Outplacement programs started in the 1960s, when mass layoffs were becoming common in the United States for the first time. Outplacement was a benefit that employers offered to help workers get back on their feet and begin searching for new employment. Today, approximately 72 percent of employers offer some form of outplacement benefits.* Many companies use outside outplacement firms, such as RiseSmart, to help in providing this benefit. * Source: Hewitt Associates, March 2009

Transition Concierge®, RiseSmart's flagship outplacement solution, creatively leverages technology to optimize time-to-placement for laid-off workers. Powered by proprietary job-matching software, the solution delivers highly personalized job leads as well as other job search tools to eligible employees on a weekly basis. Laid-off workers have access to one-on-one assistance from trained Transition Specialists during every step of the job-finding process.

• Whereas other firms focus on grief counseling, group seminars and providing a soothing office environment for a job search, RiseSmart gets down in the trenches with workers to actually help find them a job. A primary distinction of Transition Concierge, compared to traditional outplacement offerings, is that the solution provides highly personalized job leads to each employee.
• RiseSmart uses sophisticated aggregation and semantic search technology to match each employee’s job preferences against millions of active job listings across the Web. Then, a specialist assigned to the employee’s account hones these results by hand — ensuring that only pertinent leads are delivered to each employee.

RiseSmart’s Transition Concierge clients include some of the most forward-looking corporations in the Fortune 500, spanning industries such as technology, healthcare, manufacturing and retail. All of our clients are available as references to companies with a serious interest in Transition Concierge.

Yes. We use phone, email and Web-based consultation to provide nationwide services cost-efficiently. This approach ensures a consistent outplacement process for corporations with multiple locations. And because we don’t waste money paying Grade A office rents or flying consultants to group seminars, we are able to deliver a very high level of one-on-one outplacement support to workers.

Do you provide group counseling sessions and the use of office space as part of your services?

It’s not our normal practice but we can provide these services based on our clients’ request. Most laid-off employees today don’t want to be stroked and coddled; they simply want to find a new job quickly. In a country where nearly a third of workers telecommute, few wish to set up shop in an outplacement firm’s offices to conduct their job search. They’d rather be at home, networking on their laptops. The great majority of today’s workers want one thing above all others from outplacement: a new job. That’s where Transition Concierge puts all its focus.

Your costs will vary based on your specific requirements. However, RiseSmart’s fees are significantly less than those of competing services. According to a 2009 survey of 355 employers by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, the average employer spent $5,574 per employee to provide between three and six months of external outplacement support for its laid-off executives, and $5,052 per employee to provide between three and six months of support for its laid-off managers. These figures represent more than twice the per-employee cost of RiseSmart's services. To receive a price quote for your organization, please contact us

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Yes. We offer a variety of service packages covering the needs of all employee levels, from senior executives to hourly workers.

Transition Concierge is accessed through an online interface customized with your corporate brand. Each worker is also assigned a Transition Specialist whose job is to assist the worker in all aspects of their job search.

RiseSmart Transition Concierge clients can login to their account by clicking on the yellow “Client Login” button at the top of this page.

We assemble a dedicated three-member team for each person in the Transition Concierge program, led by a Transition Specialist who is always available for one-on-one advice and support. Each Transition Specialist is a veteran HR professional with an average of 8 to 10 years of experience. Each worker also is paired with a professional resume writer, who creates a new resume for the individual based on their specific job-search objectives. Finally, each worker is assigned a Job Concierge, whose role is to leverage RiseSmart’s proprietary job-matching software to flag and forward the most relevant job opportunities along with recommended articles, blogs, events, videos, and webinars.

RiseSmart provides online reports that keep employers informed of their ex-employees’ progress and help them to better manage their outplacement investment. We let you know when your employees register for Transition Concierge; when they access various services; how actively they use each service; their progress in securing job leads and interviews; and finally, when they find a new job.