Organisations now more than ever before operate in ‘open system’ type of environment where voices of individuals have an impact on their success. Therefore, the best in class organisations do their utmost to ensure they treat their past, present and future employees well, so that they in turn become employers of choice, without this being a mere cliché.

It appears that the majority of organisations would swear to adopt the latest thinking in how they source talented employees. However, little attention is paid to how they keep these employees content and some completely overlook supporting departing employees, which is referred to as outplacement as part of the off boarding process. The reason is that organisations do not see any connection between talent management and supporting departing employees.

The off boarding or outplacement process entails an organisation having a structured approach to transitioning employees away from the organisation due to restructuring, mass retrenchments, retirements, and or voluntary departures necessitated by the need to keep the organisation afloat. The best in class organisations work with professional placements organisations or they develop an internal capacity and capability to handle the entire outplacement process, with positive results.

Imagine someone who is retrenched after a lengthy service and/ or who was not ready to leave their current employment having to suddenly readjust to long forgotten job search skills. Not only will they not know where to start, their families, colleagues and immediate circle of networks would be frustrated by the organisation’s decision to let go of this person in an uncaring and impersonal manner.

A specialist outplacement firm would assist employees, regain a foothold in the labour market. The firm would provide such services as: how to reenter the job market by equipping them with job search skills, proactively marketing the employee to prospective employers, provide them with office space including access to necessary office tools whilst scouring the job market, and or by retraining / reskilling retrenched employees in latest skills and competencies, with all costs picked up by the employer. To the uninitiated, these may appear as being unnecessary costs and over the top.

Handling departing employees with care positively impacts the organisation’s brand position, not only in the mind of the departing employee but in the hearts of their immediate network of family and friends, and more importantly in the souls of those left behind. Is the treatment of the departing employee inspiring and motivating others to want to be around for longer or does it send a chill down their spine that tomorrow it’ll be them at the receiving end? Do you see those left behind waiting around for that to happen to them? Not in an environment where talented and the brightest are constantly being enticed to either go on their own or join the best in class companies.

Outplacement is a dignified way of demonstrating to affected employees that they were cared for all along. Organisations often spend a lot of money, time and effort to search, recruit, on board and develop employees, all in line with their brand. Off boarding tactics, some of which have been mentioned above are equally important as they provide the organisation with a readily available ambassadorship of affected employees, their immediate network of family, friends, associates, and remaining colleagues.

The outplacement process through off boarding forms an integral part of talent management to the extent that if an organisation does not have a clearly defined approach to this task, including an outplacement specialist that they work with, they still have a long way to go in terms of understanding talent  anagement in its totality.

The average in class companies only get involved with the outplacement / off boarding process only in terms of administering severance pay in the event employment is terminated for operational reasons. This is only done in compliance with labour laws and not as a philosophy of the organisation, which reflects their caring for future, present and past employees. On the other hand, the best in class companies incorporate the minimum employment severance requirements into their overall talent management strategy, which becomes beneficial to both the business and departing employees, even in more ways than those outlined above.

Supporting departing employees is at the heart of talent management, without which a large number of businesses would not survive. And the best in class employers do not only recognise this but include outplacement or off boarding as part of their people strategy, right there within talent management. 

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