When outplacement comes up
Outplacement usually enters the picture once a separation has been decided and the question left is how to handle it fairly. Sometimes it is a single executive whose position is being eliminated. Sometimes it is twenty roles in a restructuring, where the works council (Betriebsrat, the elected employee representation in German companies) insists on transition support in the social plan. And sometimes it is a settlement agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) that would not be signed without an offer of support attached. The three situations I see most often in my engagements:
A single separation at leadership level
A position is cut or refilled. The person has served the company for years, and the separation should not poison the relationship.
Headcount reduction with a social plan
Several roles go, the works council negotiates transition support. A group programme gives everyone affected the same offer.
Settlement agreement instead of dismissal
The company wants to avoid an unfair dismissal claim, the employee wants security for the next step. Outplacement makes the offer acceptable.
Personal, not an agency
Most outplacement providers work with a sales team that sells the programme and a network of coaches who deliver it. The employee meets their coach after the contract is signed; the company reads reports in a portal. The model scales, but it separates responsibility from delivery.
There is no such split here. Whoever speaks with me on the first call speaks with the person who then runs the support. As a permanently employed HR Manager and Head of People I have conducted separation meetings, negotiated social plans with works councils and calculated severance, in financial services, consumer goods and software. I know what happens inside a person in the hour after that meeting, and I know what executive management expects from HR in the same hour.
That has a limit, and I name it openly: I deliver programmes myself, which means not fifty people at once. For group programmes from five people I work with fixed dates and group formats so the quality stays the same. For a reduction of several hundred roles I am not the right provider, and I say so on the first call.
What the programme covers
A programme has seven building blocks, weighted by seniority and term. For specialists the emphasis is on documents and the application pipeline, for managers on positioning and market approach, for executives on the hidden market and contract negotiation.
- AssessmentWhat the person can do, what they want, and what the market in their region and sector is actually offering right now. Honest rather than motivational.
- DocumentsCV, cover letter, profile texts, written from the perspective of the person who will read them. No template off the shelf.
- Market approachTarget companies, network, executive search firms, job boards. For managers, the hidden market that is never advertised.
- Interview preparationPractice interviews with the questions that actually get asked, including the one about why the separation happened.
- Contract negotiationSalary, probation period, side agreements in the new contract, informed by how employers decide on offers internally.
- Start in the new roleThe first weeks accompanied, so the probation period does not turn into a second separation.
- Reporting to the companyAn aggregated status overview at fixed intervals, without content from individual sessions.
How the support runs
From the first call to the start of the support usually takes a few days. The process is the same for individual and group programmes; only the scheduling differs.
You describe the number of cases, the timeline and the situation in the company. I say which programme fits, or whether you need one at all right now.
A concrete proposal by seniority and term, for one person or a group. No off-the-shelf package.
A first conversation with every affected employee, then fixed sessions across the term. Confidential, by video or on site.
You receive a status overview at fixed intervals, aggregated, with no details from the sessions.
Three programmes by seniority
The programmes differ by the seniority of the affected person, because that is what changes the job market: a specialist finds roles through job boards, a manager through network and search firms, an executive almost exclusively through the hidden market. Within each programme you choose a term between three and nine months.
Group programme from five people: the same approach for everyone affected, with group sessions for documents and interview training and individual sessions for assessment and market approach.
HR, works council and confidentiality
Outplacement sits in a triangle: the company pays, the employee takes part, and the works council has co-negotiated the social plan where there is one. For that to work, one rule applies without exception: what is discussed in the sessions with the employee stays there. The company learns whether the person is participating, which phase the programme is in and when an offer has been accepted. It does not learn where they are applying, what they think about their former employer or what salary they are negotiating.
Where the programme is part of a social plan, I align it with the works council before the start. In my experience that raises the participation rate considerably, because the works council then actively recommends the offer instead of merely tolerating it. If the restructuring itself is still running, the two projects are dovetailed: Restructuring and Social Plan governs the separation, outplacement the path afterwards.
How the separation meeting itself should be conducted, so that the person is ready to accept a programme at all, is covered in the article How to conduct a termination meeting in Germany.
How the cost works
A programme is agreed with a monthly rate and a term. Monthly rate times term gives a cost cap, and you never pay more than that cap, even if the placement takes longer than planned. On terms of six months or more I continue after the cap is reached without a further invoice, until the new contract is signed, as long as the employee keeps actively searching within the agreed framework.
If the placement succeeds in the first half of the term, a bonus of one monthly rate is agreed. A longer process therefore earns me nothing except more work; my interest is speed, not billing duration. Stand-alone advice without a programme is charged by the hour. The concrete proposal is something we settle on the first call. International headquarters usually want to know how this compares with what a German agency would charge; that comparison, and what a fair offer looks like, is something I walk through on the call as well.
Frequently asked questions about outplacement
Outplacement or newplacement, what is the difference?
The same service seen from a different angle. Newplacement is the term the German market uses to stress the next step rather than the exit. You get both here: a separation handled fairly, and support that is aimed at the next role from the first session.
How quickly can the support start?
Usually within a few days of the first call. There is no agency behind me, so there are no internal hand-offs and no wait for a coach to be assigned from a network.
Is the support confidential?
Yes. Every conversation with an affected employee stays between that person and me. The company receives an aggregated status overview, never the content of individual sessions.
Does this work for larger headcount reductions?
Yes, through the group programme from five people. Everyone affected gets the same structured approach, delivered personally and coordinated with HR and, where one exists, the works council (Betriebsrat, the elected employee representation in German companies). If a restructuring with a social plan is still running, the two projects are dovetailed.
Does the support have to take place in Frankfurt?
No. Most sessions run by video, anywhere in Germany. For companies in the Rhine-Main region, in-person appointments in Frankfurt are available on request.
How is this different from a classic outplacement agency?
You speak with the person who delivers the support, not with a sales team that refers you to a coach pool. I have run separation processes myself as a permanently employed HR Manager and Head of People, so I know both sides of that conversation.
How long does a programme last?
You choose a term between three and nine months, depending on the seniority of the person and the market they are moving into. On longer terms I keep going after the cost cap is reached, until the new contract is signed, as long as the person keeps actively searching.