Deciding which global outplacement provider to use can be tricky. What specific services should be provided for you to receive the best possible outcomes? What are the main differences between the programmes? And what are the cultural norms within each country that relate to the type of services provided?
There are loads of tips and advice within the Careerminds website about outplacement in general terms. But when you’re seeking out global outplacement resources, it’s more complex. Let’s delve a little deeper into this to ensure you’re picking the right provider for you, your company, and your employees.
Global outplacement: how it works
As a reminder, outplacement is a service provided to exiting employees, who have usually been made redundant, to help them back into employment, working for a new company.
Global outplacement does what it says on the tin – it extends the reach of local outplacement programmes to support those companies who have members of staff spread across the world. With so many employees taking advantage of virtual working or companies contending with dispersed workforces, global outplacement can help businesses support their staff no matter where they are located in the world.
How does it work?
A global outplacement provider extends their support across the different countries, cultures, and languages of a company in a variety of ways. It’s a sad fact that a lot of outplacement providers outsource to partnering networks when it comes to delivering global outplacement support, and this can seriously dilute the programmes, impacting the quality in a detrimental way.
That’s not the case at Careerminds. We take a one-stop shop approach. But what exactly does that mean for you and your company, or for you as an employee? We’ve got it all covered. Careerminds focuses on recruiting and training global coaches who are able to deliver consistently top quality global outplacement services to all four corners of the globe, using one platform and client portal, that covers all eventualities. So each global coach has a 360 degree overview of you, which means they can offer the best service possible.
The global outplacement service we offer is mostly virtual, which allows workers and employers to access our services when they want and how they want. So if going through our programmes while chilling on the sofa is your bag, then that’s doable. It is the case that some countries still prefer the face-to-face approach, and in these circumstances, the global outplacement programmes are blended so there is on-demand in-person support combined with virtual assistance.
The beginning of the process to procure a global outplacement provider normally starts with a Request for Proposal (RFP).
The advantages of global outplacement
Now that we have a clear idea of how global outplacement works, let’s look at the reasons why you should go down the route of considering it in the first place. While there are numerous advantages to providing outplacement for your employees, there are also great benefits to delivering outplacement support on a global scale.
The most obvious, and best, benefit is that it smoothes the way for your workforce to depart from your organisation with their heads held high, while receiving total support throughout the career transition process, right up until they secure a new role. Careerminds will be with them every step of the way. It’s certainly one of the most useful and practical things that an organisation can do for their loyal members of staff, by making the best of what can be a really tough and traumatic period of their lives.
Another advantage to global outplacement is that it allows businesses to navigate their way through tricky decisions. Nobody wants to host an event where people are being laid off or made redundant, but needs must, as it’s sometimes inevitable. Global outplacement makes the best of a difficult situation by addressing the problems full on, and making the redundancy process as pain free as possible.
While thoughts are normally focused on the employees being let go, we need to spare a thought for the company. Outplacement helps to protect the company in the long run. Think of it as being similar to severance pay. This protects the company from any legal action by getting the departing employee to sign a waiver so a redundancy package can be agreed upon. But this doesn’t protect your company from being damaged through bad mouthing from ex-employees who’ve been laid off. This can have a devastating impact on the company and remaining employees, leading to difficulties when hiring in the future, a reduction in retaining the talent, and a dip in morale.
Providing additional support, such as global outplacement programmes, should mitigate any negative feelings by proving to employees that the company cares enough to help them move onwards and upwards during these stressful times.
By procuring the services of a global placement provider, organisations can offer a high level of support to their workers wherever they are in the world.
What service does a global outplacement company need to provide?
There are many different challenges to be faced when your workforce is spread all around the world. Outplacement shouldn’t be one of them though. To ensure the best possible career transition experience for any impacted employees, check out the criteria below on what to look for when choosing a global outplacement provider.
Seamless integration and partnership
Any global outplacement provider worth its salt should be a responsive partner and act as an extension of your HR department. That means being able to connect seamlessly to any existing HRIS (human resources information systems).
