1) The document discusses how career transition and outplacement services have evolved from signaling the end of a career to enabling a new phase of one's working life. 2) It notes the increased demand for these services as companies recognize their importance in managing employer brands and treating departing employees professionally. 3) Providing career transition services is seen as both good corporate responsibility and having commercial benefits like reducing litigation risks and improving employee engagement among those who remain.

1. skills
Career Transition
in the Accelerated Evolution
in Outplacement
By Darryl Judd,
COO, Logistics Executive,
darrylj@logisticsexecutive.com
SCMPr
Supply Chain Management Professional
n practice
n knowledge
n
n
n
best practice
research
human resource
February 2013 Vol. 1—No.1
`150
February 2013 47
The Future
of Supply Chain

2. skills
In the world of accelerated change, small investments are bringing big benefits to
employers in Career Transition and Outplacement writes Darryl Judd.
P
hil Ruthven IBIS World ductivity will be essential but by demand for candidates with busi-
Chairman and one of itself, is simply not enough for fu- ness improvement/transformation,
Asia’s most respected eco- ture success. performance enhancement skills
nomic researchers and including lean and six sigma expe-
commentators recently delivered The Only Constant is Change rience as customer demands and
an insightful and though provok- According to Ruthven “The world competitive pressures dictate the
ing presentation to Sydney Sup- of business is changing at a faster, requirement for improved com-
ply Chain senior executives on the more threatening, yet more oppor- mercial outcomes.
Global Economic Outlook, Supply tunistic pace than most of us have Many of our clients have un-
Chain, Productivity, Business Suc- ever experienced” and that this will dertaken major transformations
cess and Employment Markets. continue at increasing pace. He as- to lower overheads and tighten up
The presentation provided ex- serts that the modern employment their processes and the key to the
cellent research data supporting environment will by necessity be success of many has been their abil-
the view that whilst acknowledging increasingly more flexible, typified ity to increase workforce agility.
challenges in Japane, US and Eu- by more freedom from businesses, A more agile and flexible work-
rope, that the current global eco- bosses and unions, the gradual force model provides capability to
nomic outlook is much stronger demise of the concept of an “em- deploy staff rapidly within / across
than many politicians and media ployee”, rise of contractual rela- business units to meet dynamic
commentators would have us be- tionships, payment for outputs not business requirements in a fast
lieve. He shows that Asia Pacific is inputs (hours of work), emergence changing economic environment.
growing to such an extent that it is of advisers and mentors for worker
predicted to overtake North Amer- contracts, the rise of business own- Employee Mobility
ica and Europe in Gross Domestic ership (workers owning a busi- Accelerates
Profit by 2017. China as the an- ness), no discrimination on any Concurrently, employees are be-
chor, despite its recent slowdown, basis (gender, race, age etc.), more coming more mobile and are
is still expected to grow to be 57 part-time and casual work, more transitioning across, in and out of
per cent of Asia Pacific region’s of us working from home, more companies at a much faster rate.
GDP by 2017 followed by Hong working seasons in a lifetime, new This trend to greater mobility set
Kong, which adds 1.3 per cent and industries & occupations, working to increase as dynamic workforce
Australia, at 3.4 per cent. in a borderless world, expansion change is increasingly considered
Ruthven highlighted the major of the knowledge worker concept, the norm.
impact of online buying reducing lifetime education & training and To keep up with these changes
prices for B2B as well as B2C, in rising wages & salaries. professional “Outplacement, or
the case of B2C, online having a Many of the Supply Chain and “Career Transition” services have
greater impact than the self service Logistics industry’s most success- gone through a considerable trans-
revolution of the 1960s, pressures ful organizations have realized that formation and repackaging.
extending up the supply chain to the contemporary business and Whereas historically “Career
the primary sector and importers, employment environment requires Transition” often signaled the end
the importance of logistics and the far more flexibility and innovation of an employee’s career, there is a
new digital era (cognitive software, than in previous years. As outlined growing trend that the process of
analytics and fast broadband) au- in a recent article for the Austral- Outplacement/Career Transition is
tomation and innovation. Impor- ian Supply Cain Review magazine’s becoming the enabler that provides
tantly for employer, he underlines 2012 Career and Salary Guide, we the platform to a new phase of
the view that improved labor pro- have seen a significant increase in one’s working life as never before.
48 SCMPr
Supply Chain Management Professional
n practice
n knowledge
n
n
n
best practice
research
human resource
February 2013 Vol. 1—No.1
`150
February 2013 48
The Future
of Supply Chain

