Career Transition and Outplacement

The lessons learnt when reducing staffing levels

Reducing the cost of staff becomes inevitable for many organisations battling to survive a severe economic downturn. How you reduce staffing and how you treat people in the process has been found to have a significant impact on long term morale, loyalty, productivity and recovery time when the crisis ends.

One of the biggest lessons for business coming out of the Global Financial Crisis was the need to retain their ‘talent’ during the difficult times. When the market turned, a considerable number of businesses found themselves un-prepared and unable to operate, as their most knowledgeable and experienced staff had gone.

Another lesson was the need to ensure that the experience of retrenchment is not harsh or unduly negative. 75% of those who experienced a retrenchment process that was conducted professionally and sensitively said that they would return to their former organisation when the market picked up.

It may not be a topic people want to talk about – but it is important. We are here to help you with staff who no longer have a job with you or staff who ‘survive’ and how they are affected. Some of our services in this area:

We look for options to reduce costs or attract revenue before needing to reduce staffing.
When forced to lay off staff– we provide workshops and assistance in writing a CV or LinkedIn profile; coaching on how to undertake a successful job interview; how to find a job through a speculative approach; networking, or simply how to start a business.
We can also set up job centres for your business, so your staff get to know who is recruiting etc. We contact employers and make them aware of your skilled workforce. We know recruiters and we know how to leverage them.
We help you to provide honest feedback about your staff’s strengths and skills, and how to guide them towards other potential career options.
We mitigate the risk of a poor career transition and ensure that all people involved are treated with respect and dignity.
We ensure the mental health and well-being of all involved is respected.
We work with those who remain – often referred to as ‘survivors’, to ensure they are equipped for this new paradigm.

We have been involved in this type of work for over 30 years. This is about your reputation and carrying out the right decisions for your business in the right way.

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Wayne Gretzky

How we can help

Understanding the Issue

Staying at home; working flexibly; making better use of technology. A market disruption provides a real opportunity for some organisations to drive innovation about how services are delivered, and products used or produced. However, for many organisations – from travel to hospitality to retail to professional services to others – responding to a severe downturn in trade, translates to a threat to survival.

Supporting the Process

Through our services, we can help you reduce the risk of transition failure by making you better equipped to deal with difficult situations.

We coach your HR and leadership team on the do’s and don’ts of retrenchment and stand down processes, career transition programs and consultation processes.

Preparing your Retrenched Staff

Through workshops, one-to-one sessions, guidance on CV writing, job searching techniques, interviewing and assessment centres, networking and other specific activities, we prepare your staff for the future ahead.

We also set up virtual job centres, liaise with recruiters, liaise with businesses and promote the skills and attributes of your staff.

We also support those who have had to do the ‘tough’ jobs of informing and working with employees who no longer have a role.

Survivor Management

Looking after employees who ‘survive’ any difficult change process is vital for future success. Through specific coaching and skills analysis, we help you ensure ‘survivors’ are set up to deal with the change.

The aim of these processes is to minimise disruption to your business, minimise turnover of remaining talent, build cohesiveness amongst a reduced workforce and highlight pinch points for stress or workflow.

Cutting costs by reducing staff can have unintended negative consequences if not planned and managed with the future state in mind.

Business Turnaround

We can assist you with looking at your business to ensure you are able to survive the present and that you are prepared for the future.