Careerminds offers a one-click integration with the most popular HRIS such as:
- SAP Success Factors
- Workday
- Ultimate Software
- ADP
- Oracle
Being able to connect seamlessly with HR systems means less headache for the company, as well as the employees, as they can use the Careerminds portal for programme management, communications, and results reporting.
The AI platform from Careerminds provides a faultless experience for clients when undertaking a job search. The platform has an algorithm that matches their CV to relevant job adverts, as well as advocating valid keywords and phrases to use in their job search documents that could place their CV firmly in the “yes” pile.
Being a true business partner, during change and upheaval in the workplace, means acting as a supportive resource for companies to lean on when working out how best to approach and deal with their most difficult problems. This could be things like helping to train your managers on the kindest way to notify employees virtually, or how to handle the remaining members of staff face the changes, cope with stress, and focus on what’s ahead, post redundancy.
Here at Careerminds, we want our clients to come to us with their challenges and problems as early on as possible, so we can start working on viable solutions straightaway. Receiving constructive feedback and learning from difficulties means we can include them in our client portal to keep on innovating and improving the global outplacement services that we offer.
Transparency and reporting
Once any internal systems are connected and up and running, this should lead to continuous and open tracking of all outplacement results.
We have a secure API which connects and stores all relevant employee information, such as utilisation data, survey results, and landing page data, so you’ll always be able to access the most up-to-date detail on where your workers are in the outplacement process, no matter where they’re actually based.
It’s all about being open and transparent. The reporting is designed to be simple, concise, and constantly accessible, so you know at any given moment how the global outplacement programme is performing for each and every one of your employees. This straightforward and candid approach means that you know how your workers are faring in the most easily accessible way possible.
As Careerminds founder, Raymond Lee, explains, “Clients have 24/7 access to metrics and data on demand for participants, anywhere in the world.”
Top of the list for all users of global outplacement programmes is accessibility, fairness, and inclusion. It’s only right that our online services are accessible, while being considerate of everyone’s needs, especially when supporting people in widely different countries and communities.
Talking of community, Careerminds’ global outplacement portal is also a social learning platform. As well as the one-to-one relationship that each participant enjoys with their coach, there is the social aspect. The platform allows each participant to connect with others on the programme through interactive webinars, networking, and messaging. As most of the programme is done virtually, this is a really important function to have, as participants could feel like they’re doing this on their own, without any connection with others going through the same experience. But fear not. With this portal, there are many connections to be made, whether that’s globally or locally.
Support up to placement
Another important factor to consider is to make sure that, whichever provider you use for your global outplacement programme,
they offer comprehensive support right up to your employees finding new roles.
It’s vital to fully understand this term, “until placement”. It means the provider works with programme participants right up to the time when they’re placed in new positions. You wouldn’t want your members of staff left high and dry with no direction or support while still trying to find a job.
Many of the outplacement providers out there offer their services while using a time-based system. This can range from a few weeks to a few months. But finding a new position can take a long time, and employees might feel really pressured and stressed, knowing they have a time limit.
Don’t worry. At Careerminds, there is no time limit. Our global outplacement services are accessible and with you all the way until all your employees sign on the dotted line of their new job contracts.
It’s vital to provide the same high level of support to workers outside the UK, as well as those within the UK. This means delivering numerous global outplacement resources and support, such as local expertise, personalised coaching, and open access to elearning tools, all on an unlimited basis until the new job is secured.
This is so important in countries where workplaces require the lengths of programme to match the level of seniority and tenure within an organisation. It goes without saying that a senior executive is bound to need a more extensive level of support, set of resources, and in-depth coaching than, say, a middle management employee. Someone so high up in the chain of office is likely to need a longer time in order to acquire a new role, as the higher up the career ladder, the less jobs there are to go around. But because Careerminds guarantees support until placement, all levels of roles are catered for.
Let’s go a bit deeper into this, and look at the importance of the global outplacement support offered at every level of a company.
