Best Outplacement Services and Software (2024)

Managing corporate layoffs correctly is vital and there are a few main ways that outplacement firms will add value to an HR team during this process.  None of them are the happiest of times.  However, these firms can make the process a lot smoother, and give ex-employees their best shot at a soft landing into a new job.

Executive Departures: Whether the economy is booming or not, there are some senior hires that either don’t work, or don’t grow with the organization.  Outplacement firms can be a hands on resource to help these one off departures develop and execute a strategy to make a successful career transition.

Broad Layoffs: During economic downturns, or when your organization has been in the wrong place at the wrong time, wide scale layoffs can occur. While it’s challenging to manage letting go of so many people at once, the right outplacement firm can make a difference by helping people to navigate the job market and find the right career path.  

Higher Churn Environments: There are some roles that simply have higher rates of employee churn.  Think about callcenters, inside sales, retail, etc.  Many organizations in these businesses are constantly offboarding employees that didn’t work out for one reason or another. Using a tech enabled outplacement company in this scenario is a great way to offer impactful resources to ex-employees at a low cost.

Clearly there are many pitfalls when laying off individuals or groups.  These can come back to damage your employer brand, employee moral, or even lead to lawsuits.  Not to mention, they can have a very detrimental impact on the employees you had to let go.

Here are a few of the major pitfalls we’ve identified to help you succeed:

Virtual layoffs: Virtual layoffs in the time of COVID-19 are a brand new dimension to this already tricky as of HR.  Where possible, you still want to do 1:1 conversations over Zoom and communicate just like you would in person around why this is happening and next steps. The worst horror story we’ve heard is doing a group lay off over Zoom where several people joined late and had to be informed of why half the people on the line were crying.

Landing Rate: Landing rate is the percent of people who get a new job.  Most HR teams don’t track this and view outplacement as a check the box to cover their liabilities.  But, you should be tracking landing rate, and how long it takes people to get jobs.  In the US, a good benchmark is 24 weeks after being laid off.  A top outplacement solution will lower this by around 50%.

Individual’s Experience: Don’t send eligible employees their outplacement information a week late, or forget to do it during the chaos of layoffs.  This may sound obvious, but is something that many HR teams get wrong.  Constantly think about the individual who is going through this process and optimize their experience.  If you don’t believe this is important, then there’s no need to do outplacement in the first place!

Group Sessions: While tempting, it is very hard to do group career counseling sessions with former employees.  Even beyond the emotional strain of a layoff, talking through personal career path can be just that – personal.  It’s not for a larger group of strangers to know what your aspirations are.  And, you ideally want to have a career coach providing tailored advice to departing employees.

The right Career Coaches: Helping ex-employees through a career transition is hard work, and you need to ensure the right people will be tasked with this very tough job. There is increased competition in the job market for employees who are part of a lay off. Make sure to understand the credentials of career coaches, how they are monitored for quality, and how coaches are assigned.

This is one of those human resources instances where calculating an ROI is really difficult. There are some guesses as how doing things “right” will impact the business in the long term.  But, they are very hard to quantify.

That said, there are definite ways that a top outplacement firm drives value to your organization:

Employee moral: The people who are left after a layoff will be impacted by how the process goes.  They’ll talk to their ex-colleagues, who may also be their friends. They’ll start to think about how they may be treated if they are ever in the same boat.  And, they’ll make inferences about how the company feels about employees based on how departing employees are treated.  It’s imperative to treat people with respect and help them so that the remaining employee base knows how much they are valued, and that everyone will always be treated with respect.

Employer branding: We’ve all seen the horror stories on Glassdoor reviews described by ex-employees.  People get laid off, they are disgruntled, and they go on to rant. Some will even use multiple emails to leave reviews.  What’s more is that people will tell their networks, and this word of mouth can be just as damaging. If even after your layoff you see stable Glassdoor reviews, and engagement with your ex-employees, you can be sure that your outplacement efforts are driving value.

