Effective exit strategy crucial to business reputation

Employers who provide outplacement support to exiting employees attract more job candidates, improve staff morale and safeguard their corporate reputation.



Less than one in twenty (4 per cent) laid-off employees who had participated in an outplacement programme bore any negative feelings towards their previous employer, according to a global survey from RightCoutts, part of Right Management Consultants, the worldís largest career transition and organisational consulting firm.

Moreover, nearly two thirds of outplaced UK employees (62 per cent) meet frequently with former colleagues to catch up, proving that offering a well-planned and carefully-constructed exit strategy could be vital in ensuring high morale and productivity amongst remaining employees.

Over 60 per cent of laid-off UK employees said that an outplacement programme would be an important factor when it came to choosing their next employer according to the survey of 3697 respondents worldwide, including over 1000 in Europe and 229 in the UK, who are receiving career transition services from RightCoutts.

When people are offered a support programme during such a stressful experience as redundancy, they tend to hold their former employer in higher regard, and are more likely to communicate their positive feelings to other potential candidates, comments Tony Martin, Board Director, RightCoutts UK.

Outplaced employees are a valuable candidate pool in their own right, and as such it makes good business sense to appeal to these experienced workers next time round by offering a carefully-wrought outplacement programme.

Among the findings of the survey:

* Employees who have previously been made redundant, look for
outplacement services when it comes to choosing their new employer. Americans are most likely to count outplacement amongst their selection criteria (78 per cent), followed by Europeans (68 per cent) and Brits (61 per cent).
* US employees are least likely to recommend their former
employer to a friend, with 53 per cent of respondents answering in the affirmative. Europeans were the most likely to recommend their previous organisation (62 per cent).
* Ninety per cent of UK employees going through outplacement
(US, 81 per cent, Europe, 91 per cent) felt that individualised consulting was the most valuable aspect of their programme. Other areas of value include networking opportunities and technology.