What is global outplacement and how can it support multinational organisations?

When redundancies loom, supporting your staff is a necessary part of the process. That’s where global outplacement comes in. But what is global outplacement exactly? Essentially, it’s a service provided to exiting employees, wherever they are in the world, to help them navigate their next steps confidently and successfully. It ensures that, wherever your employees are based, the business can support their career transition. 

With the prevalence of remote work, corporate restructures, and multinational layoffs, the way you treat your staff is a key differentiator for your brand. Whether your staff are facing internal redeployment or an external job search, outplacement will offer the support they need while protecting your company’s reputation.

In this article, we’ll look at what global outplacement is, how it works, its features and services, key benefits, and how to choose a provider. We’ll also look at the Careerminds difference, as we think our program is pretty special. 

Global outplacement is a service that helps your HR team help your employees. Staff at every level can take advantage of the offering, whether executives, leaders, or individual contributors, by receiving a service tailored to their career goals. 

The aim is to enable your displaced workers around the world to transition quickly and seamlessly into meaningful new roles, minimising the downtime between positions and ensuring they receive the emotional support they need at a challenging time. For multinational employers, a single partner can provide consistent, reliable services by combining local expertise with virtual programs. 

A global outplacement provider can offer support across multiple countries, cultures, and languages, providing a one-stop shop to meet your company and employee needs. Here at Careerminds, we train global coaches to deliver consistent top-quality outplacement in all four corners of the globe, using just one platform and just one client portal. 

Our virtual programs enable workers to access services wherever and whenever they want. Whether they’re in an office block in Brisbane, a shared workspace in Canada, or on a beach in Spain, your employees will be able to access the support they need to navigate their career change. When face-to-face is the preferred option, we also offer blended outplacement services in some countries, combining in-person support with virtual assistance. 

The process looks something like this:

1. Outplacement need identified: When a company is undergoing a restructure, a merger or down-sizing, the HR team will need to support departing employees in order to protect the company’s reputation and minimise legal risk.

2. Request for Proposal: The HR department will need to source their ideal outplacement partner, which is usually done by sending RFPs and evaluating the responses to find the service best aligned with the organisation’s specific needs and budget.

3. Employee enrolment: All staff subscribed to the service will be onboarded and given access to their programs.

4. Service delivery: Employees receive career advice, job search support, resumes, and LinkedIn profile writing help, interview coaching, and local market guidance until they succeed in landing a new job.

5. Program completion and evaluation: Employees transition into new roles, and HR teams can evaluate program success using metrics such as employee engagement and placement rates.

Global outplacement providers have several key points of difference, when compared to local services. 

• Global expertise: Our coaches have local market expertise across multiple countries and continents. That means no employee is left behind or excluded from the service that their peers in other offices are receiving.

• Cultural knowledge: At Careerminds, our coaches are fluent in many languages and have insight into local business culture in countries around the world. That means the service your employees receive is tailored to the market where they’re seeking work. 

• Regulatory compliance: Our programs are delivered in line with regional employment laws, meaning your HR team is free to concentrate on delivering other aspects of the redundancy process.

• Virtual delivery: We combine in-person and virtual delivery models so our services are available whenever and wherever your employees need them. 

With a globally dispersed workforce, you’ll have many challenges managing a retrenchment project. International outplacement support shouldn’t be one of them. Ensure your chosen provider offers these services: 

At times of high stress, you need a responsive partner who can act as an extension of your HR team. To achieve that, your global outplacement partner should: 

• Connect to your existing HRIS: Careerminds offers one-click integration with systems such as SAP Success Factors, Workday, Ultimate Software, ADP, and Oracle, meaning our support can be accessed from anywhere in the world. 

• Deliver an impeccable employee experience: The Careerminds platform has an algorithm that matches employee resumes to relevant job adverts, and also recommends keywords to use in their job search documents to ensure their resumes are easily found.

