Separation Management and Outplacement
By Redaktion techport.ai, HR-Beratung · Last updated on
The restructuring was legally impeccable. The balance of interests and social plan were in place, deadlines were met, no legal proceedings were lost. A year later, the company is struggling to find skilled workers. Reviews on employer portals describe how dismissals were delivered, and remaining employees share these stories within their networks. The costs of these narratives are not accounted for in any social plan.
Separations cannot be made pleasant. But they can be managed fairly, prepared, and respectfully, and that determines what remains of the company: for those who leave, and for those who observe.
How to recognise it
- Redundancy conversations are conducted by managers who have never led one before, without preparation and without support.
- Communication to the workforce arrives after the rumours have spread.
- Severance packages are negotiated individually, and those who are louder receive more.
- Those who remain get more work and no answer to the question of whether they are next.
Why this happens
Restructuring is planned by lawyers and controllers because that is where the known risks lie. The risks to the brand, employee retention and productivity of those remaining are harder to quantify and are therefore not planned for. Managers are not prepared because there is no time. And severance packages follow no logic because there is no severance strategy, only individual cases.
Our approach
- Establish principles. Before names are mentioned, we define the criteria with the management board and the works council: selection, severance logic, support offers, communication process. A severance strategy with comprehensible rules removes arbitrariness from negotiations.
- Prepare managers. Every manager conducting a conversation is trained and supported: process, language, handling reactions, what they are allowed to say and what not.
- Support affected employees. Outplacement, application support, qualification, contacts to other employers. This costs less than legal disputes and reputational damage and is remembered positively by those affected.
- Lead those who remain. Communication to the workforce on the same day as the conversations, clear statements on the scope and end of the measure, redistribution of work with a plan instead of ad hoc instructions.
What you gain from it
- The separation remains an incision but does not become a story told for years.
- Those who remain continue working instead of looking for new jobs.
- Procedures and costs decrease because fair processes are less frequently challenged.
From our projects
In restructurings that we support, the preparation of managers for the conversations is the part that is most frequently underestimated and most strongly remembered, by those affected and by those who remain. A severance logic established before the first conversations significantly reduces the number of legal disputes, in our experience, because no one speculates on a better individual offer.
Good to know
In the case of company changes in businesses with more than 20 eligible employees, an 'Interessenausgleich' (reconciliation of interests) and a 'Sozialplan' (social plan) must be negotiated with the works council in accordance with §§ 111 ff. Betriebsverfassungsgesetz (BetrVG, German Works Constitution Act). In the case of mass redundancies, notification to the employment agency under § 17 Kündigungsschutzgesetz (KSchG, German Protection Against Dismissal Act) is mandatory before dismissals are issued; errors render the dismissals invalid. Outplacement services provided by the employer are tax-free under certain conditions. The details belong in the planning, not in the rework.
Frequently asked questions
Is outplacement worthwhile even for small measures?
Yes, especially then. With five redundancies in a company of 300 employees, everyone knows those affected. How they are treated shapes the company's image more than any mission statement.
How early should the works council be involved?
As early as legally possible and confidentially maintainable. A works council that is informed early becomes a partner in setting the criteria. A works council that learns from the press becomes an opponent in the process.
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Further reading
Back to the field Mobility and Leavers