Outplacement – The Basics
If you’ve seen movies like The Company Men (2010, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones) or you’re up on human resources (HR) services then you may be familiar with a service called Outplacement. Just to make sure we’re on the same page, Outplacement, is career coaching and related help that helps someone who has been released from their current job find suitable new employment.
Here are the key features:
- The former employer pays for the service
- Outplacement should help identify other suitable jobs and/or career paths
- Outplacement can, if desired, include help with resumes, cover letters, and help improve a client’s online presence
- Outplacement services may also include, strategies and tactics to help the affected employee gain access to employment opportunities through networking and outreach
- Outplacement should help the affected employee prepare for job interviews
Sometimes Great Employees Don’t Fit Their Current Role
Outplacement is one of my core services that integrates the HR and Career Coaching aspects of my consulting practice in a unique way. On the HR side, my practice deals with the delicate circumstances that exist when an employee is no longer in the right role and should therefore transition into a different role within the organization or at another workplace. On the Career Coaching side, my practice incorporates elements of career management for the affected employee.
Now There’s “Right-Placement”
While working as an HR Consultant, my Career Coaching services are, on occasion, made available to employees. Forward-thinking employers recognize that training resources should be set aside for Executive Coaching for members of the C-suite and for Career Coaching for many non-executive employees. Two types of employees have made use of this employer-supplied Career Coaching: top performers and under-performing and/or unhappy employees.
What has been fascinating is that repeatedly, these under-performing and/or unhappy employees did find more suitable niches where they could thrive and succeed. The magical part is that these employees moved on without being terminated and without triggering an expensive severance package. Basically, I’ve created a cheaper, happier alternative to firing an employee who was no longer a great fit for his/her previous role.
It’s Important That Employee’s “Fit” Their Role
The fact is that an excellent professional development coach can help unhappy / under-performing employees find and thrive in different roles. So instead of implementing a negative, costly firing process, local businesses are using my Career Coaching services when a problem with an employee’s “fit” within the organization becomes obvious. This course of action is like Outplacement since the employer pays for it and the end result is that the employee ends up in the right new role – it’s Right-Placement!
What Makes Right-Placement So Effective?
This form of Career Coaching helps “stuck” employees identify their career strengths, ideal roles, and land a new job. It may only take an employee 20 hours (or less) for this transition to happen. Plus, it is a happy, voluntary and far less costly process than waiting until the only option is firing someone and paying him or her severance. There’s simply no comparison between paying for 20 hours of support versus paying for months of an employee’s salary plus possible legal fees (if things go sideways).
Right-Placement – A Great Alternative to Traditional Outplacement
Part of why Right-Placement by I/O Advisory Services works so well is because the approach is different from approaches used by others. For instance,
- Often, outplacement amounts to liberal access to a collection of online videos, webinars, and PDFs with up to an hour or two of contact with an Outplacement Advisor — it’s often “self-serve” and generic.
- As a business model, this is smart for the service provider because once the generic materials have been developed, they are “evergreen” and they can be re-sold again and again.
- For clients who need to move on to another job before they are released, it’s probably inadequate support to get from their current position to one that fits them better.
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