People
Issue No. 12 - August/September 2003
The Money or the Support?
by Martin Krutli
Today, many organisations know and appreciate the value of providing outplacement support to those staff who may be leaving the organisation either through forced or voluntary redundancy. There is a definite positive correlation between improved outcomes for those staff who are provided with such services as opposed to those who are not. Perhaps less well appreciated can be the positive impact on those staff who are retained, when they see the organisation caring sufficiently for its people (even when circumstances necessitate redundancies) to provide a ‘safety net’ of support services by way of outplacement.
There can be many reasons for an organisation resorting to making positions redundant and ultimately ‘shedding’ one or more of their people. Contrary to popular opinion, it can occur not only in times of downsizing, but also in times of growth – when the organisation is going in a different direction and finds it needs different skills and attributes amongst its staff. Ultimately the reason is of little consequence to the separated employee, his or her requirements are invariably very similar – to determine what the next phase of their work life is to be and to move towards it as effectively (and quickly) as possible. To this extent, there is ample evidence to support the premise that people who are provided with outplacement services return to the job of their choice far more rapidly than those not similarly supported.
Interestingly, the provision or otherwise of outplacement services is now being considered by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in the case of an employee choosing to challenge the dismissal through the legal system. In a recent case (PR914451, 21 Feb. 2002), Commissioner Hingley found that “the company had breached the implied duty to be a good and considerate employer when it offered the worker no assistance other than a verbal reference”. He said “it is common for more sophisticated ...
