You can picture the scene – or indeed you may be living it right now. Your organisation needs to make people redundant, and as part of the redundancy process you’ve decided to offer people outplacement support. You’re reviewing the different offerings on the market – and need to make a decision. How do you choose?
There are, of course, lots of different things that set outplacement providers apart from one another. One factor that you may not have considered in as much detail before, is the length of the support they provide your leavers with. Even if you have considered it – it may not have been important enough to sway your decision towards one provider or another.
If that’s the case, you may want to reconsider. In this post, we’ll discuss why the length of outplacement support your leavers receive can be just as important to your decision-making process, as the quality of coaches, or the overall cost.
Three reasons why the length of outplacement support matters
1: The only mark of success is outcomes.
Many organisations consider that once someone is enrolled in outplacement, that’s their job done – they can mark that up as a success. But those that do are forgetting that outplacement support is designed to help people move on from their organisation successfully. If that doesn’t happen, those individuals who have been let down are likely to tell their friends – many of whom may still work for you. That could undo all the goodwill you’ve generated by bringing in an outplacement provider in the first place!
In that context it’s essential that your outplacement provider is totally focussed on positive outcomes for your leavers. The longer they provide support for, the greater the chance of achieving a successful outcome for a leaver – and the better chance you have of maintaining the positive effects of outplacement for your survivors.
2: People’s needs are different.
Many people – including those leaving your organisation – often assume outplacement is all about finding their next job. In truth, it can be about much more than that. We’ve helped people to start their own businesses, find non-executive director roles, or even plan for retirement. All of these things are possible – and it’s one of the reasons outplacement is such a valuable service for leavers.
But not all of those things happen at an equal pace. It can take time to set up your own business, for instance. So if your outplacement provider is only providing three months of support for each leaver, those with more complex needs risk losing out – meaning, again, that some people may not achieve their next step through the outplacement support they receive.
3: It’s an indication of commitment from your provider
Anyone who has worked with a third party understands it makes a world of difference when you can trust that that third party is just as committed to your goals as you are. It’s no different with outplacement. If your outplacement provider is limiting the length of their support, there’s always the chance that they can ‘give up’ on the tougher cases, and simply run the clock down. A provider that supports your leavers for as long as it takes, however – that’s a strong indicator that they are with you for the long haul, working shoulder to shoulder with you and your leavers to get the job done.
Of course, the length of support a provider gives your leavers isn’t the only thing to consider when evaluating different outplacement services – but it’s definitely worth factoring in when you’re drawing up your shortlist. At NFP, we provide ‘as-long-as-it-takes’ outplacement support for individuals as standard. Our peer-matched, highly trained coaches work with closely with your leavers to help them secure their next opportunity – and we don’t stop until the job is done.