Lawsuits: Here isa very tangible way you can quantify the ROI from using an effective outplacement strategy.  If you’ve gone through lay offs before, you know there is always a risk of legal action against your company.  Helping your ex-employees get to their next career move is a great way to mitigate this risk.  If you’re truly doing a great job of helping them, they have very little incentive to sue, nor basis.

The Human Element: It almost seems immoral to talk about the value behind using a strong outplacement firm to help ex-employees without considering the most important aspect – the fact that you’re going to help an individual who is going through a really tough time to get back on their feet.  Yes, there are positive returns from being helpful that will increase your brand equity, maintain employee moral, and decrease the risk of lawsuits.  But, at the end of the day, you can feel good simply knowing you put in the extra effort to help someone recover from a setback.

Here are some of the most interesting feature sets from outplacement firms that you should be on the lookup for when talking to their sales teams.  Make a list of the 5-6 that are important to you, and then ask point blank how these are part of the offering you’re considering:

Virtual coaching: Meeting in person can be tough, especially with social distancing policies in place.  Also, meeting in person requires a commute, child care, and scheduling. Virtual coaching over video can be a great way to get going quickly in anew job search, or fast answers to questions that come up around cover letters, interviews, etc.

Resume Review: Resume writing, help with cover letters, and LinkedIn profile reviews are essential features for job seekers to put their best foot forward.  Most offerings will have examples that job seekers can follow, and consult active advice from job coaches.

Job search: Look for solutions that have portals that allow people to search for jobs, and setup job alerts for a given position type in a given geography.

Career Coach feedback scores: Career coaches need to be empathetic, tactic driven, and experienced.  Look for outplacement firms that are constantly collecting feedback on their coaches, and keeping the bar high.

Assessments: Look for an outplacement partner that can provide skills and personality assessments to your ex-employees so that they can better plan where to go next in their career and how to tell their story.

Interview practice: While coaches can help you prep for interviews in 1:1 sessions, some of the top outplacement firms also have video based interview prep.  These solutions allow you to record answers, review them yourself, or have your coach take a look.

LinkedInReferrals: Some outplacement firms will allow ex-employees to connect their LinkedIn account and look at who at a given company could refer them to a position.  This is a great way for people to find a new job.

What are outplacement services?

Outplacement services help recently terminated employees find a new position elsewhere.

How does an outplacement service benefit my company?

By providing outplacement services, your company will see heightened employee morale, better employer branding, decreased risk of lawsuits, and generally more equitable practices.

How does an outplacement service benefit my employees?

By providing outplacement services to employees, your company builds a strong brand of being a partner and not just an employer. It shows that even when your company has to terminate someone as an employee, you value them as a person. Therefore, former employees get all the help they need to find a new job.

What features do outplacement services and software provide?

Outplacement services provide virtual coaching, resume review, job searching tools, interview practice, assessments, referrals, and more to terminated employees.

There are a few best practices to keep in mind when doing a reduction in force (RIF):

Story telling: Help separated employees tell their story in a way that maintains dignity.  Story telling is important for talking to family and friends in addition to professional interactions while networking and interviewing.  Lastly, storytelling is important for one’s own sense of self.

Transparency: Have your outplacement provider help you communicate why and when this layoff will be happening.  You don’t want people to stress out for two weeks between and announcement and the actual event.  But, giving a pre-announcement with the logic behind a reduction in force lets people know you aren’t playing games and are trying your best to make this an easy process.

Cultivate hope: Outplacement solutions that allow employees to cultivate hope are giving people their best possible chance of success, and also engendering a sense of camaraderie.

Align incentives: Separated employees who sue their ex-employer, or go on social media rants are shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to their future career.  Both company and employee should have the same goal of getting this person to the next phase of their career.

‍Final Advice

If your company is contemplating a layoff, or maybe just has recurring terminations, you should consider how an appropriate outplacement package can help drive value to your business, and the individuals you’re parting ways with.

Some of these programs are very expensive.  However, with the advent of technology, it’s become more and more attainable for companies to offer these services to exited employees.

The bottom line is that any separation is going to be a bad day.  The top outplacement firms make it less bad, and hopefully allow all parties to have a happy ending.