Contents Contents 01. Our philosophy 02. What is outplacement & does it actually work? 03. Our approach to outplacement 04. How we work with organisations 05. How we work with individual clients 06. Our service offering Coping With Transition Personal Development Job Search Activity Ongoing Support Evaluation
Our philosophy Our philosophy You can be confident that our recommendations will always be based upon the findings of published academic research, tailored to meet the needs of your organisation. At Anima & Atman we are committed to delivering solutions for our clients that make meaningful and measurable differences in the areas of Emotional Wellbeing, Productive Mindset and Self-Awareness. Our clients are typically professional services organisations, who are trusted for their expertise, commitment to ongoing professional development and high ethical standards. Our approach seeks to reflect this, meaning you can be confident that our recommendations will always be based upon the findings of published academic research, tailored to meet the needs of your organisation.
What is outplacement? What is outplacement and does it actually work? The negative impact of redundancy on workers has been well documented and can include: stigma, loss of identity and self-esteem, feelings of anger and grief, destruction of daily routines, financial distress and the loss of social and support networks. In some instances, mental health problems such as clinical depression can result. is a means of humanising this very unpleasant (but necessary) aspect of organisational life. The purpose of outplacement is to reduce the anxiety and tension produced by career disruptions; to increase attractive job leads; to assure systematic constructive job searching; to decrease unemployment time; and to effect a career change which improves or at least does not reduce the worker s return from working. Healy (1982) This definition provides a useful shopping list of what workers (or clients as they will be referred to from now on) may expect from an outplacement service, but it does not tell us how this can be best achieved. It also fails to recognise the interests of the employer, who in most instances will be paying for the service. While many employers are motivated to provide outplacement services for overwhelmingly altruistic reasons, they will also be aware of the importance of maintaining a positive brand image; not just in the eyes of customers but also those workers who are leaving, those remaining in post and those who may consider joining in the future. A well-designed outplacement programme should therefore offer a win-win outcome for both client and employer, but does the evidence support this? Most organisations don t know, as the percentage that fail to evaluate their outplacement provision is staggering (Kilcrease 2012), hopefully your organisation is an exception. A well-designed outplacement programme should offer a win-win outcome for both client and employer.
Our approach to outplacement Our approach to outplacement Our approach draws heavily from the Aquilanti Integrated Model of outplacement (Aquilanti & Leroux 1999). This means that it benefits from a strong theoretical underpinning that includes both aspects of career counselling and more practical elements relating to personal development and job search. Many outplacement services tend to focus exclusively on the practicalities, which can limit the effectiveness for those clients who are still coming to terms with redundancy. The working alliance between client and outplacement consultant is fundamental to how we deliver our service. Recent research strongly suggests that the quality of this relationship is the most important active ingredient in predicting the effectiveness of coaching (de Haan 2013). Our relational approach to outplacement sets us apart from other providers and is why we encourage clients to play an active role in choosing the consultant they want to work with for the duration of their programme. Our relational approach to outplacement sets us apart from other providers. Other factors that influence the effectiveness of outplacement include: the client s individual characteristics; the context in which they find themselves (at home and in the workplace); and the range of services at their disposal. These have all been taken into account when designing our outplacement model, in order to ensure the impact of each intervention is maximised. While this approach ensures the client remains our primary focus, it is important that the needs of the employer organisation are also taken into account. However, we would contend that by placing the client at the centre of the service and ensuring they get the support that they need, the employer will ultimately benefit from minimising the potential damage to their employer brand and helping ensure that engagement levels remain high amongst their remaining workers.
