Relationships Key to Business, Including Outplacement

by Rich Kolodgie, Managing Partner

“People like to do business with people they like.” So said Dale Carnegie, or at least one of his certified instructors/business coaches. This week I’d like to take a little off that statement so I can emphasize the part that says “people like to do business with people.”

Relationships are key to any business if it is to be profitable, positive, and effective. And this is definitely the case with the outplacement world. For employers with a goal of providing quality service to their departing staff members, relationships will surely mean the difference between people transitioning smoothly and those who may feel they are left hanging.

When an employer has a business relationship with its outplacement partner, both parties have the opportunity to really understand the nuances or fine points of the workers or larger workforce involved. The employer can convey the strengths and potential needs of their staff to the outplacement officers so that when the actual services are provided, they can be tailored to specific and unique needs.

‘One size fits all’ shouldn’t be a strategy. One set of staff members may be highly educated, another heavy on long tenures. Cultures of course vary as well as expectations and certainly outplacement budgets. These are all aspects that can be worked into a customized outplacement plan when the two parties have pursued a relationship of mutual understanding.

Let’s say your company is a large financial organization with hundreds of employees. Your outplacement needs could be very different from a manufacturing company with a handful of production facilities, for example. If both these sets of transitioning employees got the same outplacement service, I suspect you might hear these reactions:

• “I’m just a number…”
• “Some of the advice is good but I keep feeling I”m in the wrong place…”
• “They had no idea what we need…”

In fact, some of the employers we work with at Barton Career Advisors will engage us before they are certain a staff reduction is definite. They take early steps to investigate and then get to know our philosophy and perspectives so that when the time comes, they feel confident in their investment. Not only that, but the relationship employers build with us enables them to refer their employees knowing the level of service both the employer and the out-going staff members will receive.

On-going relationships are also important for big companies that aren’t necessary expecting a large scale staff reduction but acknowledge that inevitably, challenges and resulting staff changes will develop. Even periodic changes of just a few people a year can be tough so why not be pro-active about developing a relationship so that when these difficult times occur, you have a service ready to go.

Furthermore, working relationships allow the outplacement staff to learn the client corporation’s culture, expectations and/or ways of working. That’s tremendously helpful when a client comes whose personality or working style just wasn’t a fit. Among other advantages, having this background enables the career transition team to move quickly to a future orientation rather than dwelling on the details of why a staff member didn’t work out.

And speaking of the actual transitioning client, a personal relationship can mean the difference between a prolonged and frustrating job search and an experience where the person not only lands a good job, but experiences some personal growth as well. That’s when the actual one-to-one coaching is so valuable. Allow me to draw two brief pictures (with words) that past blogs have touched on already.

PICTURE 1
A job searcher spends the morning online, examining job boards and corporate websites, posting resumes, and e-mailing contacts. The afternoon is spent out meeting people at networking events, informational interviews, and maybe even cold calls.

PICTURE 2
This job seeker does all of the above but in addition, he/she meets once a week with a career transition coach. We believe even the most confident person needs that human relationship to get feedback, encouragement, other ideas or even just a good listener.

Which one of these do you think will more effectively:

• Stay disciplined tackling the job search challenge
• Try new approaches
• Maintain their confidence
• Overcome the inevitable rejections
• Land a new job and still be sane?

Technology is taking us places we never expected. Yet relationships are really what strengthens peoples’ ability to provide outstanding service and succeed for themselves, their companies, and their colleagues. Microwave ovens cook meals on their own and someday we might have cars that drive themselves but people and relationships can never be replaced in the equation that produces great business results.

So remember, success doesn’t result from a set of compatible computers as much as it flourishes from the positive relationships of people… especially if they like each other.

How To Survive Unemployment

by Outside-In® Career Transition Coach

One of the toughest things about losing your job is the mind games that you play with yourself. Feelings of guilt, isolation, financial worries, what ifs, spousal/family issues, and even the sense of helplessness can be overwhelming. But guess what… you’re not alone and even better, a new book offering a wealth of strategies and ideas has been published: Keeping Your Head After Losing Your Job, by Robert L. Leahy, PhD.

I think this book is so powerful that it should accompany every layoff notice, pink slip, outplacement package, and maybe even unemployment check that’s issued.

Leahy practices cognitive therapy which in laymen’s terms means he works with people to examine their thoughts, what led to them, how accurate their thoughts are, what proof supports these thoughts and in fact, how practical are they. For example, we feel discouraged and think: “I’ll never get another job.” Leahy would then ask: “how many jobs have you gotten in life so far” and “how many people with your background never get a new job?”

His messages can snatch us out of those deep holes that inevitably capture job seekers in the isolation of our minds and home offices. That’s why the cover illustration highlights the first part of the book’s title, “Keepin Your Head…” over the “losing your job” part. He really focuses on changing the way we think, mostly about ourselves, and the influence that more positive perspectives can have on us, our families, and ultimately our job searches.

Throughout the book are practical exercises that help us realize the importance of proactive thinking and planning and how we can change our mindsets about the various challenges of unemployment. After analyzing the inevitable frustrations and troubling feelings of unemployment/job searching, Leahy approaches these challenges with chapters that really question our negative thoughts, offers exercises designed to help us think more positively and take action, and examples of people who have succeeded not only in landing new jobs but in changing their tough thinking patterns.

Here are just a few of his empowering chapter titles:

• You Have A Right To Your Feelings and the Ability To Change Them
• Take Action
• Build Your Self Esteem
• Don’t Get Stuck In Your Head (a really powerful section)
• Helping Each Other: For Partners and Families
• Get Outside Yourself
• Taking Care of Yourself

I found the Don’t Get Stuck In Your Head chapter to be most striking and reflective of Leahy’s ability to seemingly get inside my mind and maybe a lot of other people’s as well. He used the word rumination to describe out-of-control thinking that may start with a rejection letter and progress through ‘I’ll never get another job, I’ll loose my house, I’ll be homeless!’ Then he skillfully walks readers out of that rumination trap.

Although his background as a Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Weill-Cornell University Medical School and Honorary Lifetime President of the New York City Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Association, among others, is quite impressive, I’m still asking myself, “when has this guy ever been unemployed?” Either he spent time in my head (and maybe your’s) or he’s a complete empathy genius! I think it’s the latter.

The other chapter that hit home for me addressed the importance of maintaining your health and pursuing regular exercise while you’re between jobs. “Exercise? I should be job hunting!” Leahy paraphrases us scolding ourselves if we take time to go running or bicycling. Yes! is my and Leahy’s answer. The time between jobs is extremely stressful and therefore a very important time to pay attention to your health. Plus, Leahy points out that even the most aggressive job search isn’t going to require eight hours a day (I knew it!). So planning exercise time even as a break from your computer and phone is an effective strategy.

Unemployment is very isolating. Go right now and get Keeping Your Head After Losing Your Job. You need and deserve Dr. Robert Leahy’s company!

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalImages.net

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