I have previously blogged on the topic that unemployment savings can drive a business case for using outplacement in many organizations.  But recently a couple of client experiences – two actual TALX Reemployment Services clients – illustrate that message so strongly, I feel compelled to share.  In these two particular cases, both employers are non-profit/governmental.

For those that may not be aware, most non-profit organizations, and all governmental agencies, are what are referred to as “reimbursing employers” when it comes to unemployment benefits.  This means that these employers do not pay taxes based on unemployment experiences like others do.  Reimbursers receive monthly or quarterly charge statements just like other employers receive, but for these are not just statements – they are invoices.  They must pay the state unemployment division back, dollar-for-dollar, for all benefits paid to their former employees.  For this reason, reimbursers are a great way to illustrate the savings that can be experienced from a strong reemployment strategy.

Two employers – one, a county government with fewer than 400 employees, and the other, a major state university system with over 100,000 employees – recently began using our reemployment services for their displaced employees.  In well under one year, with only 30 employees served in one case, and over 100 so far in the other, BOTH employers have experienced a 100% return on investment!  The net results varied from nearly $20K in unemployment benefits avoided for the smaller employer to well over $100K for the larger of the two.  But for both organizations, these are real, material savings.  And of course in both cases, they experienced happier employee transitions, enhanced public and community relations, and other traditional outplacement benefits as well.

So there you have it folks.  Unemployment cost management can truly drive a business case for investing in a reemployment strategy!

Dave Caldwell
Product Manager, Unemployment/Reemployment Solutions

In a recent article, research concerning outplacement found that the primary barriers to investing in reemployment/outplacement services were lack of need (insignificant turnover), lack of budget, inability to show cost savings, and general lack of urgency from decision makers.  However, in the same article, the primary reasons given for actually providing outplacement isn’t return on investment at all.  The primary reasons given by survey respondents were company image and retention among existing workers.   (Source:  “Outplacement Builds Its Value on Engagement” – by Jayson Saba, The Aberdeen Group, July 2011)  These statistics would suggest that the value of outplacement and the barriers to that value may be opposing forces.

There is a traditional tendency to consider outplacement as a solution primarily in cases of large lay-offs or closures of entire locations or departments.  While these are certainly appropriate situations for outplacement, don’t forget that providing service to a single transitioning employee due to job elimination or poor employment fit  is also equally in line with the goals of outplacement.  And to be successful, strong engagement and a focus on reemployment performance must be there as well.

In addition, by creating a clear return on investment in terms of unemployment liability savings, other challenges such as lack of significant turnover, budget, or urgency can be better overcome by many HR departments.  And traditional value drivers – company image and employee retention – can be drawn in to build an even stronger overall business case.  It is clear, however, that these traditional values alone are often not enough.

Dave Caldwell, Product Manager, Unemployment/Reemployment Solutions

For many employees who haven’t found themselves out of work in the past 5 years or so, it may seem a little strange to hear that employers continue to find most of their talent through plain, old-fashioned networking.  Employers have always had a tendency to prefer hires that are referred to them by friends, co-workers, and colleagues.  It makes sense – others, who they can vouch for personally or professionally, can vouch for another individual’s “fit” with their needs.  It remains to be the case for as much as half of all the hires that occur each year.  Some say perhaps more.

To become employed in this job market and economy, being creative is a key to success.  Not only do you need to call in your personal and professional network as much as possible, you also need to think outside the box.  Check out this article in the Memphis Daily News that illustrates how jobs can even come from volunteer work!  Talk about thinking outside the box!  Not only can it lead to paid work, it helps keep key skills up-to-speed.

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/jun/22/volunteer-opportunities-can-parlay-into-jobs/

Dave Caldwell, Product Manager, Unemployment/Reemployment Solutions

Just about every employer I’ve ever had experience with can see value in investing in their current employees.  They immediately understand the value of providing competitive health insurance or ongoing training for career development opportunities. 

But how many of those same employers would give me a pretty skeptical glance if I told them they could also benefit by investing in employees that are actually being transitioned due to reductions in force?  Probably more than a few! 

I’ll admit that it does – at first – seem a little counterintuitive.   But by making sure a transitioning employee receives help to land quickly in another good job, you actually stand to gain quite a bit.  Please note that the key here is the word “quickly”; they must receive help that will keep them engaged and actually succeed in finding other work faster than they normally would.

