Are you worried about the welfare of some of your good employees you are being forced to lay off? Companies let some employees go often, this happens for many reasons which could be restructuring, managing finances, or changes in business strategy. Some companies have also been forced to let some employees go due to the adoption of latest technology to enhance productivity.
Reports have also indicated that companies lay off employees as a means of enhancing the growth of the organization. Fast growing companies are careful during recruitment to avoid hiring too many employees, so what happens when you realize that some employees have to go for the good of your business?
This is never an easy exercise. Over the years, many companies have tried to use several methods to reduce the impact of a job loss on the employee and their families. Some of these strategies include attaching a large amount of money to the severance package, permitting the laid off employees to use outplacement services like career counseling, professional support in handling future interviews and writing their resumes, financial planning etc. these support systems are aimed at helping the ex-employees quickly secure other good jobs as quickly as possible.
The inclusion of outplacement services in the support system designed to assist employees who have just lost their jobs is a very good idea. Your company will maintain a good relationship with the employees who have been let go, it is also very good for the image of your company.
The apparent advantages of the outplacement services have unfortunately not appealed to many people. Reports show that only about 68% of the employees that have been laid off use these services. We believe this happens because the employees have not been educated about the benefits of the outplacement services, or they might not even know these services exist. If you are currently experiencing underused outplacement services, you should carry out some investigation to find out why your former employees are not taking advantage of the support system.
We have included some effective and easy tips on how you could easily enhance the outplacement services you currently have in place for your organization.
1. Let your Ex-Employees know the Benefits of Outplacement Services
Good communication is important, they might have just received some bad news, but effectively communicating the advantages of your current outplacement services should give the former employees some relief. Explain the various features of the outplacement services and how they can benefit from the services. rnFind out the challenges your former employees might have when trying to access the services then do all you can to find the right solution to help them enjoy these benefits.
2. Make Your Outplacement Packages Flexible
Generalizing these services might not work for everyone. You should make the features of your
outplacement services flexible. This will enable more people to take advantage of them when they realize it is suitable for them as individuals.
The needs of your former employees will vary; some might need help in preparing for future interviews while others might need to improve their resumes. The importance of networking should not also be overlooked. You can use survey methods to find out what some particular members of this group need to support their future plans.rnExplain to the former employees the exact services they can access. Your outplacement services could include financial guidance assistance, social networking guide, training guide to upgrade skills, job search tools etc. ensure your team works with the former employees to use the services that relate to their qualifications.rnEx-employees that experience the benefits of an outplacement service will soon be able to start working again.
3. Make the Job Search Easier
The statistics show that only a small percentage of employees that have been laid off successfully get employed again. This means the money attached to their severance packages is only a temporary support.
The reason for this low rate of re-employment could be attributed to the poor use of outplacement services. So, thinking in terms of helping these employees, you could invest in the development of mobile apps that offer outplacement services. This way, your employees have access to these services at their convenience. The advantage of this is your former employees can put in more effort to search and apply for jobs. This increases their chances of getting re-employed.
4. Offer Networking Support
As a business owner, your networking circles are indeed more influential than those of your employees (if they have any networking groups at all). You could make their job search easier by sending them in the direction of potential employers.
You could also include features in your outplacement services that train your employees to know how to use the latest networking strategies to enhance their chances of getting re-employed. This includes training them to manage valuable contacts and the methods through which they could connect with larger and more valuable networking groups.
Currently, LinkedIn is one of the prominent networking platforms for job seekers; many of your former employees might not have an account or good profiles on LinkedIn. This is a good place to start.
5. Offer Free Financial Education training
So you have just let some of your employees go with a lot of money. These are people who have been used to receiving salaries at the end of the month. Suddenly receiving huge amounts of money may be confusing to some people. We all need financial education; you could educate them about ways to manage their resources effectively. Running out of funds without a job can be very devastating. You could help to prevent this from happening by helping your ex-employees become financially literate.
You will definitely feel bad about letting your employees go, but this action might be necessary due to many reasons as stated earlier. What you can do to help the former employees is to ensure that every one of them takes advantage of the outplacement services you have put in place to support them.