Why outplacement?
In times of fast economic change, the separation from employees is often inevitable. For the person concerned and his/her family and friends, for the remaining colleagues and for the superiors this is a stressful situation. The support received during outplacement makes it easier for your employees to successfully cope with this situation and to find a new position more quickly. The people who are around the person concerned can relax knowing that he or she is well supported. Including outplacement as a part of your separation culture makes it possible for all parties involved to successfully handle this difficult situation. It also eases the strain on your relationship with your laid-off employees, who may be your future customers, referrers, clients, and perhaps, in a few years, your employees again.
Goal and content
The goal of outplacement is to help your employees to cope with the termination and to find a new job within a reasonable period of time that meets their needs and is in line with their long-term career goals.
My outplacement covers the entire process (Figure 1) which begins in your company once notice has been given and finishes after the probation period ends with the new company. I advise and accompany your employees in the processing of the dismissal, the personal and professional assessment and new orientation, in the job search and making applications as well as – if needed – in the course of an onboarding during the probation time with the new employer. Below I describe the different topics of an outplacement, which may take place in parallel. The design of an outplacement is made according to the actual needs of your employee.
Handling the situation
- Handling the employment termination, with the aim of good emotional processing
- Reflecting on the reasons for the termination; especially if the personal behaviour of the employee contributed to the decision for dismissal
- Development of alternative attitude- resp. behaviour alternatives with coaching
- Analysis of the actual situation and clarifying of the following questions:
- Immediate release (if offered by the company) or continue working during the notice period
- Communication and information to the personal network
- Review of the financial situation
- Planning of the remaining time in the company
- In the case of an immediate release: creation of a new daily structure
- Discussion on the formalities (RAV, insurance)
Personal and professional assessment
Analysis of the employee’s personality (Who am I? How am I?)
- Analysis of the professional decisions taken in the past
- Determination of strengths and weaknesses (soft skills: social and personal competencies) with con-sideration of the external and self-image
- From this the development of self-confidence for credible self-marketing (personal branding)
Inventory of the skills (What are my skills?)
- Creation of a competency profile on the basis of the previous professional experiences
- Elicitation of technical and methodological competencies (hard skills)
- Analysis of previous performance, professional successes and failures
- Processing of success stories in order to becoming aware of personal inclinations, to strengthen the self-consciousness and in order to prepare for job-interviews
Development of the professional ideas and goals (Where do I want to go to?)
- Development of a job requirement profile from two points of view:
- Job content: Development of a job profile (preferred activities, positioning) as a basis for the job search and application.
- Job environment: Definition of a desired work environment / optimal working conditions (work location, corporate culture, management culture, degree of freedom, etc.) as preparation for job interviews
- If needed: development of totally new professional perspectives
Market Analysis/Job Research
- Particularly in the case of lateral moves, it makes sense to conduct job research to find out more about the jobs one is considering before searching and applying for them. This serves on the one hand to clarify one’ s own interest and on the other hand to be able to argue in a more competent way in job interviews.
Job search
- Deciding on application channels:
- Open job market (job advertisements, Internet)
- Hidden job market (initiative application, personal network, LinkedIn, personnel consultant/headhunter)
- Development of an inbound and outbound search strategy
Application
Preparation of the application campaign
- Organization of the application activities with methods from work technique and time management
- Becoming familiar with the application resp. recruitment process from the perspective of companies
- Optimization of the applicant’s behaviour (e.g., application by phone)
Preparation of the application documents
- Create significant application documents (CV, motivational letter)
- If needed: preparing of additional instruments (performance record, project list, etc.)
- Development of a convincing profile on LinkedIn
Preparation for job-interviews
- Simulation of job-interviews based on concrete job profiles
- Development of tailormade communication strategies through storytelling
- Ensuring optimal interview preparation by analysing the job requirements
- Evaluation of job-interviews and preparation for follow-up interviews
Support during the application process
- Reflecting on and classifying the experience of applying for jobs
- If needed: adjustment of the application or the communication strategy
- Support in the decision on concrete job offers
- Advice regarding employment contract preparation and salary negotiations
Coaching during the probation period
- Clarify issues concerning induction phase, positioning in the company and relationship building
- Reflection on the experiences made in the new company
- Coaching if problems arise, e.g., in leadership or communication
INDIVIDUAL OUTPLACEMENTS
Outplacement is a very personal process. I therefore only offer individual outplacements. The collaboration covers either the whole process as described above or parts of it. For younger employees who are experienced in job searching and have a clear professional focus, application coaching may be adequate. For long-standing employees who have problems to cope with the situation, the collaboration will include the emotional handling of the notice and a personal and professional assessment if there is need for a professional reorientation. If the behaviour of an employee was one of the reasons for the notice, coaching to reflect on the situation and develop new perspectives and behaviour makes it easier to find a new professional focus. And last but not least: coaching during the probation time with the new employer facilitates the onboarding, in particular if cultural differences with the company complicate the integration.
Briefing free of charge
A good working relationship promotes success in outplacement. In order for your employees to get to know me and my way of working, I offer them a non-binding and free 30-minute introductory meeting in person or online. Afterwards they can decide whether they want to work with me.
Knowledge transfer
I provide my customers in the consultation as much knowledge as possible from my more than 20 years of experience in the field of personal and professional assessment, job search and job application. In order for them to benefit optimally from this experience, I provide them with comprehensive documentation. These serve as preparation for the sessions as well as for follow-up reading afterwards. And finally, your employees can refresh their acquired knowledge with the documents at any time later.
How we work together
Conditions
Cost Ceiling
In outplacement, I work with a cost ceiling and charge for individual hours within this framework. You, as the client, only pay for the services your employees use. This means that the coaching can be terminated earlier than expected if the coachee finds a new job quickly.
I will gladly send you my current conditions for outplacement by e-mail.
Scope of service
The fee covers the following services:
- Non-binding, 30-minute briefing free of charge in order to get to know one other
- Preparation, holding and post-processing of the coaching meetings
- Phone calls and emails with the coachee between the sessions
- Providing word templates for the application documents as well as forms for the organisation of the application activities
- Delivering well documented, written exercises to be done between the coaching sessions
- Hand-out of extensive written documentation on all the concepts I work with during the outplacement
Travel expenses
For consultations that are not conducted on my premises, travel expenses and room rental may be charged according to separate agreement, depending on distance and travel time.
Please also see my general terms and conditions.
Location of consulting
Personal
The sessions take place in my consulting room at Mühlebachstrasse 43 in Zurich.
Online
Upon request of the coachee, I also offer sessions MS Teams.
Next step
If you have any questions about my offer, please contact me by phone 076 223 97 88, by e-mail, WhatsApp or Threema.
About me
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«For more than 20 years I have been advising my clients in career topics. Since 2008 I accompany people of different functions and industries in outplacements to find a new professional orientation and to successfully apply on the job market. With private individuals and with employees, on behalf of their employers, I do private and professional assessments as well as coaching on career topics. Before that, I advised – in the role of a personnel consultant and head-hunter – technical specialists and managers in their job search. In addition, I was recruiting specialists for companies in the financial services industry.»
Peter Näf
Master of Arts University of Zurich
Executive Master of HR Management
Professional career
Company information
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