Transitioning workers that land faster in another job collect fewer unemployment benefits. You could have a dramatic effect on your unemployment costs.  But there are also other benefits you should be aware of – some that aren’t necessarily or immediately financial in nature. 

How about less chance that an affected employee will post a negative comment about your organization on Facebook or LinkedIn for their entire social network to see?    Or maybe there is less chance of winding up in a negative blog article for all to see?   Or perhaps it conveys to the local communities where you have a presence that you are still a strong and caring choice for employment in the future?

Valuable indeed!

By Dave Caldwell

Product Manager – TALX Unemployment/Reemployment Solutions

See most recent Reemployment Update on the topic - click here.

We’ve all heard the news, and it hasn’t been good.  Few if any new jobs have been created over the past 2 years and even more jobs were lost due to lay-offs.  So there can’t be any jobs for transitioning employees to find, right?  Actually this is not the case.

Even though the numbers all seem dire, what many news channels are not talking about is that our dynamic job market is fueled by more than just new job creation.  For example, even at its worst in decades, total hires over the past 2 years have remained fairly steady at 50 million per year.  This is because most employers must still re-fill positions lost due to quits, retirements, and other transitions.  And while hiring is certainly lower than it has been in the past, it is clear that there are still many jobs to be found.  The key is where and how to look for them.

More than half of all available job openings – as much as 80% according to some experts – are never posted on a job board and never printed in a local paper.  And this isn’t a unique consequence of a down economy.  It is widely suspected that this is nearly always the case every year.  Many employers, particularly small and mid-sized companies, simply prefer to wait for certain positions to be filled through networking and referrals rather than through a general post.  Many would, for example, prefer to see a position filled by someone they or one of their employees know and trust.  Or perhaps, they would like to see someone who is enthusiastic about working for them come in and show their passion and enthusiasm for working for their company.   In any case, what is clear is that they are not using the traditional methods of posting some opportunities.

So as you consider the viability of helping transitioning employees with reemployment or outplacement solutions, remember that in challenging times like these, it may actually prove more important than ever to provide them with the expert help they will need to be successful in their job searches.

Dave Caldwell, Reemployment Solutions Product Manager

To check out the latest job search trends, click here.

For those of us that work with reemployment/outplacement solutions on a daily basis, it’s obvious that the industry is undergoing a transformation of sorts.  Just like so many of us now prefer drive-thru pharmacies, on-line customer service chat, and “Facebooking” with family and friends rather than calling them, outplacement services are now attempting to acknowledge and address preferences like these in the solutions it offers. 

 Many of today’s jobseekers may no longer prefer “face-to-face” outplacement services – in fact, this type of “in-person” service may actually be viewed by some as inconvenient and somewhat intimidating.  This traditional model of outplacement services may even result in lower engagement rates and higher prices that make it almost impossible for employers to provide these services to those who could really benefit from job search expertise the most – rank-and-file hourly or salaried workers.

 A couple of concepts have surfaced in recent years:  Virtual job search attendants and call center-style assistance.  While these are clearly an effort to embrace changing technology while at the same time trying to create more appeal in a tough business economy, they may also be compromising the key success factor in an assisted job search by failing to provide a dedicated job coach.  Dedicated job coaching keeps jobseekers engaged, accountable and productive far more effectively than a service model that at least appears more focused on cost savings and lower prices, and less focused on improved services and better results.  And in the meantime, both employer and employee may fail to receive what they ultimately need from the service:  rapid reemployment.

Rather than choosing an outplacement solution based on cost, employers should consider where their employees are in terms of technology, perhaps by providing critical dedicated job coaching assistance via phone, video conferencing, texting and e-mail.  But the one thing that remains certain is that employees – of all levels – can only conduct truly effective and productive job searches when they have a dedicated  job coach that can work one-on-one with them to help them stay focused, motivated, and educated. 

By Dave Caldwell

Reemployment Solutions Product Manager

Connecting Job Seekers with 50 Million Jobs.  Click here to learn more.

