The benefits of an outplacement service

Letting employees go is always going to be fraught with difficulties. It’s a stressful time for all staff, not just those who are leaving. That’s why it’s important to provide the best outplacement to displaced workers to give them a fighting chance of a brighter future. If companies plan to retain employees, protect their brand, and keep the business afloat, it’s crucial to follow UK best practice redundancy processes.

Outplacement smoothes the redundancy process by providing offboarding support to exiting staff in the form of career coaching, CV writing, networking, job retraining, and interview preparation. Modern outplacement firms provide flexible and global services, enabling workers to secure a new, and often better, role more quickly than going it alone, by using cutting-edge career transition technology and virtual learning centres.

Taking advantage of outplacement services as an employer shows you care about your employees and how they fare, even after they’ve left the company. While a strong severance package

is great, providing outplacement services as well is a recognised best practice way of completing the deal.

1. Reduces stress

Losing a job is stressful. For the remaining workforce, seeing their colleagues get the boot isn’t pleasant. The HR department must navigate the redundancy process, while keeping retained employees stable. With the benefit of outplacement services in place, the HR department can handle the ordeal knowing that departing staff will be taken care of by a team of outplacement experts and coaches, who will support them into their next role.

The benefits of outplacement services are not lost on surviving employees, who will be nervous when redundancies are imminent. This can trigger a wave of people jumping ship as they come to the conclusion that their jobs aren’t safe anymore. Outplacement can ease this tension by showing surviving staff that they’ll be treated well, should they ever get the chop.

2. Protects your reputation and brand

Your organisation is likely to be in the spotlight every time the workforce has to be streamlined. When redundancies occur, people’s lives are turned upside down. With outplacement, HR can lessen the impact and take precautions to ensure the process goes smoothly, without having resentful departing employees. 

One of the clear benefits of outplacement services is showing the world, your employees, and remaining staff that you don’t abandon departing employees. This approach goes a long way to protecting your company’s reputation, both internally and externally.

The same goes for your brand. Word-of-mouth mentions, whether recommendations or complaints, are amplified by the internet. Employer review sites, such as Glassdoor, make it easy for staff to leave negative reviews about organisations, which can be catastrophic for a company and its brand. 

Outplacement protects against the tarnishing of a brand, demonstrating corporate social responsibility towards current and former employees while showcasing a commitment to providing ongoing solutions.

3. Boosts staff morale

Reducing the workforce can decrease the morale of remaining staff, but dealt with in the right way, the process can enhance their motivation, dedication, and mental health. 

By offering outplacement services to employees being made redundant, it shows those who are staying that they’re working for a company that cares about their staff. They have something to fall back on should they ever get laid off. This can have a positive impact on morale, commitment, retention, and productivity. By establishing a precedent for taking care of your staff, your company becomes a place where people want to work. 

4. Maintains productivity and retains staff

This boost to morale and motivation has a positive impact on the productivity and retention of remaining employees. When staff feel valued and supported, they’re more likely to work harder and feel invested in the success of the organisation. Because of this, it’s easier to retain top talent and help them maintain – or even improve – productivity levels. 

Productive staff improve efficiency, reduce redundancy, and help the business reach its goals more effectively, meaning your organisation will be better equipped to survive the redundancy event and continue to flourish.

5. Supports company values

Beyond the brand, one of the benefits of outplacement services is protecting company values, reinforcing them with both departing and remaining staff. Most companies have core values that illustrate how invaluable staff are to the business. 

There’s certainly a connection between value-driven organisations and increased long-term productivity. By providing outplacement packages, you’re demonstrating that the company’s core values aren’t just words on a page, they actually mean something.

6. Mitigates the risk of legal action

If a worker is let go, they might feel aggrieved and decide to sue. Whether these grievances are perceived or real, having to defend an unlawful termination is time consuming, expensive, and damaging to staff morale. Additionally, it can injure and damage the company’s reputation and standing.

One of the benefits of outplacement services is that they help protect the employer from these risks, as outplacement reduces the anxiety of laid-off employees, sustains healthy relationships in the office, and, in turn, mitigates the risk of employment tribunals.

7. Saves costs

The likelihood is that a company will have to shed employees at some point, so it’s vital to employ an outplacement firm as a strong strategic partner – one to guide you through the redundancy process with minimal cost and stress.

