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If your company decides it needs to lay off employees, you can help people find new jobs by using an outplacement company that provides career transition assistance. Unfortunately, not every company that offers outplacement services will provide all the features you and your employees need.
Before you put your trust in any solution, learn how to evaluate outplacement options to provide the best career transition services for your company and employees.
Look for Features That Help Employees Find Comparable Jobs
Outplacement services companies offer a wide range of services that assist job seekers with finding their new roles. This can reduce the time it takes to get them back to work.
To make sure the outplacement company you’re considering is the right fit, first ask about its current clients to verify the company has experience working with other businesses in your industry. This will make it easier for the outplacement company to understand the skills and career transition needs of your workforce.
You should also ask about the types of online solutions and services that the outplacement firm uses to help employees with their career management. Some of the most useful career service technologies include:
- Integrations with social networks that connect people to potential employers in the job market.
- Virtual coaching with experienced career coaches or outplacement consultants who work closely with employees through their job search.
- Software to guide people through important tasks, like resume writing or evaluating career paths through a skills assessment test.
If you’re evaluating an outplacement solution that doesn’t offer these features, ask if the company can customize its offering for your reduction in force (RIF).
Explore Services that Help People Find Jobs Quickly
Ideally, every person should have enough money saved to pay for at least three months of living expenses. In reality, only 45% of Americans say that they have this amount in savings.
That statistic suggests that the average American who loses a job will need to find employment quickly to avoid some level of financial hardship. Joblessness also affects access to health benefits, which presents further financial strain.
Effective job searching tools and other job placement resources are critical components of a successful outplacement program. Be sure to ask prospective outplacement providers about the job searching tools that they make available to clients. Some key questions to ask include:
- Do you provide access to current job listings that match the qualifications and skills of your workforce?
- Is a job alert setup included so that employees are informed of relevant jobs as they become available?
- Do employees using your service find jobs faster than the national average? If so, how quickly does the service transition employees, on average?
The answers to these questions will help you to identify the outplacement service that will help your employees find new, relevant employment much more quickly.
Look to Virtual Options for a Thorough, Cost-Effective Solution
Cost is often a main consideration in selecting an outplacement provider. In some cases, your budget may determine the level and quality of benefits you are able to offer employees during a layoff. The goal is to find an outplacement service that is affordable, while meeting the needs of your company and your workforce.
Virtual outplacement solutions offer a cost-effective alternative to high-priced traditional services. Digital services paired with virtual coaching eliminates much of the overhead that raises the cost of in-person outplacement solutions. With the same level of quality, virtual outplacement can help you to provide a greater range of job placement and other services to employees facing joblessness.
Learn more about the best outplacement services by scheduling a demo with Intoo. After reviewing your demo, get a price quote to see how much money you can save by choosing the outplacement professionals at Intoo.
INTOO staff writers come from diverse backgrounds and have extensive experience writing about topics that matter to the HR and business communities, including outplacement, layoffs, career development, internal mobility, candidate experience, succession planning, talent acquisition, and more.