Why You Need to Rethink Your Career Transition Provider

If your provider delivers traditional outplacement, your people get job leads pushed to them. They are guided to get the same role they’ve had before, at a new company. And they receive a one-size-fits-all experience that could leave them feeling alone, disoriented, and discouraged. You likely wouldn’t want this type of service for yourself, so why would you buy it for your colleagues?

Outplacement approached in a haphazard manner can totally disrupt the culture of an organization, distracting employees and impacting their productivity. Even worse, a poorly executed workforce transformation can ruin an employer’s brand and make it difficult to attract and retain top talent.

With so much at stake, how do you decide?

First, go deeper into their approach

A new, modern approach reimagines the career transition process as one where individuals can transform and improve their working lives by reskilling to align with jobs of the future. The goal isn’t merely to find the first available job for them. It is to be focused on finding the next rewarding career path for each person as a unique individual.

A modern career transition program connects your employees directly to employers who are actively looking for their skillsets. They get a team of professionals working on their behalf—including a career coach, personal branding specialist, and talent promoter—all experts guiding them during the entire process, using state-of-the-art technology and impactful resources. Tailored to the individual, it is a transformative experience that includes both upskilling and reskilling to land better opportunities.

Second, beware the scammers

However, when managed poorly or handled by less experienced providers, there is no limit to the damage it can do to all involved. Missteps are more public than ever; poorly managed layoffs can result in bad press and demoralize remaining employees so much that they leave on their own for “greener pastures."

During significant economic downturns, a flood of firms in the human capital industry scramble to enter the outplacement industry. These opportunists do not really understand how career transition fits into the continuum of human capital strategies and their lack of knowledge and ability to perform can have disastrous consequences. What’s more, they may not have the resources to fulfill their obligations to your organization. 

Outplacement that meets high standards is a win-win for both individuals and organizations.

Third, push to learn their roadmap plans 

Old ways of doing things won’t get you where you need to go. Innovation and evolution are essential elements for the outplacement industry because the needs of your organization and your workforce are changing all the time.  

Outplacement firms must transform into strategic talent management partners, delivering enhanced value and responding to strategic business needs. This is not just about shortening the time to landing for a new job. It’s about an intricate process that seeks to preserve and even strengthen the employer brand by helping individuals in transition successfully deal with the upheaval of job loss and confidently move on to their next career opportunity.

It is your obligation as an employer to ask providers for their roadmaps of future enhancements.

Choosing an outplacement provider

In the outplacement industry, it’s important to be mindful of time to landing, and providers should make every effort to deliver effective, efficient service to organizations. But the great value inherent in effective outplacement services comes from connecting people to better jobs, and thus, building better lives.  

Regardless of current economic conditions, professional, well-planned, and smoothly executed outplacement is a moral, strategic, and sometimes, legal obligation that organizations must provide to their employees in career transition. It’s critical to choose wisely and separate out the experts from the inexperienced opportunists.  

Outstanding outplacement firms have globally consistent delivery practices and a diversified set of services to help them weather all economic conditions. They also treat your outgoing employees with the same care and respect they got when they were hired. That’s why it’s important to engage a firm with a comprehensive and effective talent management strategy that views those in transition as untapped talent who can contribute in other areas of the organization through upskilling or serve as valuable assets to their next employers.