• Enable social learning: As well as enjoying a one-to-one relationship with their coach, at Careerminds, participants can connect with others in the same boat, locally and globally, through interactive webinars, networking, and messaging. Redundancy can feel lonely, so the power of building a community can’t be underestimated. 

• Support the change process: Workplace change can be difficult for HR and employees alike, wherever they are based. Careerminds acts as a supportive partner for companies to lean on when managing their most challenging problems. Whether you need to train managers to deliver bad news or maintain morale among retained staff, we’re here to take the strain.

We value a truly collaborative approach and encourage clients to share their problems at an early stage. That way, we can keep improving and innovating within our client portal to provide the very best global outplacement service possible. 

As your displaced employees use the portal, you’ll want to know about the impact it’s having, to ensure your budget is well spent. Here at Careerminds, we offer continuous and transparent tracking of outplacement results. That includes: 

• A secure API: Our system connects to yours, storing relevant information, such as usage data, survey results, and landing page data, so you’ll always be able to access up-to-date metrics wherever your employees are based.

• Open, transparent reports: Our reports are simple, user-friendly, and concise. What’s more, they’re continuously accessible, so you’ll always have up-to-the-minute information at your fingertips.  

• Accessibility: Working in HR, you know that accessibility, fairness, and inclusion are paramount. We take pride in making sure our services are accessible and are considerate of everyone’s needs, whichever country or community they are part of.

Our founder, Raymond Lee, notes that, “Clients have 24/7 access to metrics and data on demand for participants, anywhere in the world.”

Some providers only work with program participants for a set amount of time. Here at Careerminds, we do things differently.

• Support until placement: We offer on-going support until the participant is successfully placed in a new role. We don’t abandon them at one of the most stressful points of their career just because of an arbitrary deadline. 

• Global support: We provide the same high level of support whether participants are in Australia or further afield. Our local expertise, personalised coaching, and open-access virtual tools are offered on an unlimited basis, until the displaced employee secures a new job. 

• Tiered support: Every participant receives the same basic program, guaranteeing unlimited support until placement. Support can be increased for more senior employees, depending on their requirements. For example, some may require advanced coaching, help with writing an executive biography, or roundtables. This is especially important for cross-border outplacement programs, as some countries mandate that employers must provide support that matches the seniority and tenure of an employee. 

As we provide support until placement, we don’t base our prices on how long it takes employees to find a job. We quote based on the seniority of program participants and work with staff at every level, from individual contributors up to senior executives. This approach means that every participant receives the right type of support and coaching to enable them to land a meaningful new role. 

Now you have a good idea of what global outplacement is and how it works, let’s take a look at how it can benefit both your business and your employees. 

While seldom top of anyone’s wish list, sometimes redundancies are inevitable. Global outplacement enables businesses to find a clear path forward at a difficult time, making the process as pain-free as possible. 

• Risk mitigation: Global outplacement helps to protect the company from legal action, by showing that the company is treating employees fairly. It minimises the potential for unfair dismissal or discrimination claims by operating consistently and in compliance with labour laws in the relevant jurisdiction. 

• Reputation protection: Global outplacement can protect your brand by discouraging bad-mouthing and negative online reviews from employees who have been retrenched. Such actions can cause problems with hiring and retention, and the effects can last for years. 

• Consistency: By using a single global outplacement provider, you can be sure that, whichever country your employees are based in, they will be receiving the same high level of care and support.

• HR support: By engaging a global outplacement partner, your HR team will be free to focus on their day-to-day tasks and other projects. 

Outplacement is one of the most valuable services a company can provide to its workforce, as it lightens what can be a tough and traumatic time. 

• Fast transitions: Every moment that your employees are unsure about their future causes them unnecessary financial and emotional distress. Outplacement smooths their departure from the organisation, guiding them at every step until they are re-employed. 

• Reduced unemployment time: With Careerminds participants, on average, securing new roles in under 12 weeks, the time spent job seeking is considerably shorter than if employees were to go it alone. 