Dave Caldwell

I ran across this interesting company, Hire Me Tee that is betting on the fact that the unemployed will want to plaster their unemployed status across the front of their T-Shirt for the world to see.  At first I chuckled, but then it made me think some more about some opposing forces that can really hamper a person’s job search.

As this site suggests, a high proportion of jobs these days are found through networking.  We’ve talked about this before in some of our previous posts; “Hosting a Job Club for Exiting Employees” and “Partnering with Employers in Your Area to Get People Back to Work Faster”.  Given the way people are finding jobs these days I can’t stress enough the importance of thinking about ways to help your exiting employees make connections.

Networking is tough though.  It requires people to get out there and mingle and basically tell people that you have lost your job.  Regardless of whether it was through no fault of their own, people still feel that there is an emotional stigma attached to saying “I’m unemployed”.  I remember when I was out of work for a year or so because I decided to stay home with my newborn daughter.  People were always asking me what I did for a living and even though my hiatus was by choice, I still felt like I wasn’t living up to some perceived expectation that you had to be gainfully employed to be of value in our society.

Times have changed and with the current economic conditions, there are more and more people out there of great value that are becoming unemployed through no fault of their own.   Employers can definitely play a part in helping their exiting employees make connections after a job loss by helping them see that they still maintain great value and offering suggestions on how they can put themselves out there.

Tammy Mullin

I was traveling to the UI Directors Conference in Washington D.C. yesterday with a co-worker and we started talking about an article I read where a U.K. Job Seeker was crying foul about a Jobseeker Allowance (U.K. unemployment benefit program) requirement to participate in a training and skills program in order to keep his benefits.

The job seeker showed up for training thinking that he was going to be learning valuable job skills that could help him find a new career and instead was asked to wrap Christmas presents for a charity and make sandwiches. 

Well, the job seeker was understandably disappointed since he thought he was going to be getting career help, but the thought Joe and I kicked around was how great would that be if every unemployed individual decided to volunteer just one day a week to a charity.  A mandate is probably not feasible, but a well placed call to action might not be a bad idea. 

Plus, the hidden benefit for the job seeker is that more and more individuals are actually finding long-term gainful employment in organizations where they started out as volunteers. 

Sounds like a win/win to me…

Tammy Mullin

I spent the better part of last week at the HR Technology conference in Chicago where human resource professionals gathered to discuss the most pressing problems in the world of HR today and the latest technologies launched to solve those problems. 

I found it interesting and disturbing that with all the unemployment we have these days that a big topic of conversation is how to attract more job seekers.  You would think that this wouldn’t be a problem, but it’s not about accumulating a stack of resumes to choose from, it’s about getting the right resumes representing candidates with the right skills. 

As a matter of fact, the flood of resumes only exacerbates the problem since weeding through all those resumes to find the right candidate can be overwhelming for HR recruiters that are themselves being asked to do more with less. 

It seems that an alarming number of HR professionals are faced with a lack of qualified candidates.  In previous posts I’ve talked about the importance of helping exiting employees enhance their skill sets to get them better positioned for available jobs, but I walked away from this conference thinking about how we as a nation desperately need to look for ways to enhance the education and skills of today’s workforce as well as take a keener interest in how our children are being prepared for the future.

On the heels of the announcement earlier last week of plans by the co-founder of Facebook to donate $100 million to the Newark, New Jersey Public School System it made me wonder how many more companies would need to get involved and invest in the qualifications of the workforce of tomorrow.

I didn’t have long to wait for the next in line because reading up this morning I saw that late last week it was also announced that Microsoft teamed up with Washington State Employment Security Department to deliver free computer eLearning courses to Washington residents.  More than 1,000 different courses are available along 6 different learning paths and participants are offered an opportunity to obtain certifications free of charge.   What an incredible benefit being provided to Washington’s unemployed!!

I can’t wait to see who steps up next.

Tammy Mullin 

Ran across this piece, “Time Off Prior to Layoff?”, in Human Resources Executive Online that brought up an interesting question.  Someone wrote in with a question as to whether employers are required to give exiting employees time off for job interviews after notice of the layoff has been given, but before the actual layoff date.

The short answer is no, but wouldn’t you want to?  The best case scenario for both the employer as well as the exiting employee is for that employee to have a new job to go to when their last day rolls around.  From the employer’s perspective, risk of employment litigation is reduced and you save on unemployment costs (currently estimated at $6,000 per employee).  It’s also important to protect the company’s brand and employees left behind pay attention to how you are treating those folks that are walking out the door.   

