"No one's ever been promoted to CHRO by solving the Outplacement problem" - ME
It's funny...but also true. True and funny hang out together a lot. One key element of humor is surprise, and the punchline to many jokes is both a surprise, and truthful. In the case of my headline, it's a surprise because it shouldn't be true...but is. How about this?
People SHOULD be promoted for positively affecting their employee's lives. People SHOULD be promoted for demonstrating a great corporate culture and humanity.
To prove my point, let's change the meaning of those previous sentences: People should be ignored when they positively affect their employee's lives. People should be demoted for demonstrating great corporate culture and humanity. Can't wait to work there...sign me up.
We are now permanently in a technology based, digitally connected world and overwhelmed by information. But COVID 19 did not attack the shipping, computing, manufacturing, or product innovation of your company. The virus attacked people, and is still doing so. It looks like you're going to need them again, someday. Those same people are watching.
Having been in the Outplacement industry for 30+ years, I have seen the fight for market share and margin; turn a helping industry, into a commodity, typically disconnected from any real result. In good economies we hear: "Anyone who wants a job can get one so why spend the money?" In bad economies we hear: "No one is getting a job, so why waste money on false hope?"
Some companies look at the "cost" of outplacement as the assuagement of guilt, or simply an inducement to sign the separation agreement. Some companies seem to think: "We feel X dollars guilty. This means we feel $179 guilty per person."
I am focused on, and take great pride in, making a positive difference in the time it takes for a client to find meaningful new employment. It's hard as hell,and requires, among other things, that our clients seek rejection by strangers. Who in God's name wants to do that? If we wanted to show great engagement rates on a technology platform, we could install Candy Crush for free, provided you log in via our portal. Busy isn't successful and this work is about overcoming the rest of the market for an individual.
A better formula for choosing an Outplacement provider might be: choose a good product; pay a fair price; let the providers do what they do best, and then hold them accountable for realistic, honest, work and results. It's no different than what your customers, your employees, and you would hope to get. Maybe someday someone will become CHRO for solving the outplacement problem. (I'm not trying to be funny)