Support at every level
As time is not the issue here, we don’t base our prices on how long it will take for an employee to find a role. At Careerminds, we take the approach that it’s the level of each individual that counts, from sole contributors all the way up to executive level outplacement. So our prices are based on levels, not how many months it’s going to take.
Every level of participant will receive the same base that guarantees unlimited support “until placement”, including coaching and access to the virtual platforms, that incorporate support with drafting CVs and career management resources. Then, for each level up a participant is, the support increases based on their requirements. For instance, this might include advanced coaching, help with writing their LinkedIn profile page and / or executive biography, or executive roundtables.
As Careerminds founder, Raymond Lee, explains, “Everyone gets until landing, but the features of the programme increase based on the level of the organisation you’re working in.”
This approach means that everyone involved in the process receives exactly the right type of support and coaching needed to get them to the next stage of their career.
What makes the global outplacement scheme at Careerminds stand out from all the rest
As we’ve covered, Careerminds meets all of those vital needs that a global outplacement service should provide.
But we have so much more than that. Our global outplacement services offer simple, yet fully transparent reporting, so there is seamless integration for both the client and the participant. Our resources and platform are available in 50 languages and across 80 countries. All content is translated by native speakers to be totally accessible. We’re able to balance global access with local expertise by providing additional resources regarding specific customs and job search norms for each country.
All of the programmes offered are tailored to that particular participant, based on level, role, industry, experience, and skillset. Every single participant receives personalised coaching on a one-to-one basis, with no limits on coaching hours, until they land a new role.
Because of all of these value-added extras, we boast an 80% participant engagement rate, with an incredible 95% of active participants successfully landing a new role on average, within 11.5 weeks from starting the programme.
But, as mentioned, we don’t price on a time frame… unlike our competitors. Yet we’re still able to keep prices very low and competitive. This is because Careerminds was founded over 15 years ago, and built from the ground up as a virtual and global outplacement provider, well ahead of its time, as well as being ahead of any competitor.
The flagship global outplacement service was launched back in 2008 as a fully functioning remote and technology-enabled programme, complete with a resilient virtual platform, easily accessible online resources, and those ever-important coaching services. This pioneering approach, set up even before remote working was a thing, meant it was only a matter of time before other outplacement services did the same.
Since then, the machine-learning platform has gone from strength to strength, proving to be more robust for our clients and
their departing workforce, while providing high quality global outplacement services with a people-first approach, unlimited support, and transparent reporting.
As Raymond Lee, Careerminds founder, says, “We’re not only saving companies money, but we’re delivering industry-leading results. Currently, we’re the only firm with 100% retention after companies make the switch to us.”
Global outplacement: the takeaways
To sum up, choosing the right global outplacement provider for you can protect your company brand, boost staff morale through those difficult times, and retain a positive company culture. You get all of this while ensuring that all members of staff will be thoroughly supported should, they ever have to be let go, and no matter where they are in the world.
When on the lookout for global outplacement services, make sure that the providers you might be considering offer essential criteria, such as seamless integration, transparent reporting, and all-round support, for every level of staff, until landing that new role. Only if you get all of these things will you be sure that the process can be made as easy as possible for everyone involved.
It’s also essential to check that the global outplacement provider uses their own people to deliver these global services, and they don’t outsource to partner firms where quality control might go unchecked or management of internal staff proves difficult. The best way is to partner with a firm that offers a one-stop shop, such as Careerminds, with a single platform that can integrate into your HRIS easily, deliver a high level of openness, and offer up round-the-clock reporting. For workers scattered around the globe, they’ll need a network of dedicated coaches, with localised expertise, that undertake one-to-one coaching to support and guide them towards their next position.
This is what Careerminds can do for you and your workforce, as we have all these global outplacement services, and more, because we make people our priority, while delivering industry-leading results. We go above and beyond the norm to be a true partner to you and your business by being by your side before, during, and after having to make redundancies.
Ready to explore the global outplacement service opportunities available to you? Click below to speak to one of our experts, check out a demonstration of how our outplacement services work, and see if Careerminds is the right partner for your global outplacement needs.
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