Outplacement, Career Guidance And Career Development

Outplacement is an employer-paid benefit that has been in existence for over two decades, mostly in the USA and Europe but rapidly gaining in acceptance throughout parts of Asia as well. It is not to be confused with outsourcing, which is something entirely different.

What Does Outplacement Do?

What it provides is practical support from professional consultants designed to help people who have to leave a company, whether through redundancy or severance, move to the next stage in their careers. It is an evolving process of supporting people who are being made redundant in finding a new job and returning to work in another organisation elsewhere. It is a useful tool to assist the individuals whose roles are disappearing and to reassure the people staying that their colleagues are being cared for.

Career Guidance

This career guidance support can be delivered in a number of ways and is often provided by organizations to individuals as part of a redundancy package following a restructure due to changing operational needs, market forces, merger or acquisition.

My website uses my expert background to give you access to the same information and you can also join my career development programme to achieve the same result more quickly.

It provides a visible sign to leavers and non-leavers alike that the organization is trying to do its best to be supportive to its staff at a difficult time and help those employees through this challenge by dealing with the uncertainties about the future and helping them to re-enter the job market.

From an organizational point of view, outplacement policies and practices are designed to:

• Reduce severance costs
• Improve employee morale
• Improve public relations
• Reduce the likelihood of litigations
• Increase the timeliness and ease of management changes
• Enhance and maintain the company's reputation among its clients and suppliers.

However, with many organizations feeling the economic pinch, not many are prepared to foot the bill to the same extent as they did during the 1990's when individual support package easily topped $10000 for a single employee. More likely the support will be group based meaning that individual coaching and counseling may be non-existent. It will pay the employee to look for ways to top up their own package by making use of many excellent websites providing the tools they need to transition from an existing job to a new role.

With job losses occurring all over the country and families tightening up the family purse strings, it is reassuring in part to know there is career help and the provision of support which enables individuals to manage the reality of their situation, mount an effective job search and evaluate alternative options for the future.

What To Expect From Outplacement

There is a growing demand for such services as people find their organizations having to cut costs. When they require these services an approach that is focused, practical and market specific is of paramount importance. Outplacement firms that work closely with individuals to identify where their strengths and talents are best suited to helping individuals, whether this is towards a new corporate career or establishing their own business.

A personal and customised service driven by the needs of the individual and not by imposing a rigid process is what you should be looking for. Providing support individuals for as long as it takes for them to find their next role, where there is no set number of meetings and no set time duration means your people receive what they most need. Over 75% of individuals going through outplacement find alternative employment within 3 months of commencing the service, but that depends on their seniority and willingness to work at finding a new job. Most individuals who start this programme comment on how positive they feel, because they may not have had anyone to discuss their issues with.

Research shows that a high quality outplacement programme is actually ‘an investment in morale, productivity and profits’ for those employees who remain with the downsized company, resulting in greater productivity and more discretionary effort from ‘survivors’ and morale is further improved as good news about leavers' successes is communicated back to the client firm.

What should you expect from an outplacement package?

Services usually include ways to manage the transition successfully by identifying your strengths, your unique skills and accomplishments; you should be able to undertake personality assessments and get professional advice on CV writing, effective career development, market research techniques, networking, work search strategies, tips on effective written and verbal communication, how to secure informational meetings, role play interviews and more.

Displaced employees want to know that there's still a positive connection between them and their employers, and employers want their employees to feel that transition services come directly from them, out of good feeling and genuine concern for the employee's future.

Successful programs should help individuals to move forward in a positive way and turn their search for the next move into a constructive, successful project and is a kind of career guidance consulting service provided to redundant employees to find new career opportunities and is nowadays an essential tool of a well managed business.

Outplacement is a philosophy as well as a process which is not just for those at the top of an organization, but an effective support system for everyone at every level. Are you going to manage the process of job searching by yourself? Then I suggest you go and read the page about returning to work.

You can achieve all of the benefits of a personal support programme by taking advantage of a special package I have put together for my clients. My Career Counselling Programme brings you all the benefits of a personalised coaching / mentoring programme which will be delivered by me personally.

You should also read about how you can learn to minimise your Reactions To Job Loss

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