• Confidence and self-esteem: Job loss is more than just a financial burden, it’s also tied to a loss of identity, confidence, and worth. With support through the transition, employees can come out of it with their heads held high. 

• Culturally-relevant support: Where localised services may not be equipped to provide support relevant to every market your company operates in, global outplacement will ensure the support provided is attuned to cultural nuances. 

• Career clarity: Working with their own personal coach means that employees can gain greater clarity on their next steps. They may choose to upskill, take a completely new direction, or pursue a more senior role. Whatever they choose, they won’t be wasting time chasing their tail – they’ll be moving forward with a plan and a goal. 

Global outplacement providers stand by your side during the most challenging projects your HR team can face. For example: 

• Mergers and acquisitions: During mergers and acquisitions, it’s not uncommon for roles to be duplicated. In that case, retrenchments will be required to avoid the unnecessary cost of employing two people to do one role. As new companies are integrated into existing structures, outplacement companies should be brought in to help HR teams navigate the change. 

• Multinational downsizing: If budgets are squeezed, costs need to be cut. When the layoffs affect staff in more than one country, global outplacement services are needed to ensure compliance, consistency, and local support on an international scale. 

• Offshoring: When roles are relocated internationally, there are inevitably redundancies at home. In that case, global outplacement providers can support companies with internal redeployments or external placement. 

What criteria should you use when choosing your global outplacement provider? Cost shouldn’t be the only consideration, as the level of support and collaboration can vary from company to company. Key points to evaluate include: 

• Geographic coverage: Ensure your chosen outplacement partner has experience in the markets where your company operates. 

• Consistency versus customisation: Ensure the provider can deliver a consistent experience to every participant, whilst adapting to local expectations and norms.

• Technology platform: Ensure that the provider can integrate their portal with your existing HRIS.

• Reporting: Ensure that you can monitor performance and success metrics in real time. 

• Coaching credentials: Ensure the coaches are qualified and experienced in your industry and can help employees at all levels of seniority. 

• Results: Ensure the program has a track record of delivering the results you’re looking for.

As you have no doubt noticed, Careerminds ticks all the boxes for an outstanding global

outplacement service, but we offer so much more. Take a look at some of the highlights: 

• Resources available in 50 languages across 80 countries.
• Content translated by native speakers to be fully accessible and accurate.
• Global access with local expertise.
• All programs tailored to the needs of each participant, based on level, role, industry, experience, and skillset.
• Personalised, one-to-one coaching for every participant.
• No limits on coaching hours.
• Low and competitive prices.

Our results speak for themselves: 

• 80% participant engagement rate.
• 95% of participants landing new roles within 11.5 weeks.
• 99% participant satisfaction rate.

We can deliver this because Careerminds was founded over 18 years ago and has been built from the ground up as a virtual global outplacement provider. It has always been ahead of its time and ahead of its competitors. 

Our flagship outplacement service was launched in 2008 as a remote and technology-enabled program, complete with a bespoke virtual platform, easily-accessible online resources, and unrivaled coaching services. This pioneering approach, set up before the pandemic made remote working commonplace, has gone from strength to strength.

We’re proud of our people-first approach and unlimited support. As our founder Raymond Lee says, “We’re not only saving companies money, we’re also delivering industry-leading results. Currently, we’re the only firm with 100% retention after companies make the switch to us.”

Global outplacement enables companies to support departing employees during times of redundancy, offering important benefits to both the business and the workforce. 

In summary, it: 

• Is offered at times of workforce change and disruption.
• Enables staff to access outplacement services whenever and wherever is convenient.
• Combines local expertise with global access.
• Can be used by employees at every level of seniority.
• Protects the company brand and minimises legal risks.
• Enables retrenched employees to move quickly into new roles.
• Frees up HR teams to focus on other matters.

Ready to see what Careerminds can do for your business? Contact us today to speak to one of our experts.