How Recruitment Firms Retain Clients During a Recession

In just a few weeks, the U.S. economy has undergone almost 10 million layoffs, earning the somber record of highest number of layoffs in such a short period. Now, an estimated 90% of the country is under a stay at home order, amplifying pressure on businesses to make expensive bill payments as revenue dries up.

As the economy plummets toward recession, recruiting isn’t on the table for most organizations. For recruitment firms who make a living connecting their clients with top talent, that means they are losing revenue and clients.

However, all hope is not lost. Recruitment firms have an opportunity to continue to support their current clients– and even win new business – during this unpredictable time by expanding their services to include career transition.

Recruitment Firms Retain Clients by Offering Career Transition Services

In the long run, organizations that offer career transition services are more appealing to job seekers. In a Workplace trends survey, 71% of people said they would pick a company with career outplacement services over an identical opportunity without. That’s a win for your clients because it makes them more appealing, but also a win for your firm because it makes recruiting for your clients in the future easier to do.

Recruitment firms already possess the skills and network valuable for outplacement and career transition services. As a firm, you already have a rich network of organizations and an expert understanding of industry and company needs. Use this knowledge and experience to upskill your recruiters to support career coaching activities. Not only are you avoiding layoffs in your firm, but you are providing a service that your clients are now looking for.

By adapting your business-model to include career transition services, you are positioning your firm for long-term stability. You will be able to replace lost revenue and win new business even during these difficult times.

How Can Career Transition Services Add Value for Your Clients?

1. Better brand reputation. Not only are you well connected and accustomed to providing the same services for your talent pool, but your career transition services can also help your clients maintain relationships with former employees. You both have a vested interest in ensuring employees feel good about the company after they leave, because negative reviews can make future hiring and recruiting tough when the economy improves.
   A reported 66% of people said they shared negative thoughts about a former employer who laid them off. Career transitions are likely to become even more vital, as younger employees, like Millennials, are 2.5 times more likely than a Gen X counterpart to share negative views about the company on social media.
2. Lessens managerial stress. Laying people off is arguably one of the worst tasks for a business leader, as a business decision often represents significant personal impact. However, knowing employees will be supported through a career transition program takes some of the burden off leaders, improving employee wellness.

3. Enable HR to focus elsewhere. When your business takes on the outplacement work, your client’s HR team is free to focus efforts toward current employees.

Utilizing Technology: Career Transition Software 

Although your employees may be light on tasks in the immediate few weeks, implementing a career transition software enables them to do their jobs more efficiently. A valuable career transition software should:

• Act as an additional selling point for potential customers. If you’ve implemented a valuable solution, your software should be a seamless part of the program – and an addition value-add for new and existing clients.
• Enable customization to match specific business needs instead of a rigid solution.
• Support candidates with job opportunities, job search leads, and company research.
• Build resumes.
• Track progress through individual career guides for employees.
• Provide organization-level views that speak to the value of your career transition services.

Insala can help you support your clients in new ways as they face challenging decisions about reducing staff. With more than 30 years of experience, we understand how to help you add the most value for your clients and build your business as a result. Please request a demo to see for yourself how our career transition services software can enable you engage with your clients in an entirely new way – when they need it the most.