September 2010
Reductions In Force (RIFs) and layoffs are traumatic events in an organization. Recognizing this, leadership usually wants to reduce the trauma for everyone by offering outplacement to their departing employees. Unfortunately, these days RIFs and layoffs and “career transition” have become so commonplace that we’ve been desensitized. “Career transition” might seem less traumatic to us, unless we are the ones being let go…or the one who has to let someone else go. Because of this, some organizations may believe that offering outplacement isn’t as important as it once was, or that if offered, it’s sufficient to provide “generic” programs which treat outplacement as a commodity to be provided in bulk, bought at the cheapest price, with little regard for success or quality of outcome.
We think such an approach may be a bit shortsighted for a couple of reasons. One important reason is this: Organizations expend a lot of effort to establish themselves as being a good place to work. Some want to be seen as an “Employer of Choice” or be included on lists of “Best Places to Work.” They proclaim with pride that people are their greatest asset, and they work diligently to provide positive affirmation to employees at every stage of their career cycle: when they are being recruited, groomed for promotion, or being asked to embrace change or put in some extra effort. But the consistency of that positive brand message can be completely kneecapped if organizations don’t show that they value employees even as they are being asked to make the sacrifice of leaving their jobs.
People have come to accept RIFs nowadays as a necessary evil. They don’t fault a company for having to do a RIF if the reasons behind it are clear and above board. But rest assured, they still pay close attention to how an organization lives up to their brand promise of valuing people, even when those people need to exit. To paraphrase what one Senior VP of HR recently reported to us: “What I want these people to do going out the door to meet their friends and family, the press or their social media contacts, is to say good things about us, about how well they were treated even when the company had to do a tough thing.” We might add that organizations should also want their remaining employees to say good things, too.
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One-on-one career transition help, when an employee needs to leave, is an authentic statement to all stakeholders that the organization walks the talk when it comes to valuing people. It’s the higher road to take.
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