Company owners who are on the fence about outplacement have probably weighed the benefits of outplacement services with the cons. There are so many pros to investing in the services of an outplacement agency, but one negative aspect is the added cost to your company. Try not to focus on this though, since the many benefits completely cancel out this one drawback.
If you were to make a pros and cons list, the pros could take up an entire page. Providing outplacement services to employees you’ve needed to fire shows that you actually care about them, rather than them just being there to get a job done. In addition to that, read about these 5 major benefits of outplacement services for your terminated employees.
Your ex-employees find work ASAP
This is the entire purpose of outplacement. If you’re not super familiar with outplacement, it is essentially a program that provides the necessary tools and resources to fired employees that will assist them in finding a new job. This means your employees won’t just pack up the contents of their desk into a cardboard box and be on their way.
Instead, they’ll be supported for a certain amount of time; the top outplacement services provide at least 6 weeks of support up to 3 months. During this time, your ex-employees will receive help with resume writing, interview prep, job search coaching, a complimentary cover letter, professional profile updates, and whatever else is necessary to help with finding a job.
Outplacement counseling sessions are extremely valuable
Not only do outplacement sessions help with instantly finding the next source of income. They also provide life lessons that are essentially invaluable. Maybe after one of your employees is fired, he feels lost about the direction of his career. This is not uncommon, and sometimes after a termination an individual decides to take an entirely different career path.
Outplacement professionals can help to provide direction in more ways than one. Sure, they’ll help you to create a flawless resume, but they’ll also sit with you 1-on-1 and give you career advice and counseling.
And since you no longer have a steady paycheck coming in, feel free to lay some of your stress on the outplacement pros during your sessions. That’s what they’re there for – to listen to your hopes, dreams, goals, and fears associated with your career.
It maintains the company image
This shouldn’t me your main goal of outplacement investment, but it is definitely a perk. As we already mentioned, outplacement shows that you actually care about the people who work for you. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t; no matter what the situation is, it’s always a good idea to show the public that you indeed do care about the wellbeing of all of your employees, even those who no longer work for you.
Because you are providing job-seeking tools, there is less risk of lawsuits from disgruntled ex-employees. This doesn’t mean an employee will every be happy or ready for termination, but it certainly lessons the blow of being fired.
