Shashi Sinha, a 48-year-old employee with an information technology (IT) firm in Gurgaon, has worked in the company for 10 years. At a time when several of the company's projects are not taking off, laying off people is the only possible solution for the firm. However, taking into consideration the efforts put by Sinha and two of his peers, the company has decided to outplace them. Sinha will join a knowledge process outsourcing firm in two months.
In a bid to reduce employees and maintain their employer brand, companies have started using outplacement to lend a more humane face to the trimming-down process. Outplacement refers to helping employees, mostly with a work experience of 10 years and above, in getting alternative employment, before he/she is relieved from the company. This work is usually outsourced to external agents and would include aspects like soft skill building, resume polishing and counselling, all of which are paid for by the host company.
Experts say outplacement has become more and more prevalent, as companies could no longer afford to let go an employee in a bitter manner. “Since the job market is gloomy, we do not know when we would need our old employees to come back and work with us. If the downsizing process is smooth, he/she can be called back. This makes the employee actually feel grateful to the company than feeling unhappy. A frustrated employee leaving the organisation may prove costly for us,” explained the human resource head of an IT services firm.
A survey by executive search portal HeadHonchos.com showed that outplacement has gained ground since there is an increasing sensitivity of employers towards the employee needs.
About 13 per cent of employers surveyed have indicated a need for employee outplacement services, that is, facilitating displaced employees to find a new job and manage this challenging phase in their career.
The survey also said companies are not only assisting employees to find fit jobs, but also investing in the softer side of outplacement through services like executive coaching to help employees cope with the pink-slip syndrome. Portals like HeadHonchos.com offer such services to employers. Uday Sodhi, CEO, HeadHonchos.com, said, “Now that companies are publicly informing shareholders of downsizing their employee strength, they are open to employees about the outplacement process. It has now become a standard practice for corporate branding. However, this does not necessarily mean that the company is reducing employee strength. We have seen cases, especially in IT industry, where the skill-set requirements change over time. Hence, the company would outplace the existing employee and get an individual with the requisite skills.”
Human resource consultants also agree. Sunil Goel, director, GlobalHunt, said outplacements by companies had increased at least by 35 per cent compared to last year.
According to him, this is because certain sectors are facing a tough time retaining employees, and, hence, they would need to relieve the employees in an appropriate manner.
Looking at the suite of services provided to employees during the process, Sangeeta Lala, vice-president, TeamLease Services, says this was restricted only to a few people who served for a long tenure in a company. Human resources firm TeamLease Services has dealt with several outplacement assignments that include resume rewriting based on interaction with individual, followed by counselling to the candidate and finally placing the individual in another company in an appropriate position.
"It is a smoother and employee-friendly way of doing pink-slips. However, this cannot be done in abundance by companies in this market, as there are no adequate jobs to choose from in the industry. However, it is crucial that senior employees are relieved in this smooth fashion,” she added.