How we work with organisations How we work with organisations Having an outplacement provider who works with the employer organisation both before and after the decision to release workers is made public, is regarded as a best practice model (Arslan, 2005). Our recommended approach is to partner with the employer organisation through the following stages. Identify potentially affected workers Review proposed selection processes Agree level of internal and external support to offer Agree KPIs for outplacement programme Confirm timetable & communication strategy Provide training to relevant internal stakeholders Results of selection process announced programme delivered Programme evaluation
How we work with organisations Working with an outplacement provider in the early stages of the process need not make the service costlier to deliver, in reality it often prevents oversights that can be costly to correct later in the process. In instances where the employer already has a clear plan they are working towards, the first five stages of the process can be completed relatively quickly, potentially in a single meeting. For organisations that have not recently had to release workers (or who have had negative experiences when doing so) the opportunity to review and improve selection processes and put in place a clear strategy for communicating this to workers, can fundamentally change the way in which the news will be received when it is communicated to workers. Where appropriate internal teams can also be upskilled in order to deliver certain elements of the outplacement process themselves. This can be particularly useful for organisations who regularly release small numbers of workers, for example at the end of a fixed-term school leaver or graduate programme.
How we work with individual clients How we work with individual clients is an unfamiliar service to most workers, so it is important that an explanation of the support on offer, is provided alongside the results of the selection process. This can be communicated either internally by relevant stakeholders or by the outplacement provider. From the point at which decisions become public knowledge, workers need to be able to ask questions and receive clear advice about the support available to them. This is why having a dedicated point of contact (either on site or available remotely) is recommended. It is also important to determine whether the potential client is likely to benefit from outplacement or not. Research suggests that personality traits such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience make a significant contribution to the effectiveness of an outplacement programme (Martin & Lekan 2008). In order to maximise the return for both client and organisation we recommend a short diagnostic test of every potential client prior to the start of the programme. Alongside this screening there is also an opportunity for clients to meet with faculty members, in order to identify the outplacement consultant, they feel they will be best able to work with. This short chemistry session is primarily an opportunity to build rapport but it does also offer a first opportunity to discuss a client s goals and objectives. Once this initial meeting has taken place the client will then start to work through the four distinct stages of our outplacement model. There is an opportunity for clients to meet with faculty members, in order to identify the outplacement consultant, they feel they will be best able to work with.
How we work with individual clients Chemistry session & diagnostic testing Stage 1 - Coping with transition Stage 2 - Personal development Stage 3 - Job search activity Stage 4 - Ongoing support Programme evaluation Clients will spend differing lengths of time in each of the four stages, depending on their own individual needs, but we would expect all clients to progress in a linear fashion as each stage builds upon the ones that precede it. Within each of the four stages there are bespoke elements that reflect the different priorities of clients at varying stages of their careers. Many outplacement programmes are designed with executive-level clients in mind but these do not usually translate well to meet the needs of clients working at a more operational level or with less extensive work histories.
Our service offering Our service offering Coping With Transition Personal Development Job Search Activity Ongoing Support Evaluation What follows is a series of short case studies that provide an indication of what each stage of the outplacement process aims to achieve. Reference is also made to some of the tools and techniques that can be used to facilitate progress. Our comprehensive service offering reflects the aspects of outplacement that clients indicate they find most effective (Butterfield & Borgen 2005). The interventions mentioned in the case studies are not prescriptive but they illustrate activities that clients may choose to engage with, in order to meet their personal goals. Most activities can be delivered individually or to small groups of clients. Many clients find working in a group setting supportive and state that it helps reduce feelings of isolation. Certain sessions, for example those related to financial planning, can also benefit from the attendance of other affected parties e.g. life partners or family members. Access to services can be restricted to reflect the budget of the employer organisation. Access to services can of course be restricted to reflect the budget of the employer organisation, but wherever possible clients should be allowed to focus the available resources in the areas that they feel will benefit them the most.