Including outplacement as part of a redundancy package can serve as a bargaining tool during compensation negotiation, by offering terminated employees tangible benefits that are cheaper than other options. By hiring a modern, tech-driven outplacement partner, with unlimited virtual outplacement support, employees will be better equipped to secure new roles sooner, saving you and them money. 

1. Find a job quicker

When there are redundancies afoot, the most important benefit of outplacement services is to get the departing employees back into work as fast as possible. On average, it takes around four months (122 days) to find a new role in the UK. But that’s for job seekers who don’t have the benefits of outplacement services.

Outplacement offers such detailed guidance that participants tend to find new openings in a considerably shorter amount of time. At Careerminds, each participant receives bespoke coaching services and job search support that sets them on the road to success. This results in participants with Careerminds landing new positions in just 11.5 weeks (80 days), with an impressive 95% placement rate.

2. Reduce negative feelings

Redundancies trigger a whole array of emotions, with impacted employees feeling sad, uncertain, or angry, with the urge to express these feelings online or via word-of-mouth. Staff who are staying feel the impact of those redundancies, worrying they’ll be next, or concerned about how impacted colleagues will fare during their career transition. 

Offering comprehensive outplacement services to impacted employees will help to stem the tide of negative emotions across the organisation. It shows the company holds departing employees in high regard, even when leaving prematurely.

3. Feel supported

When an organisation introduces outplacement services as a core benefit, it creates an employee-centric culture that makes staff feel secure, valued, and motivated. They often realise it is circumstances beyond the control of the company that is forcing them to shed jobs.

With outplacement services, employees will feel that emotional support, knowing their employer cares about their future and will continue to help them even after they’ve left. They’ll also feel supported financially – outplacement services will help them find new employment quickly, while a healthy redundancy package will see them through the time between jobs. 

4. Receive customised help

Reputable outplacement firms offer personalised services based on the participant’s seniority and job title. The outplacement strategy for executive participants will differ greatly from employees at entry level, for example.

The benefits of outplacement services are worth the cost. It’s tough enough for outgoing employees facing a job loss. Those companies that offer outplacement support will empower employees during their search for new and meaningful roles, while helping to ensure that the redundancies don’t cause friction for either party.

Outplacement firms, such as Careerminds, extend a company’s support further, working in tandem with businesses to help impacted employees through career transitions by providing high quality services with invaluable benefits for both employees and the company.

Choosing the wrong provider for outplacement services can result in low engagement, poor outcomes, and a wasted budget. On the other hand, the right outplacement partner can improve redeployment speed, protect the employer brand, and mitigate legal risks. But which one to choose? Here’s how to evaluate providers effectively.

Many providers focus on what they offer, such as CV support, one-to-one coaching sessions, interview preparation, and a job search strategy, but what matters most is what they deliver. If a provider can’t evidence outcomes, it’s difficult to justify the investment.

Ask for metrics including:

• Their average time to re-employment.
• The placement success rates.
• Participant satisfaction scores.
• Employer ROI data.

UK redundancy processes are unique, so any outplacement provider should possess the right knowledge around consultations, exit interviews, and employment law practices. Generic programmes or ones that are US-based won’t have the type of expertise that’s relevant to the UK.

Your provider should:

• Be aligned with the UK’s job market conditions.
• Understand Acas best practice (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).
• Offer guidance that’s relevant to UK hiring trends.

Outplacement should tailor the services to each participant. Senior leaders, for example, will require a very different approach to junior employees.

Look out for:

• One-to-one coaching, not just group workshops.
• Tailored programmes for different seniority levels, i.e. leadership versus entry-level.
• Provision of support across multiple career paths, including employment, contracting, portfolio careers, and self-employment.

Modern outplacement is increasingly digital-first, which is especially crucial for dispersed or hybrid workers. A robust platform should include:

• Optimisation tools for CVs and LinkedIn profiles.
• Cutting-edge technology for job matching.
• Resources that help with interview preparation.
• On-demand learning modules.

One of the benefits of outplacement services is as a brand protection strategy. Ask providers:

• How do they measure the candidate experience?
• Do they track the impact of the company’s reputation?
• Can they show evidence of improvements in review platforms such as Glassdoor?

Redundancies are usually time-sensitive. Your provider should:

• Provide a quick onboarding service.
• Be able to scale from small restructures to large-scale redundancies.
• Show consistent quality across all participants.

