Everything You Should Know Before You Order Outplacement Services

Although you never want to be put in the position where laying off employees is necessary, it does happen. Whatever the cause for your specific laying-off situation, terminating your hard working team members is never pleasant. But sometimes, if you want the business to survive and keep the majority of your employees working, it’s required to downsize the company. 

This is why it’s a good idea to order outplacement services and implement them throughout the organization. If you don’t fully understand how outplacement services work, what they offer, or what they even are, this guide will provide you with everything you should know before investing. 

What is Outplacement?

Dictionary.com says that outplacement is “the provision of assistance to laid-off employees in finding new employment, either as a benefit provided by the employer directly, or through a specialist service.” So it’s basically the practice of company owners helping out their employees, even after they’ve been laid off and technically no longer work for the company. 

Is Outplacement the Same as a Severance Package?

It’s a common misconception that outplacement is the same as offering a severance package. Although the two things are very similar, they are not actually the same. A severance package is an agreement between the company and the terminated employee on the amount of pay and company benefits that the employee will receive after termination. 

The longer an employee has worked for a company, the more that is offered by the severance package. Severance packages differ from company to company, and some companies don’t even provide them at all. For those companies that do provide severance, the typical amount is to offer 1 week of pay for each year served at the company. So if you’ve served 12 years at a company and then been given the boot, you’re likely to receive 3 months of severance. 

Outplacement, on the other hand, does not involve direct payment like severance does. Instead, it provides resources and tools for finding a new job. This means that as soon as an employee is terminated, he or she will receive help with finding a new source of income. The saying “give a man a fish, he has dinner, but teach a man to fish, and he’ll have dinner forever” is a good representation of severance vs. outplacement. 

What to Expect from Outplacement Investment

Every outplacement agency is different in the services they offer, as well as the quality of services offered. If you invest in a top-rated outplacement service, you’re likely to receive a whole bevy of career-focused services. This will include everything from resume writing assistance to interview coaching. The first thing that your terminated employees receive, though, is a career counseling session to determine the best career path to take. 

The best outplacement agencies will allow you to custom tailor the services based on your employees’ needs. Be sure to find one that offers some sort of guarantee; top agencies might even offer the services for free until your employees find new job placement.