3. skills
Increased Demand and protecting their corporate son for many executives to take
The demand for Outplacement image through traditional adver- this route. The good news is that
and Career Transition services tising and promotion, however, research shows that it also makes
has dramatically increased in re- more organizations realize the economic sense.
cent years as Company’s recog- value of social networking and It is widely held that organiza-
nize the importance and benefits word of mouth during times of tions utilizing professional career
of managing employer brands. restructure and realignment and transition services, which may only
Supporting this is the tangible understand that transitioning involve an investment of a few
benefits brought to an employee people out of their businesses thousand dollars:
of a professional Career Transi- in professional, positive manner n Are 25 per cent less likely to be
tion program: a safe environment has genuine benefits. faced with separation related
in which to discuss the emotional The management of transition- litigation
impact of losing a job, the oppor- ing employees plays an important n Send a powerful message to the
tunity to engage in career analy- part in shaping the brand and the rest of the organization and
sis, a detailed understanding of culture of a company. community that they value
strengths, interests, personality In the 20 years that I have been people
and aspirations, expert advice on involved in providing professional n Protect image and reputation
resumes, one on one coaching to career transition services, I have no- internally and externally
interview skills, networking as- ticed that the remaining staff takes n Reinforce or raise their employ-
sistance and project management significant notice of how their de- er of choice credentials
of the job search. parting colleagues are treated. This n Increase the likelihood of im-
proved productivity amongst
retained staff
n Are more likely to increase
The management of transitioning profits
At a time when a key element of
employees plays an important competitive advantage is employee
engagement and retention of those
part in shaping the brand and the within the organization’s talent
pool, research shows that one of the
culture of a company. greatest benefits of providing career
transition services is a significant
increase in employee engagement.
One of the greatest direct ben-
Whilst an increasing number of can significantly impact on morale efits of improved employee engage-
organizations see providing profes- and an organization’s value propo- ment is the link between the value
sional career transition services as sition internally and externally im- of referrals provided by these em-
part of their corporate responsibility pacting on staff satisfaction, pro- ployees during recruitment for new
mandate, there is an overwhelming ductivity and reputation. staff, reducing the recruitment cy-
commercial logic for ensuring those Barriers to investing in career cle, and cost per hire.
departing an organization receive transition services are: With traditional “outplace-
professional support. n Lack of budget ment” becoming more about career
n Inability to link to cost savings transitioning, there is an incredible
Protecting Your Employer n Deemed as not necessary and richness that can be derived by cre-
Brand n Lack of urgency by decision ating an environment of employee
One of the key factors driving this makers engagement from this accelerated
demand has been the realization time of change. It is an opportu-
by senior executive’s of the link Employee Engagement and nity to take stock, reevaluate once
between professional career tran- Bottom Line Benefits of Pro- the restrictions of a set career have
sition and the importance of Em- fessional Career Transition been temporarily lifted and find
ployer Brand. Being corporately responsible our true direction.
Most companies spend con- and ‘doing the right thing’ by Opportunity knocks when we
siderable sums of money building employees is often enough rea- least expect it, as they say.
SCMPr
Supply Chain Management Professional
n practice
n knowledge
n
n
n
best practice
research
human resource
February 2013 Vol. 1—No.1
`150
February 2013 49
The Future
of Supply Chain