It is currently taking the unemployed an average of 35 weeks to find a new job, that’s 35 weeks collecting an unemployment check (both state and federal funded) and anything an employer can do to cut down on that time saves them money.  From the individual’s perspective too, a lot can happen in 35 weeks.  People are becoming depressed and discouraged.  They are losing their homes and worrying about how to feed their children. 

So, from a business perspective, as well as a humanitarian perspective, it just makes sense to go ahead and let them interview.  You might have to deal with how to handle the workload in the short-term, but it’s probably best for everyone in the long-run.

Tammy Mullin

In this reemployment blog I’ve been talking about strategies for helping exiting employees get back to work more quickly, and generally the focus with a reemployment strategy is helping them find a new job working for someone else.  However, an increasing number of unemployed individuals are branching out on their own, taking control of their own destinies and reemploying themselves in their very own business venture.  New entrepreneurs were recently highlighted in a Fox News blog called “Recipes for Success” and we highlighted some other great examples of the American entrepreneurial spirit in our Unemployment Blog “Unemployment Gives Some the Incentive to Strike Out on Their Own!!!”

With more and more economists talking about the structural nature of unemployment and the fact that more and more of the traditional jobs are heading overseas, we need adventurous souls like these to bring more innovation into our economy. 

What can employers do?  Well, fostering an innovative culture within our own businesses is a good start.  Engaging existing employees in finding new ways to do things can get their juices flowing so to speak and may cause them to think about the possibility of striking out on their own if a layoff is necessary.  What about providing information on innovation workshops or entrepreneurial information sites as part of their exiting packages?  There are organizations out there looking to invest in new ideas. 

Encouraging prospective entrepreneurs not only helps the exiting employee, but could also help the economic outlook of your community.  New business ventures lead to new jobs.

Tammy Mullin

Ran across this piece the other day, “How the Jobless Can Find Support in a Job Club” which talks about the benefits of a well run job club.  Here at TALX we are strong supporters of using job clubs to help get folks back to work faster.  In fact, we use job clubs in the delivery of our TALX Reemployment Service.  The service is purchased by employers as a benefit for exiting employees and is designed to motivate, educate and connect job seekers to available jobs more quickly than they would otherwise be able to do on their own.

This author does a great job of explaining what to look for in a job club from the job seeker’s perspective.  As an employer, whether you choose to provide help for exiting employees through an outsourced solution like the TALX Reemployment Service or provide support in house, putting together a job club to support laid off workers in their search for new employment can go a long way toward helping them get back to work more quickly.

Tammy Mullin

It’s important for today’s job seeker to make connections through networking these days, after all, most jobs are not found on the internet. They are found through getting out and talking to people, finding out what is available, and in a lot of cases cold calling employers to see what jobs they have available that aren’t posted. 

As an employer, you can help your exiting employees find new jobs faster by staying connected as well, like this company in the UK did when forced to lay off part of their workforce.  By talking to other employers in their area, Tesco was able to place a good portion of their skilled labor elsewhere within the community.  We know of several companies that have done this and established ongoing agreements with other employers in their area.  They check in with each other whenever they need to let folks go or hire because they know they will get quality replacements to fill their open positions.  This saves on recruiting costs, decreases time to fill open positions, decreases training costs and saves on unemployment costs because laid off employees find work faster. 

Tammy Mullin

Job seekers are struggling with more than a reduction in the number of available jobs.  Marketplace disruption has created a situation where we are seeing some serious declines in certain industries such as manufacturing as well as declines in certain job types such as call center support.  As human beings we have a tendency to seek out situations within our comfort zones and choosing a job is no different.  We are all naturally inclined to seek a new job that closely resembles our old job.  The problem being that in declining industries those jobs aren’t very plentiful. 

Employers faced with a layoff situation can help their exiting employees get back to work more quickly by giving them some direction regarding how their skill set matches up against alternative positions or industries which are hiring.  As an example, we recommend that job seekers coming off a manufacturing line also look for jobs in the energy field, an industry that is expanding.  HR Professionals, in particular, hiring managers, are in fact in a really great position to be able to do this because they spend quite a bit of time matching skills to job descriptions.