The cost of outplacement support for employers in the UK can vary according to seniority level, programme length, and level of coaching support. Make sure your provider is very clear on the cost per employee, what’s actually included in the price versus add-ons, and if the pricing aligns with outcomes.

The short answer to this is “no,” outplacement is not a legal requirement in the UK. There’s no statutory obligation under UK employment law stating that employers have to provide career transition support when making redundancies. However, that doesn’t mean employers should ignore this service for employees.

UK redundancy law, which is governed by Acas, and employment legislation, such as the Employment Rights Act 1996, makes it clear that employers need to follow a fair redundancy process, which includes having meaningful consultations with individuals or teams, fair selection criteria, consideration of suitable alternative employment, proper notice, and redundancy pay.

Where the benefits of outplacement services become relevant is in showing how employers demonstrate fairness, care, and compliance during that process. 

There are always two sides to a coin, so with the benefits of outplacement services comes the disadvantages – though you’ll see the benefits of outplacement outweigh the disadvantages. While these two disadvantages aren’t true with every outplacement service provider, it’s worth having the heads up so you can make your own judgement when deciding whether to go ahead or not .

The most common disadvantage of outplacement services is incurring excessive or unnecessarily high costs if you choose poorly. Traditional outplacement firms often charge retainer fees, or put restrictions on services such as time limits, cutting off the support when the departing employee needs it most. 

Contemporary, tech-savvy outplacement firms, like Careerminds, don’t do that. We never charge retainer fees or limit use for participants. In fact, we’re proud to say that we offer unlimited support to participating employees until placement, meaning until they find new and meaningful work. That’s because we believe that displaced employees who have had their worlds turned upside down should receive all the support possible until they cross the finish line. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for any unnecessary costs that may start to outweigh the benefits of outplacement services.

While redundancies might help a company balance the books in the short term, it’s almost never good for the overall UK economy. Small and large businesses pray for a healthy economy as that’s the best climate in which to do business. When you employ a service that ensures people get back into work more efficiently, it sends confident and qualified people back into the workplace. 

Outplacement firms match departing employees with companies that need them, thus enabling employees who’ve been made redundant to be re-employed quickly. Not only does this boost the economy, it boosts the wellbeing of those employees who’ve been affected. However, a potential downside of this, for the company making the redundancies, is that former employees might find better, more fulfilling roles within a competitor company. This does depend on the details of their employment and redundancy agreements. But even so, it’s a small price to pay considering the huge benefits that outplacement brings.

Q. Most UK outplacement programmes include:

• CV and LinkedIn profile writing.
• One-to-one or group career coaching.
• Job search strategy and application support.
• Interview preparation.
• Access to job boards and employer networks.
• Wellbeing and confidence support.

More advanced programmes may include leadership coaching or career change support. 

A. This depends on the outplacement provider and seniority, but typical UK programmes run:

• Junior roles between 1 and 3 months.
• Mid-level roles between 3 and 6 months.
• Senior / executive roles between 6 and 12 months.

Some providers, such as Careerminds, offer outplacement until placement, so there are no fixed time limits and the service continues until participants land a new role.

A. While having outplacement services in place can’t completely eliminate any legal risk, it can reduce the likelihood of it by:

• Demonstrating fair and supportive treatment.
• Improving employees’ perceptions of the process.
• Supporting faster transitions to new roles. 

A. Redundancy pay is a legal requirement that employers must adhere to, with the amount being based on age, length of service, and weekly pay.

Outplacement is an optional employer-funded service designed to help employees find new roles.

A. If delivered effectively, then yes. The key variable is provider quality and the level of support offered. High-quality outplacement providers report:

• High candidate satisfaction.
• Faster re-employment times.
• Improved employer brand outcomes. 

Redundancies are one of the most high-risk moments in the employee lifecycle. The decisions made by HR leaders don’t just affect those who are leaving, they shape how your organisation is perceived by staff and the wider community.

Careerminds boasts:

11.5 weeks average time to placement 95% placement rate 16.5% higher on Glassdoor scores Between 50% and 70% in cost savings as opposed to traditional models

For UK employers that are restructuring or makingredundancies, it’s not about whether or not to offer outplacement, but how to do it in a way that delivers measurable impact. 

Download our pricing sheet for more information on how Careerminds can help UK employers with their outplacement journey.