http://careerminds.com/ | Retaining an outplacement service to assist recently terminated employees can provide businesses with several vital benefits, such as preserving worker morale, lowering legal liability, and protecting the company’s reputation.

1. Why Offering Outplacement Services at Your Business Is Good Business
For better or worse, periodic downsizing has become standard practice in the corporate sector.
To stay competitive in today’s business world, many companies, even highly successful ones,
will be forced to substantially reduce their workforce at one time or another. This is a pivotal
stage in the lifespan of any organization, signaling either a vital new beginning or the initial
phase of an irreversible decline. Which direction a company will take depends to a large extent
on its handling of a reduction in force (RIF). To help employees cope with the layoff process, a
lot of organizations turn to professional outplacement services, which provide terminated
workers with a variety of training programs to aid them in their transition to a new career; these
services can include resume writing instruction, job interview preparation and related careeroriented assistance. Aside from providing much-needed counseling to laid-off employees, an
outplacement service confers several benefits to the reorganizing company; we’ll take a look at
these advantages below.
Protects company reputation
There’s no doubt about it: Getting laid off tends to be a terrible experience, and most people can
sympathize with the trauma of losing one’s job. Companies that are perceived as insensitive to
the needs of their terminated employees can earn a poor reputation—one that could easily spread
across the Internet. This may discourage skilled individuals from applying at the company; it
could even inspire a significant number of consumers to take their business elsewhere. However,
companies can at least partly deflect these criticisms by using an outplacement service to assist
laid-off workers during their transition period. Making these services available also presents an
attractive benefit to current and future personnel, who will feel secure knowing that the company
has programs in place to ease the blow of job termination.
Decreases legal liability and fallout from disgruntled employees
The majority of terminated employees manage to cope with the news in a reasonable fashion, but
some workers, feeling wronged, decide to pursue legal action. This has the potential to embroil
their former employer in a lengthy court battle, one that could rack up substantial legal bills,
even if the charges have no merit. Other downsized workers may elect to reveal valuable
company secrets to competitors in the industry. In many cases, the trigger for these damaging
actions is the pain and stress associated with sudden termination. Outplacement programs
provide a way for the exiting employee to look to the future versus look back with resentment
and allow the company to form a mutually beneficial partnership with their former employee.
Lowers “survivor guilt”

2. It’s hardly controversial to say that layoffs are unpleasant for those workers who receive their
termination papers, but many in the business community fail to understand that downsizing can
also damage the morale of surviving employees. Workers may feel guilt over having evaded
cutbacks that left others jobless, especially in cases where the terminated employees were valued
friends and associates. Outplacement firms can alleviate this tendency by helping laid-off
personnel get back on their feet.
Reduces company unemployment payments
Given that employers must shoulder the burden of unemployment taxes, it’s in their best interest
to help downsized workers find another job as soon as possible. Outplacement companies like
Careerminds aid this process considerably by helping participants sharpen their job-hunting
skills.
Bio: Headquartered in Newark, Delaware, Careerminds provides scalable, strategic solutions to
organizations seeking affordable virtual outplacement services. Using an advanced proprietary
technology platform that delivers state-of-the-art online career transition services, we provide a
high-tech and high-touch blend of career transition education to help displaced workers reenter
the workforce quickly. Our clients range from small companies to the Fortune 500.
Summary: Retaining an outplacement service to assist recently terminated employees can
provide businesses with several vital benefits, such as preserving worker morale, lowering legal
liability, and protecting the company’s reputation.
Sources:
1. http://careerminds.com/blog/what-is-outplacement-and-why-should-i-offer-it/ (Feb.
19, 2014)
2. http://careerminds.com/blog/virtual-outplacement-does-involve-humans-we-promise/
(Feb. 19, 2014)
3. http://careerminds.com/solutions/benefits/ (Feb. 19, 2014)
4. http://careerminds.com/blog/the-chelsea-welch-case-and-your-employer-brand/ (Feb.
19, 2014)
5. http://careerminds.com/blog/the-roi-of-outplacement-2-0/ (Feb. 19, 2014)
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/business/smallbusiness/managingunemployment-premiums-in-a-time-of-joblessness.html (Feb. 19, 2014)
7. http://careerminds.com/blog/outplacement-and-employer-branding/ (Feb. 19, 2014)