ASCENT Select Adds Outplacement Services to Offerings

March 6, 2019 – Executive search firm ASCENT Select has added outplacement support services to its menu of client offerings. The Greensboro, NC-based firm’s new service allows companies to provide displaced employees with effective tools and resources to accelerate the job search process to land as quickly as possible.

ASCENT Select’s outplacement services include a comprehensive nine-step program that provides one-on-one coaching, assessments, expert resume writing, personal branding, strategic interview preparation, job search blueprint, search tactics, social media strategies, LinkedIn optimization and more.

“Outplacement services are proven to limit potential lawsuits, enhance corporate image and improve employee retention and productivity,” said the firm.

ASCENT Select describes itself as a vanguard leader in the outplacement services sector. Mike Sudermann, the firm’s founder, is author of The Executive Leap, a book on proven strategies and insider secrets on making professional transitions. The firm is part of the growing movement toward providing these services to outgoing professionals.

Placing Talent

The firm assists companies in identifying and hiring candidates for mid- to senior-level executive positions. Its team members are experts at sourcing and using strategic methods and cultural assessments to place executives in available supply chain, procurement, distribution, logistics, operations and finance roles. Its recruiters are industry authorities, highly networked and have been retained by clients worldwide.

ASCENT Select said it uses strategic techniques to find ideal candidates and boasts a 98 percent acceptance rate. About 95 percent of the firm’s placements remain in roles for 12 months or longer, said the firm. The organization has been awarded many recognitions through the NPAworldwide network, which maintains a membership of more than 1,800 recruiters and 500 search firms worldwide. ASCENT Select’s NPAworldwide honors include: Top 25 Revenue Producing Firm in 2015, Largest (Split) Placement in 2015, Silver Recruiter Achievement Award in 2016, Top 25 Recruiter Achievement in 2017, Top Revenue Achievement by a Firm in 2017 and Largest (Split) Placement in 2017.

Last year, a revealing report entitled “What About the Survivors? Taking Care of Employees Who Remain After a Layoff” by RiseSmart, a global career transition firm based in San Jose, CA, said the question of caring for survivor employees goes beyond corporate responsibility and brand building. Getting remaining employees back to work and returning to productivity, in fact, has a direct effect on the bottom line.

What Every Employer Needs to Know About Employees in Transition

The people that leave your organization are as important as the ones coming in. And how you handle their transition can dramatically impact your reputation as an employer. Departing employees are your brand ambassadors – and they can affect every stage of your company’s talent lifecycle, from retention and productivity to recruiting and everything in between.But not every organization gets employee transition right.

Some neglect it entirely, while most – more than 60% according to the latest figures from contemporary career transition services specialist RiseSmart – fail to offer any transitioning services to professional, manager and entry-level employees. Why not turn that figure upside down and set up departing employees for success. Discover the tools your organization must provide to employees after a layoff. As people leave, there are just as many things to do as the day you welcomed them in. Here are some fresh ways to get started in a brand new report just released by RiseSmart. Get it Now!

Although many companies do have some initiatives in place to care for their employees before, during, and after a reduction in force, most do too little. The study said that most survivors don’t return to productivity for at least three months after layoffs. As such, an investment in resiliency training and other programs designed to help employees deal with survivor guilt and anxiety over job security is integral to getting them back on track. It also improves the bottom line, said RiseSmart.

Building Trust

Establishing trust and clear communication with all employees at every phase of their engagement with one’s organization, regardless of title or position, is essential. When companies only focus on members of their management and executive teams, they risk alienating a large portion of their workforce and risk long-term damage to the employer brand, said another RiseSmart study, “Insights on Job Seekers in Transition: What Every Employer Needs to Know.”

Even in the best economy, organizations use layoffs and downsizing as a means to meet corporate goals, manage redundancies after an acquisition or merger, and to keep up with a shifting economy and marketplace. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed for the report said they had been laid off within the last five years—a time of economic growth. Chances are, those employees are now customers, competitors or possibly return employees. “How their exit was handled at the time of the reduction in force has already made an impact on your business, whether you realize it or not,” said RiseSmart.

Dan Davenport, president and general manager of RiseSmart, said that career transition and outplacement services help improve employee retention and productivity. “Although it sounds counter-intuitive to be thinking about layoffs and employee retention at the same time, the reality is that organizations must retain valuable talent in order to ensure future business success,” he said. “When it comes to employee churn after a layoff, we’ve found two things to be true: First, remaining employees are invested in watching how the company handles layoffs. They’re talking to their colleagues and making decisions about their employer based on those conversations.”

Reputation and Perception

“Second, those who were not impacted by the layoff often have difficulty returning to productivity; employees often go through the stages of grief over the loss of their peers and the changes in their organization as a result of a layoff.”

“By caring for employees through outplacement services, companies improve employee retention, reduce feelings of grief and anxiety in the workplace, and ensure employees return to productivity faster,” he said.

Outplacement also helps with recruiting. “Reputation and perception are everything,” said Mr. Davenport. “Company culture is transparent to anyone with access to the internet and people tend to trust what current and past employees say about an organization more than what the organization says about itself. How a company treats employees today will have far reaching consequences for recruiting and retaining employees in the future.”

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media