RiseSmart featured in Wall Street Journal story on corporate outplacement
Employers and their laid-off workers are increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of traditional outplacement firms, according to a front-page story published in today’s Wall Street Journal. The Journal highlighted RiseSmart’s Transition Concierge service as a new kind of outplacement solution that Fortune 500 companies are choosing as a less-expensive, more tech-savvy alternative to traditional firms.
The article, by Phred Dvorak and Joann S. Lublin, sends an important message to every company, large and small, that is considering a layoff. The fact is, many outplacement firms offer feel-good services like grief counseling, office space and group seminars – but don’t deliver, or even attempt to measure, results. RiseSmart’s Transition Concierge service skips the lavish bells and whistles and focuses on what matters most — finding departing employees a new job, fast.
Focusing a critical eye on large, traditional outplacement firms, Dvorak and Lublin write:
As demand rises in the $4 billion-a-year outplacement business, providers increasingly offer standardized services, which some workers say offer little value … Few employers track whether outplacement works. Skeptical employees are voting with their feet: Executives estimate about 40% of workers offered outplacement services don’t show up…
The Journal story highlights RiseSmart as a low-cost, high-tech alternative to the traditional players, and cites a Fortune 500 client that chose RiseSmart after an unhappy experience with a pricier firm.
We hope this story serves as a wake-up call to HR executives to begin demanding more accountability from their outplacement firms.
An effective outplacement service – one that actually helps your departing employees find new jobs – is incredibly valuable to employers. Not only does it reduce employee lawsuits and minimize unemployment-insurance payments, but it leaves laid-off workers with a much better feeling about you as an employer. Those good feelings evaporate quickly, however, if your outplacement firm is focused on appearances rather than results.
Why not learn more about our Transition Concierge service today?
The number one factor accounting for double-digit increases in the average length of un-employment is the reliance on job boards. Go directly to decision makers.
[...] i4cp data was part of a survey referenced in the Wall Street Journal’s Aug. 20 story on outplacement, which highlighted RiseSmart. The folks at i4cp were kind enough to cross-tabulate some the data [...]
[...] Transition Concierge, the company’s outplacement offering, was highlighted in an Aug. 20 Wall Street Journal story as a low-cost, high-tech alternative to traditional outplacement [...]