Outplacement

All employees in the fashion and lifestyle industry who have to leave their current employer for any reason, including conflicts, reorganisations, mergers, takeovers, company closure, dissatisfactory performance, a creative person’s desire for another field of activity, personal development et cetera.

There are many reasons for which departing employees might need support. The most important ones from an employer’s point of view are that:
• remaining personnel will only remain motivated if they see that people who have to leave are treated correctly and with respect
• it puts them at ease and is a display of good personnel policy
• the employee has often provided loyal service to the organisation for some time
• outsourcing support can also reduce the costs of legal proceedings
• support guarantees that the departing employee will remain an ‘ambassador’ for the organisation
• social plan agreements with the unions may also include outsourcing as a term of the agreement

The departing employee may also have various reasons to desire external support:
• the employee does not know exactly what he or she is capable of or willing to do (this is often the most important reason!) and needs to clarify his or her ‘self image’
• the desire to blow off steam and deal with the grief of losing his or her job together with an external specialist
• the employee lacks the ‘technical’ skills needed to look for a new job, such as CV writing, mining one’s network or self-presentation.

Most people are shocked when confronted with the 'impermanence' of their job. It is also usually a major blow to their self-confidence, often leading to crippling doubt or fear of failure. The outsourcing programme is geared towards transforming these doubts and uncertainties into new opportunities. Urgency, certainty and practicality are the most important foundations for the programme.

There is no such thing as a standard outsourcing project, as every case requires a tailored solution. No two employees are the same: all have different experiences, different emotions regarding their forced departure, and different basic skills.

However, there are basic modules that can be used for outsourcing projects, and depending on the employee’s initial situation, the programme can be accelerated, delayed or even expanded as necessary.
In the case of a group of employees who are forced to change employers, the group will complete the basic support programme. Some segments can be completed individually, while others, such as workshops, can be done only as a group. The programme takes advantage of the fact that the employees can find support with each other as well.
Two conditions for the success of the outplacement programme are that the employee must agree to accept external guidance and that there must be a definitive end date for the term of employment.