Reducing the impact of redundancy
A case study taken from the automotive industry
Redundancy is a terrible time for all concerned. Affected employees feel personally aggrieved, let down and no matter how logically the facts are presented they often inevitably take the decision to heart. Customers, suppliers, and of course, the management team also all feel the impact.
Employers can, however, make the process less painful for all concerned. Outplacement, (or career transition services), provide external support to the individuals concerned, providing an unbiased helping hand - just when it is needed most.
Jamie Ashman, Managing Director of Marine Jobboard, has extensive global resourcing experience and highlights how “important it is to think about the entire employee lifecycle rather than just the front end”. He also stresses that getting it right really can help enhance the long term competitive ability of the company. A case study taken from the automotive industry, illustrates his points well.
Courland Automotive Practice have recently completed an extensive outplacement service with a high profile automotive manufacturer. The programme delivered CV preparation, interview advice, career guidance, one to one coaching and an outplacement service (using existing Courland contacts).
Importantly, the client found key benefits to include brand enhancement and protection. The automotive world is particularly small with a limited number of high caliber individuals. Providing support for these individuals makes good business sense. Providing a bit of extra care and attention helped position the employer as being particularly sensitive during a particularly difficult period.
Another group to substantially benefit from the support package was those individuals who had been with the company for the longest. For them, finding a new role represented a significant and daunting challenge. Courland were able to significantly soften the blow – in many cases simply by listening.
Success was ascertained in terms of feedback gained from the individuals themselves as well as via assessment of a number of measurable criteria such as numbers of individuals who had obtained equivalent full time roles elsewhere.
Lynda Pickess, UK Managing Partner at Courland, commented on the importance of choosing a partner rather than an ‘out of the box’ solution:
“Many companies who provide outplacement services have unfortunately commoditized the market. A lot of the services provided are based a strict process, which is an off the shelf concept and can be quite clinical in approach. It is often the case that these organisations provide little or no real value to the employee”
Providers of good transitional support programmes have usually taken the time to listen to individual requirements, understand the industry and have the resources to invest the right amount of time and energy. When executed well one to one coaching can prove extremely successful at mitigating some of the problems associated with redundancy.
Of course, outplacement programs do not have to be expensive. Offsetting the costs associated with potential tribunals and losses in productivity amongst unaffected staff, feedback from the client highlighted that they thought the programme represented particularly good value for money.
Are you an employer in the Marine Industry? Would you like to know more about Outplacement or might like to offer some of your Senior Managers outplacement as part of their redundancy package? Click here to contact Courland directly.