What is an Outplacement Company Doing at HR Tech?

As HR Tech comes to a close, I wanted to get some of my conference experience down before “Leaving Las Vegas”. We just wrapped up a whirlwind of technology and networking at the 16^th Annual HR Technology Conference in beautiful Las Vegas. I hope we got to see you at our booth. It was hard to compete with the bells and whistles of the other vendors, but cash and iPads usually do the trick.

Katie Lawrence, our Director of Business Development and Strategic Accounts watched the booth while I hit the conference expo floor to network with potential partners and meet new exhibitors. A major reason we chose to attend was to keep the team up on all the latest and greatest in HR technology.

Although I have been in the business for a while now, it never ceases to amaze me just how much this industry grows with each passing year. Events like this really show you just how integrated technology is in every process in HR. There is an increased awareness of how crucial technology has become to HR and that is why we chose this conference for our team.

As we met with others in the industry face-to-face, we learned a few things about our own company:

As we spoke with people at our booth, in meetings or at parties we realized that most people are still unclear on what virtual outplacement is. Everyone knows about outplacement, but they aren’t too sure about the virtual side of the services that we offer. Outplacement has been my area of expertise for about 15 years, and I saw a glaring gap in the outplacement industry. Where is the technology that could make this easier, faster and more cost effective?

Traditional outplacement services don’t offer online knowledge libraries, face-time career coaches or online tools and resources. We offer everything that a traditional outplacement firm will offer, but we’ve added technology to the equation to make each process better. Because we can offer all of our services virtually, the efficiency and cost effectiveness of our services have put us in a great place in the industry.

We have embraced technology to make outplacement better, and we wanted to go to HR Tech to see first-hand how other companies are doing the same thing in all HR processes…oh and maybe to show off a little bit too.

We also met a lot of people who never knew that they needed outplacement services…until they needed outplacement services. A big reason for attending, wasn’t simply to get people to invest in outplacement, it was to forge relationships. As companies experience industry fluctuations, they can quickly find themselves in a tough spot when preparing for a reduction in force with no guidance. Establishing relationships before our services are needed was a main goal of ours.

Conducting a reduction in force is no walk in the park, and as the scale of the organizational transition increases, so do the risks. When you work at establishing relevant connections across the spectrum of HR technologies, it puts you one step ahead of the game. Think of establishing a relationship with a reputable virtual outplacement company (like Careerminds for example) as an insurance policy for the ever-changing industry demands.

As a virtual outplacement company, we don’t always get to see the faces behind the RIF teams with whom we work. This conference allowed us to see some of those faces, and I have to say, we really felt the love. When a customer walks up to you and thanks you for helping them through a reduction in force, and has only great things to say about their experience with your services, it really enforces that we’re on the right path. Although we track everything imaginable, and we already knew the numbers and results, it is very different hearing it face-to-face.

We heard from one recent client that almost everyone of their nearly 300 transitioning employees has been placed, and the RIF took place less than 2 months ago. We’re so passionate about our services; it was a pleasure to hear that our customers really feel that passion. Hearing from them made this conference a great experience.