A previous post on ‘’Ethical Outplacement or Retrenchment’’ on this site introduced and discussed Outplacement Support services in more general terms. This post focused on the benefits of such programmes to both retrenched employees and to employers. Since then I have been asked many times to elaborate on what’s involved in outplacement support, and particularly about the Career Choice and Planning programme.
Sandbox Advisors offers two complementary outplacement programmes: The Transition and Job Search programme which is the basic component of any outplacement service, and the Career Choice and Planning programme which provides greater support to the employee and facilitates reputation or brand maintenance for the employer.
Career Choice and Planning Programme
A frequent reason for retrenchment is that a particular function (e.g. finance or IT support) is being outsourced to a third-party provider in a lower-cost country such as Malaysia, India, or The Philippines. Usually this follows an industry pattern, so as one company outsources a function overseas, so do others. The knock-on effect of this is that jobs in that function are in decreasing supply and increasing demand, so employees in these positions are going to find it harder and harder to find a similar job. The career choice and planning part of outplacement support helps retrenched employees look wider and beyond their previous role to find jobs or careers that they will find satisfying and fulfilling. It turns the traumatic experience of retrenchment into one of opportunity – indeed, many people look back on the experience as liberating, life changing, and the motivation they needed to move from a mundane job to a fulfilling career.
The career choice and planning module helps individuals plan their next move properly. Individuals are guided through a systematic process to get a detailed picture of their characteristics and preferences that should be taken into account for their next career move. These include:
• Strongest life / career aspirations
• Personality type and traits
• Strong interests
- Skills and strengths
• Knowledge / motivation
• Work values
• Work environment preferences
• Goals and constraints.
Psychometric inventories are used to help people identify careers and jobs that are firstly suited to their personality type, and secondly, to their core or strongest interests. Other assessments and exercises identify their skills and strengths (strengths being those skills that people are both good at and enjoy doing) and their work values. Participants then have four separate perspectives on finding a career direction that will be personally fulfilling and satisfying, and ones that they are likely to perform well in.
Obviously, this is far different than the individual looking for a similar role to the one they have just been terminated from, and possibly a role that is no longer being offered by employers.