's a curse or a blessing, how best to use it, and whether it's truly the boogeyman behind the failure a lot of people are experiencing.
The "Perfect Storm" Facing Displaced Workers Today
Compounding things further, consider that many employees impacted today by RIF events aren't actually poor performers, but successful and talented professionals who haven't had to look for a job for a great many years. Ironically, such people are even farther behind the eight-ball in terms of understanding the modern job hunting scene. It's simply not a skill set they've had to utilize often—or in some cases, ever. Throw in a dash of age bias, the potential of overqualification, and the rising cost of living we're all facing and you basically have the "perfect storm" for a long, arduous job search journey.
How Expert Outplacement Providers Can Help
Simply put, this is where expert outplacement providers can help. While they may not have a magic bullet that can negate the underlying supply/demand issues of the marketplace, they can provide critical advice, reassurance, tools, and structure to help newly displaced workers gain the best fighting chance of finding a new position in a reasonable period of time. They can both "teach a person to fish" in the sense of improving a person's skills in areas such as networking and interviewing, but can also "give a person a fish" through access to exclusive job leads, networking contacts, and resources that aren't available on the open market.
Outplacement firms can provide critical advice, reassurance, tools, and structure to help newly displaced workers gain the best fighting chance of finding a new position in a reasonable period of time.
Again, outplacement isn't an obligation or a legal requirement by any stretch of the imagination. But for companies seeking to do right by the people that have been a big part of their success over the years, or who want to infuse a positive spark into an otherwise challenging conversation, it can be an incredibly useful tool in an HR department's toolbox.
Questions? Further thoughts? Don't hesitate to get in touch with us—we'd love to help!