Want to attract new hires? Talk to them about outplacement

Supporting people and organsiations to thrive | 5 minute read

In an uncertain jobs market, how you treat employees as they leave can be as important as how you treat them while they stay. Embedding outplacement support across your organisation sends a strong message: you care about people, not just roles. That message can make you far more attractive to future hires.

Key takeaways

1. Offering outplacement support as part of your EVP helps position your organisation as a caring employer, even during tough times.

2. Outplacement builds confidence among candidates and staff, reducing the fear and uncertainty often linked to redundancy risk.

3. Thoughtful exits protected by outplacement support can protect your employer brand, reduce turnover costs, and strengthen long-term recruitment and retention.

Why keeping your people informed matters

This latest pension change could result in significant tax bills for families inheriting pension wealth, especially for those who’ve followed the long-standing advice to “save more into your pension.”

34%

of UK employees leave their employer each year, either by moving to another organisation or exiting the labour market.

Source: CIPD

50%

Over 50% annual turnover in high-churn sectors such as hospitality makes employer brand and candidate confidence especially important.

Source: HR Data Hub

Embed outplacement support across the whole organisation

One of the things we talk to employers about when helping them with their recruitment projects or challenges is why they should consider embedding outplacement support across the whole organisation, and telling their people about it throughout the employee lifecycle – not just at the end.

I know, it feels counterintuitive – bringing up redundancy before someone has even joined can raise alarm bells, so why would you talk about what happens in in the event of redundancy when you are trying to attract new individuals and position yourself as positively as possible?

Here are my top 5 reasons why:

1. Outplacement enhances your Employer Value Proposition (EVP)

In a competitive jobs market, candidates are looking for more than just traditional salary, pension and annual leave as part of their suite of employee benefits. Offering something a bit different helps you stand out from the crowd and gives potential new employees something practical and tangible to think about when weighing up opportunities.

2. It shows you really do look after your employees

Telling potential new hires right from the start that they will be looked after with outplacement support if their roles are ever made redundant is clear evidence to back up any claims you make through your values and narrative around looking after your people. Anyone can say it – but this allows you to prove it.

3. It reduces any fear of uncertainty

Global uncertainty is high, especially economic uncertainty, which can make potential new hires more wary of taking the leap to join a new company where they may not have as many redundancy rights. They may also be concerned about a ‘first in, first out’ situation, as they’d be among the first to go should a restructure occur. No organisation can ever guarantee roles are safe, but by letting people know that, should the worst happen, they are guaranteed to benefit from outplacement support services, it can help to eliminate this concern and give the candidate more confidence to take the leap.

4. Outplacement improves your visible feedback from leavers

We all know a decent candidate is going to be doing their due diligence on a new company before agreeing to join, and that includes checking sites like Glassdoor to see what the people on the ground are really saying. The words of your ex-employees carry a lot more sway than those of your recruitment or HR team, so make sure people are leaving on good terms and remain complimentary about your organisation, or you risk losing out on potential future employees. This can also have a positive impact on the number of employee referrals you receive, with the commercial benefit of reducing your spend on agency fees or speeding up your recruitment process.

5. It reduces unwanted turnover

One metric a potential employee might ask you about during their hiring process is your staff turnover. We know that one of the bi-products of making redundancies can often be a spreading uncertainty amongst your retained staff and those in the organisation that weren’t even directly impacted by the restructure, leading them to look elsewhere and resign in the period following the initial change. All of this contributes to your turnover figures, and a new hire isn’t going to be interested in the stories behind a high turnover percentage. Keeping this number lower off the back of a restructure by reassuring your current employees they will be looked after has a direct benefit on your ability to hire new employees, whenever that time comes.

If you would like to find out more about how NFP’s outplacement services can support your business and your people, give us a call on 01491 414010.