Our service offering Coping With Transition Helen excelled academically throughout school and university and following graduation secured a place on a prestigious graduate scheme. Despite performing well over the course of the twoyear programme she was not retained when it ended. When Helen first met her consultant it became clear that this was the first significant failure she had experienced in her life and that she was struggling to cope with the experience emotionally. Family and close friends while sympathetic, had pointed out she had always been successful in the past and that she would secure another suitable role, provided she stopped feeling so sorry for herself. Personality testing suggested Helen was a driven and conscientious individual but that she also had perfectionist tendencies and was prone to worrying. The failure to secure her preferred role had thus affected her more greatly than some of her more well-adjusted peers. The initial outplacement focus was therefore to create a safe environment for Helen to share her feelings and offer the emotional support she was struggling to find elsewhere. Once trust was established it was then possible for the consultant to challenge Helen s overlypessimistic view of her situation and through the use of techniques such as directed abstraction, Helen was able to better adapt to her current circumstances and begin to focus on the future. Personal Development Doug was a mid-career professional who liked his work and the organisation he was working for. Following a post-merger departmental reorganisation, he unexpectedly found himself being forced to enter the jobs market for the first time in a number of years. Doug s test results indicated he was well-placed to benefit from outplacement. While sad to be leaving his current employer he was able to be fairly matter-of-fact about the experience, having seen a number of colleagues go through similar experiences in the past. Doug was keen to secure a role similar to the one he already held but he was unsure about how to identify organisations that would be a good fit for him. Having worked in the same place and with the same people for a number of years, Doug initially worked with his consultant to raise his own self-awareness. This started with an exercise to identify his strengths, as he saw them, which helped Doug reconnect with his original reasons for entering his profession. The consultant also took Doug through a 360 feedback exercise, which confirmed many of his own beliefs but challenged others.
Our service offering Ultimately Doug decided to search for a similar role but having had a chance to reflect he recognized that he would be best served looking for the role in an in-house environment, rather than continuing in private practice. He was therefore able to approach his job search with confidence and a clear focus. Job Search Activity Pamdeep secured her first role through a formal application process run by her employer and had no first-hand experience of making speculative applications or working with recruitment consultants. This was something she recognized needed to change in order to secure her preferred role. Pamdeep worked in a sector that was not very social media-friendly, which meant her digital presence was non-existent. Working with her outplacement consultant she developed a profile that could be used across platforms such as LinkedIn and which would also serve as the basis for a CV and covering letter. Having identified a small number of target employers she then learned how to leverage her existing network of contacts in order to facilitate introductions to relevant decision-makers. She also discussed how to manage recruiters and ensure that they only marketed her to potential organizations in a way she was comfortable with. A natural extravert Pamdeep needed little support preparing for interviews and it was no great surprise when she secured more than one offer of employment from her short-list of employers. The job search skills she has developed will remain relevant for years to come. Ongoing Support Although unusual, some employees are fortunate enough to have already secured a new opportunity by the time they start working with an outplacement provider. In such instances the primary role of the consultant is to help them effectively manage their transition. Graham s severance package offered him a generous settlement and rather than re-enter the employment market immediately he decided to pause his career and undertake an MBA course, which he felt would enhance his future employment options. Graham s course place was already confirmed and he was excited about the opportunity to
Our service offering meet new people and live in a new city. Having discussed his over-arching goals with his consultant Graham was keen to put some structure in place so that he maximized the benefit of his studies. They worked together to produce a plan for his first 100 days so that Graham would have something tangible to measure progress against. Having been away from an academic setting for a number of years Graham soon realized that he was struggling to adapt to an environment that required much more collaboration than his previous workplace. Some candid feedback from his consultant, following completion of a working-styles inventory, allowed Graham to make the necessary changes that ultimately allowed him to attain the course grade he was hoping for. Evaluation Our experience tells us that when delivered properly outplacement has a significant positive impact for both the client and the employer organisation. This is why we advocate measuring both client progress and the quality of employment secured following transition. This allows employers to make an informed judgement as to how well their outplacement budget is spent. Our approach to evaluation starts with agreeing relevant KPIs with the employer before the outplacement process begins, we then use agreed measures to determine whether or not these targets have been met. Typically, this is achieved through the use of anonymous surveys and where appropriate structured interviews. Most employer KPIs include traditional quantitative measures such as the percentage of clients finding employment and the time taken to secure a new role. In addition to this we also recommend more qualitative measures such as the client s perception of: the outplacement service, the employer brand of their previous employer; and the suitability of their new job role. It can also be beneficial to collect feedback from those employees who were retained, in order to better understand how they felt the selection process was handled. This comprehensive approach allows organisations to identify and respond to any feelings of discontent amongst those employees they are keen to retain. It also allows for improvements to be made to future selection exercises. To discuss how we can help you offer outplacement support to your workforce, contact us using the details below. T: 07866 967122 E: info@animaatman.com