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Outplacement: why it doesn't work

With the current economic climate, many tech companies are shedding staff like my Persian cat sheds his winter fur - in clumps. Especially companies that have a US parent, and/or are publicly traded, have seen their share prices plummet in the last few months. The clamour from stock market analysts that these companies reduce costs to bolster share prices wouldn’t let up until they did - the fastest way companies can think of, which is to let go of substantial numbers of their employees. Oddly enough, many companies seemed to have enough cash reserves to put together generous severance packages, and to contract out for career transition support.

In one smooth fluid motion, the employee is informed they are to be laid-off, someone from HR escorts the employee to another meeting room, where a ‘career counselor’ is waiting, and the employee is informed that the company has arranged for career transition support for the next 4 weeks (or 6, or 8), starting this coming Monday. Sometimes the now ex-employee is handed a thick binder: “Here’s your workbook” and again under escort taken to their workspace, where they can pack up their personal belongings under supervision. Hand in your keys, security pass, and “Thank you, that will be all”.

The big companies that are contracted to provide this type of immediate career support - Right Management, Knightsbridge, DBM, and others - have a few things in common:

1 The rate for 4 - 8 weeks of support is outrageously high - between $1,000 and $4,000, sometimes even higher (for senior managers and executives)
2 Sessions are in groups whenever possible, since one-on-one meetings require a large team of counselors, which would be very costly.
3 They provide a highly standardized and generalized program, since tailoring programs to suit individual needs requires someone to find out what those needs are, which takes time, which would be very costly .
4 The programs assume everyone will move along at the same pace, regardless of how crappy you feel that you’ve just lost your job; as a result, much of the value of the program is lost on the people who have not yet adjusted to their new reality.
5 Beyond the obligatory platitude that ‘networking is the key to finding your next job’, there is very little individual coaching on ‘how exactly to network’, since - again - that takes time, which would be very costly.
6 If you don’t start immediately, or want to take a break half-way through, the clock will keep ticking, and once the contracted period has passed, that’s it. You’re done. No more access to support.

So who benefits from these programs? Besides the companies that offer them, that is? And why do organizations that for whatever reason need to shed staff continue to contract them? Here’s my opinion, for what it’s worth: Frankly, for your ex-employer, contracting a big firm to provide career transition support is to make them feel good, not you. It makes them feel “they’ve done something”. It’s guilt-money they’re happy to spend, because they can silence critics of the lay-offs by pointing to the expense. “See? We take care of our redundant employees.”

If you are offered career transition support as part of your severance, do yourself a favour and opt out of the collective program, but find out how much has been set aside for the outplacement program. Then, ask your HR department to hold those funds for you until you can find an independent career consultant to work with, on an individual, tailored-to-your-needs, custom program. Independent career consultants like myself can work with you for a much longer period of time for the same budget the company is prepared to allocate to the big firm.

When you find your independent, personal career consultant or coach, they can invoice your former company, and your ex-employer’s conscience can rest easy. And you can then arrange with your personal career coach when you want to start and how fast you want to go. At your convenience, not theirs.

In my next blog post, I’ll present tips on selecting the right career coach for you.

Last updated on Mar 11, 2009 at 03:22 PM
Category: Career Marketing Career Strategies
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