The U.K.’s HR Magazine recently published an in-depth story on online outplacement programs, and how technology promises to reshape the outplacement industry. RiseSmart was featured prominently in the story by Robert Gray. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

With the pace of technological change showing no sign of slowing down, it was only a matter of time before outplacement technologies and those of the job boards began to merge. RiseSmart, a Dallas-based job site for $100,000-plus executives, marries technology with human expertise using its Job Concierge team. In December 2008, the company received $3 million in venture capital funding, following on from $1.5 million in seed funding in 2007.

RiseSmart’s trained HR professionals match opportunities with jobseekers based on each member’s unique profile, freeing them to focus on networking or the demands of their current jobs. Specifically in the outplacement field, RiseSmart offers Transition Concierge, which bundles its Job Concierge service with CV preparation and other transition management services, to assist a corporation’s laid-off workers. “We believe others will attempt to copy our approach,” says RiseSmart CEO and founder Sanjay Sathe. “The fact that we have secured Fortune 500 clients and Silicon Valley funding in such a short period of time has definitely turned some heads.”

Sathe argues his company has some competitive advantages that are difficult for others to replicate. For example, it uses proprietary technology to search web job listings and then to filter these into categories, such as $100,000-plus marketing management jobs. Only then does its trained team of HR professionals step in to match jobs for clients.

“We believe RiseSmart Transition Concierge is a classic example of disruptive innovation, and we expect nothing less than to turn the current, bloated corporate outplacement market on its head,” adds Sathe. “Traditional services will ultimately go the way of the dinosaur. We know that our corporate customers are blown away by the technology, and they include some of the largest, most technologically-sophisticated companies in the world.”

Employers are, says Sathe, frustrated with traditional services, because they cost a lot but do not demonstrate measurable value for laid-off employees. He says providing group-counselling sessions, temporary use of office space and other ’soft’ services are not sufficient when what employees really want is help in finding a new job.

RiseSmart has no immediate expansion plans but longer term is eyeing up all English-speaking countries, including Canada, the UK and India. Expect more hybrid recruitment and outplacement models to follow.

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