Minimize the Sting of Separation – No Matter Why an Employee is Leaving

iStockphoto.com | Chris Ryan

In the United States, salaries are climbing and unemployment is at 3.7% – the lowest in 49 years. It shouldn’t be a secret to employers that job seekers have more leverage than they’ve had in years.

Employment branding – how a company portrays and differentiates itself as a great place to work – is more important than ever. This is the age of Glassdoor, where reviews of employers are abundant and readily available, and many firms invest a great deal of money in their employment image as they recruit talent.

Despite this investment, these employment branding efforts often diminish at the end of the employee lifecycle, as an employee is on his or her way toward exiting an organization. That’s a mistake. Managing employment branding at the point of separation (whether the employee is being laid off, leaving voluntarily or even being fired) is essential, regardless of the reason for separation. Employees are very sensitive (and perceptive) about how their exits are handled.

Former employees tend to talk freely about their impression of the company, and remember, everybody knows somebody. If an employee separation is handled with dignity and respect, the former employee is more likely to speak positively about their time at the company. Conversely, if the employee is unceremoniously pushed out the door, the net result could be bad feelings, accompanied by the spread of negative feedback online and across the broader talent market.

Here are some ways for employers to effectively manage employment branding at point of separation:

• Demonstrate empathy and dignity. There are many valid reasons an employer might want to initiate a separation – whether layoff or firing – but it’s important to remember that, for the employee, losing a job is a painful and emotional experience.
  

• Perform an exit interview. Asking a separating employee to talk about her or his experience at the company can provide valuable information about the environment, the culture, and the work itself. It might also yield valuable insights into what factors led to the employee’s separation. Build a standard set of open-ended questions, and have a skilled interviewer probe tactfully into the answers. The employee’s description of their work situation and performance may vary in substance or accuracy from the company’s, but it’s important to hear the employee out.
  

• Consider offering outplacement services to ease the employee’s landing. Outplacement can include resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, job search coaching, and other tools designed to help the employee get back on his or her feet quickly. An outplacement package can increase soon-to-be-ex-employee satisfaction by demonstrating empathy and providing assistance. It can reduce employer risk by giving the separating employee something of value in exchange for releasing the company from any separation-related liability (always consult an attorney, a good lawyer will help you work through such a release). And, a separation package helps the individual focus forward on the next role, rather than backwards – and the faster he or she gets back to work, the less time will be spent thinking about being unemployed and trying to assign blame.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.

What to do When Your Employer Finds Out That You Are Looking For a New Job

Here’s the scenario. Your boss asks you if you could step into their office for a quick word. You have no idea why, but you readily agree. As soon as you step into his office, he closes the door, asks you to sit down, and casually asks you, “So, are you happy here?”

“Why?” you ask.

“Because,” he says, “I just heard that you had applied to a similar position at Melvin Motor Company.”

Oh, crud. Now, it all comes rushing back to you. You applied on their website a few weeks back to a tantalizing position at MelMoCo, then spoke briefly with the company recruiter. You’re not quite sure how your boss found out, but it may have something to do with the fact that Fred over in the Operations department used to work there, and somebody called him to ask about you.

It doesn’t really matter how your fat landed in the fire. But now you have to explain to your boss your alleged act of treason.

What do you do?

• Before saying anything else, cool off evaluate your situation. Don’t let your emotions be the spark in what can be an electrically-charged situation. Try to think through your position.

• Apologize for how your manager found out. True, almost nobody tells their manager that they’re looking for a new job, but that can’t help that they probably feel betrayed. So, make sure that they know you regret that they heard about your application through the grapevine rather than from you.

• Turn the conversation into a career discussion. Hopefully, prior to this point you’ve been having meetings with your manager about your career aspirations and your opportunities for personal development, so the groundwork would already be in place. Regardless, something sparked you to look at another role – a new challenge, a promotion opportunity, or some other career factor. Let your boss know you truly enjoy working for him and the company, but that you were looking to stretch yourself in the direction you identified, and would love to continue to do so here. Hopefully, this can be the basis for a constructive conversation about where you’d like your career to go.

• Don’t make any rash statements. Your manager may be looking for a promise that you are going to stay – and he may be desperate enough not to lose you that he’ll toss out some promises of his own (promotions, raises, corner office, etc.). Resist the urge to tell him you’ll stay for eternity, or to beg to keep your job – but make sure that he knows you appreciate the opportunity to work at the company, and that your strong desire is to stay at your current company.

• Prepare for the consequences. Depending upon how deftly you handled the conversation, and how valued you are as an employee in the organization, you could face either the carrot (incentive to stay through career development) or the stick (a stalled career or, worse, fired). Pray for the former, but you may need to accept the latter.

Incidentally, make sure that you document the discussion you have with your manager. Any promises by you – or them – about the future should be honored by both sides, and you don’t want to forget what was said.

One last word about confidentiality. Keeping the interview process mum can be tricky and unreliable, no matter how hard you or a company try to keep things quiet. Besides the gossip mill, other leaks do occur – it’s entirely possible (and not entirely unlikely) that you may run into a coworker at your prospective new employer, interviewing for the same job. And in case this didn’t occur to you, your current employer keeps track of what web sites you visit, so applying to the MelMoCo job portal at work may not be such a great idea.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Job Hunting Zen Thought of the Week – October 2, 2015

Here is your Job Hunting Zen Thought of the Week!

Did you leave your last job on less-than-best of terms? It's unfortunate, but often a job isn't always a match between you and a company.

Will it hurt your chances of getting that next job? Maybe.

The best thing you can do is own it. When asked by a potential employer about why you left a position, explain the circumstances which led to your leaving, and take responsibility for your own part in it.

The employer will likely appreciate the honesty. They may still wish to validate your story, but you've saved them and you from any potential surprises.

And you have the opportunity to find a better fit.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.