Twenty of those people have already secured new jobs, filling vital gaps in local companies who are desperate for talent. So it’s actually good news.
Fresh talent is coming into the market in new ways and Recruiting and HR managers have a new pool of candidates to hire from. An added bonus is that these candidates really know what they’re capable of, and what they want to do.
Why? These candidates were offered outplacement support that helped them take a fresh look at their career and where they would like to go next. Outplacement support is often only considered by the company making the redundancies. They want to ensure their exiting employees have a positive experience once their employment comes to an end, and send a positive message to the employees staying behind. But it’s not just the company saying goodbye that will benefit from the results of the right outplacement support, it’s also the company hiring that candidate!
Outplacement support allows candidates to see the light. To take redundancy as an opportunity, rather than a career crisis, and to revaluate where they’re at (and where they would like to be). So that when they interview with prospective employers, they are excited about changing roles and able to articulate their abilities with confidence.
What I am seeing in Cambridge regarding outplacement trends
When redundancy happens, employees aren’t usually asking for workshops, group talks or counselling. Redundancy is a personal and often emotive time… Questions like these will be playing on their mind: Where will that next pay cheque come from? How will they pay their mortgage? What will they tell family and friends? Instead of a one-size-fits all approach, employees being made redundant want practical, one-to-one support that will help them to deal with their personal needs.
Some of the approaches they find useful are:
- Revaluating their career path – is it inspiring them? Is it still fit for purpose in the local job market?
- Understanding what motivates them at an unconscious level at work so that they can play to their strengths and work in environments that bring out the best in them
- Consider the language and messaging on their CVs and social media profiles – is it congruent with who they are and what they want to do?
- Practice interview techniques and approaches to prepare them for the unexpected!
“Sessions with Katherine gave me unique chance to be seen from different angles revealing my underestimated strong and weak points. Using simple and understandable techniques Katherine equipped me with the powerful career development tools. I left the last session charged with confidence and clear vision of the next step in my career.” Cyril, Senior Scientist
“Talking at length to Katherine as an independent person about what next for me in my career helped me face my fear of change. It propped me up and was a motivator after what seemed like a kick in the teeth from my previous employer. There was a wonderful way in which Katherine was able to decode my career history and come up with my saleable virtues. The focus on “wants and don’t wants” was an important early step to defining my next career move. I have recommended Career Ambitions to both friends and work colleagues and I would not hesitate to work with Katherine again.” Wyn, Senior Manager, Bio-tech
The key message is that one size doesn’t fit all. Instead of impersonal group outplacement support, employees value talking to someone who will really listen and find out what the individual is capable of, before giving them the belief and the practical tools to make it happen.
And the benefit for Cambridge is there’s fresh, motivated and valuable talent coming onto the job market!