An Outplacement Story (Part 3)

If you’ve been following our series around outplacement, you will have seen that we are examining the issue of organisations restructuring and the impacts, both positive and negative, these exercises can have on the organisations themselves and the people involved.

Reorganisation or restructuring, call it what you like, is a common strategy in the face of change, be that change the result of a merger, new competition, economic pressures, or even a pandemic that upends global commerce for an unpredictable period.

Downsizing is usually accompanied by the outplacement of individuals, team members, or even whole teams. From the organisational perspective, downsizing and outplacement is seen as maintaining the fitness of the organisation. There are times when an employer has to make tough decisions and choices to achieve a better foothold in the market, to change the way in which work is traditionally done, or even to close parts of a business down. As we’ve shown in previous articles, the problem is that, when outplacement is handled poorly, organisational fitness is undermined in just so many ways.

Part 1 of our story focused on the detrimental effects felt by employers themselves. A weak outplacement strategy can result in bitterness, bad press, lawsuits, a drop in morale, and poor business performance.

In Part 2 we talked about the people who are outplaced. Losing one’s job is a challenging experience, and when employers fail to provide strategic support to the parting team members, they fail to serve their own broader interests.

In this final instalment of our 3 part story, we turn our attention to the “survivors” — those people who remain in their jobs after one or more of their colleagues have been let go. These are the people around whom now the business revolves. These are the people who keep the business going. So, just how do these people respond when a colleague is let go? How do they react when numerous people depart the organisation? Just how is productivity affected?

Better stories within your own walls

Imagine all the stories told about employers who handled outplacement poorly. These stories get told with enthusiasm and conviction. They reverberate through families. They get told on LinkedIn, whether in public or through private messages. They get told in the job marketplace, they are reflected in employee feedback forms, and the gossip continues within your own very walls.

By providing quality outplacement support, you are investing in the stories that will be told about you and your organisation by those workforce survivors, that is your existing team! These stories are all around the departure of their colleagues. Remember, relationships within an organisation are impacted by outplacement. The stories told are human, after all, and are felt by colleagues who remain in their jobs.

So, what about the survivors? There is ample research that shows they often feel guilty about retaining their jobs when their friends and colleagues have lost theirs. Management might reassure them that this is an isolated change event, and that no more people will be terminated. However, the survivors continue to wonder about this, and top talent survivors know that they can find another job, even in a tough market. They begin to wonder if they will be in the same position, cut adrift with perhaps inadequate time and support for a transition to a new job. They begin to quietly look around, and top talent can quickly depart.

Any good outplacement program will include a “survivor management” component. Early on, this will include training by managers who will be remaining behind in how to deliver the bad news in a way that softens the impact, but also shows how outplacement support has been put in place to help effect a quick career transition. It goes beyond this, however. It is also designed to heighten the awareness of the managers of the fragility of the team that remains behind, the need to communicate, communicate, and communicate some more! It is about connecting with the survivors, understanding where they are up to, providing them with support as they bed into the new structure, and information about their ex-colleagues and their success in finding new roles.

Indeed, if the survivors can see that their departing colleagues are being provided with professional career transition services, enabling a better and quicker career transition to take place, the result is better stories within the walls. The absolute importance of a consistent, clear and ongoing communication strategy around the change is essential. The result is usually improving team morale, better team dynamics, and increased productivity.

The Extra Mile

Letting employees go is never any fun, but it costs money either way. The question is whether or not you spend a little more to ensure that the separation is successful. “Successful” for the affected employee is usually a quick transition into a new role or new career. “Successful” for the surviving team member is truly understanding that their ex-colleague has been looked after and helped during a tough time. “Successful” for the organisation means that the business continues in its new direction or new shape, that its brand is not impacted negatively in the market particularly with potential new team members, and that they are seen as a responsible and caring employer. Bad press, be that word of mouth or internet, is diminished.

Perhaps most importantly, professional outplacement support helps your former employees move forward — emotionally, intellectually and in terms of career. Professional career coaching, along with the networks these Coaches bring, can quickly open up new possibilities for outplaced individuals. Outplacement provides people with practical support they need to take control in these situations, to develop contemporary skills around job search in new market conditions, to hit the ground running, and to typically land a new role in around half the time it takes for a person who is working alone. Let’s face it, these basic truths reverberate in future tales told about the employer, the brand, and the people involved.

The Story Goes On…

Every day we hear about the quest by organisations to become an “Employer of Choice”, to be seen as a responsible and caring organisation, one where people will want to work. Everyone knows that organisations go through change at some stage in their development. Everyone knows that this change is often accompanied by downsizing. By providing your separated employees with professional outplacement support, you give your business an opportunity to send goodwill in several important directions. These include the people who are outplaced, their families, and the survivors, those whose productivity and solidarity is boosted by knowing that their ex-colleagues have been looked after in the best possible way. Then, there is the ultimate benefit to you. The job marketplace and the “war for talent” relies on the reputation of the individual employer. Reputation is such an important factor in top talent choosing where to work. By providing professional outplacement support, you are enhancing your reputation and helping set up for the future.

So, all the evidence suggests that successful outplacement strategies, with the right communications programs in place around them, benefit all the stakeholders — you the employer, the affected individual who has now gone in a new career direction, and the survivors who remain behind with you, underpinning your business, its productivity and future.

For further information regarding how an outplacement program can support your business, please contact Lyn Cole, Lyn@reddingroup.com.au