Ideally, if you provide your exiting employees with access to a professional job coach they could work with their coach to more closely match their individual transferable skills.  If that isn’t provided, or for those employees that choose not to take advantage of that benefit, simply adding some information to the employee exit packets about where they can look for their next job can go a long way toward giving them a much needed head start in their job search.   

Tammy Mullin

Find out how in this article from the Journal of State Taxation.  While this is a tax publication, many of the recommendations are relevant for reimbursing employers and is definitely worth a read.

Tammy Mullin

Helping your displaced workers get back to work more quickly is more than just good corporate citizenship.  Supporting them in their job search can actually have a positive impact on a company’s bottom line in reduced unemployment costs (see “Do You Have a Reemployment Strategy?”).

One of the things we recommend is pulling together as much information as possible to let your exiting employees know about programs and support in their area that they might want to take advantage of.  Let’s face it, most of today’s unemployed workers haven’t looked for a new job in years, the average being 4-7 years in fact, so they really aren’t on top of what it takes to search for a new job.

There is a lot of churn in today’s marketplace and while quite a few workers are turning to new industries and opportunities, some are still able to find new work within their current trade or business.  For those workers, employers may want to pass along the news that certain job search expenses may be deductible for income tax purposes.

While this knowledge won’t help them in their job search, it could help reduce the monetary burden of the search. 

Tammy Mullin

A Reemployment Strategy is a proactive plan to help displaced workers find a new job quickly thereby reducing the duration of unemployment benefits paid to that individual. In addition to helping reduce unemployment costs, an effective Reemployment Strategy can also reduce the risk of employment litigation or worker’s compensation claims as well as have a positive impact on a company’s overall corporate image.

The reemployment opportunity really lies in the highly dynamic nature of the job market. In April 2010, there were 4.2 million new hires. In fact, the job market averages about 50 million new hires a year. To put things into perspective, annual hires as a percentage of total available jobs averages about 35%. This represents the churn in the marketplace brought about by a shifting in industries due to disruptive technologies and other demographic conditions.

A successful reemployment program should be designed to motivate, educate and connect job seekers to available jobs more quickly than they would be able to do on their own.

Job seekers face some key challenges in the marketplace today where there are six job seekers for every available job. They are actually de-motivated by the media’s lack of understanding of job opportunities and in a lot of cases just don’t know where to start. Job loss can also really shake a person’s confidence which can lead to discouragement, making it even more difficult for them to effectively search for a job.

Few job seekers ever receive job search training. Job search tools and techniques are constantly evolving and the average person searches for a new job only once every four years. Some of the folks in serious need have gone ten years or more since their last job search and might not have the necessary skills or technical savvy to navigate through today’s job search technology. Job seekers should be educated on how to write an effective accomplishments –focused resume, how to evaluate their own transferable skills and passions, how and where to market themselves and how to interview.

There is also an issue with making the right connections. Marketplace disruption has created a situation where job seekers are forced to search for new jobs in new industries that might not identically align with what they have done in the past. Our experience in working with job seekers has taught us that approximately 80% of the available jobs in the market are hidden, meaning that they aren’t showing up on job boards or on company websites. Job seekers need help making the connection to these available jobs.

Employers should provide opportunities for job seekers to connect with each other as well as other employers that may be hiring. Virtual job clubs and online forums or chat rooms are some great best practices to provide exiting employees with an opportunity to connect with each other and share successes and lessons learned during their job search. Employers that are closing facilities in certain areas could also consider hosting a job fair to connect their exiting employees to employers seeking qualified candidates.

A professional job coach can be instrumental in helping motivate a job seeker. Coaches are generally extremely caring individuals that job seekers will respond to because they feel that someone is on their side and believes in them. A good coach will establish constant contact with a job seeker with structured weekly calls and emails that build in accountability and have job seekers working through a structured program designed to have them reemployed within a specified time period.

Whether an employer chooses to outsource the development and management of a reemployment program to a company that has expertise in the area or provide selected services in house, developing a plan of action before a staff reduction takes place is an essential part of ensuring that employers minimize risk and maintain positive brand image during a difficult and unfortunate time.

Tammy Mullin