Outplacement
Lifeline: “The Fusion of Outplacement and Recruitment Services”
A service provided by Merit Consulting, Inc.
Welcome to Lifeline, a unique outplacement service available to today’s progressive companies seeking a more innovative approach than traditional outplacement services. Lifeline offers a blend of the best in traditional outplacement services combined with proven executive search methods to help outplaced professionals properly conduct a successful career transition. Our passion, combined with our proven ability to successfully place mid- and senior-level talent, is the foundation of our success. We have the desire and ability to educate, mentor, coach, and provide executive search services to executives who have been downsized. It is the right personal and professional service needed in this turbulent and uncertain job market.
Lifeline is a service provided by Merit Consulting, which has extensive experience in human capital development, organizational assessment and executive recruitment in many industries and functional areas. Lifeline’s primary focus is to provide outplacement services to downsized employees in a wide range of companies or to executives who desire to make a career or industry change. Our level of expertise is with mid- and senior-level (manager, director, vice president, president, C-level) professionals. Examples of our successes include the areas of operations management, engineering, quality, supply chain/logistics, technology/research and development, human resources, finance/accounting, sales and marketing, and IT.
What Lifeline Offers Executives in Transition
The process of a career change, or exit from your former employer, can be difficult and expensive. Lifeline helps you to assess the present situation, analyze available options, develop a change strategy and execute the tactics so that an executive does not just let the market control their destiny.
Lifeline eases the transition process by providing a strong career management plan as well as the job search tools needed to successfully pursue a new career. Our services address the following strategies to help executives effectively manage a job search:
- Personal Assessment - we assess the wants, needs, salary, experience, skills, personality and geographic preferences of Executives. With any new career change, it is vital that they first have a clear objective and understanding of what best motivates them
- Effective Support Materials – we help Executives develop a highly effective resume (both functional and chronological formats) and/or a professional biography. An appointed Lifeline Advisor will use this information to market the candidate to potential employers, and also train the Executives how to effectively use this information to market themselves in future career searches, if needed. In addition to professional resume assistance, other services include will include development of materials such as: cover letters, references, verified credentials and other collateral aids
- Coaching and Support: We train executives on how to effectively communicate, network and connect with prospective employers. A Lifeline Advisor coaches them to effectively manage the key elements of interviewing, presentation skills, salary negotiation, and networking methods
- Targeted Company Research/Contacts Databases/Potential Employer Follow-Up Services: The Lifeline Advisor will work with executives to develop an extensive database of potential contacts and hiring companies to help them in their search efforts. We are able to improve the chances of “getting in the door” by ensuring that each business contacted includes one or more key decision-makers. Based on an Executive’s search criteria, Merit will then package and send professional material (such as a resume or biography) directly to these targeted contacts and, most importantly, conduct planned follow-ups to determine their interest in the Executive
Why Lifeline is Different from other Outplacement Services
Our unique approach is not typically offered by traditional outplacement firms. Typical services provided by outplacement firms stop when the candidate, or firm, sends out marketing material to a prospective employer. Our approach makes direct contact with the key decision-makers that are on an executive’s list of target companies. We employ the same principles and practices that help us service our hiring company clientele, but now we provide these tactical approaches used in executive search to help executives find their next opportunity.
The primary difference in the Lifeline process is the support we provide to those who are uncertain how to manage the dynamics of an effective search. This is precisely the time when executives need more than the typical outplacement service. When key opportunities surface, professionals need the assistance of a seasoned executive search consultant to help them maneuver through the various recruiting phases, starting with the first introduction, to offer and acceptance. An experienced consultant who will support and coach executives through this process is the key element.
We assign an “advisor” who serves as an “agent” to the outplaced executive, much like an agent would direct the next business transaction for a highly compensated athlete or entertainer. Our experienced executive search consultants carefully listen, strategize and help direct search efforts effectively. Our experience has demonstrated that if executives are equipped with the proper instruction, mentoring, and executive recruitment support, they will have the confidence and enthusiasm to re-enter the market more quickly than those who attempt it on their own or through traditional outplacement.
Getting Started
After we are initially engaged to assist an executive in this transitioning program, we will immediately begin to gather all the information needed to ensure a well-designed outplacement program tailored to the needs of the executive. From there, the Lifeline process covers all aspects of what it takes to re-enter the job market, including:
- Individual coaching and mentoring sessions
- Training in job search techniques, technologies and marketing tool development
- Interviewing techniques – telephone, face-to-face (and related follow-up correspondence)
- Negotiation techniques (including managing through the offer/acceptance process)
The Merit partners who support the Lifeline program have significant consulting and executive search experience with large Fortune 100 public and private companies, as well as mid-cap companies and private equity-owned businesses.
Merit helps challenge outplaced executives to think creatively about their career options and develop the tools and approaches necessary to successfully re-enter the market. These activities may include:
- a traditional job search
- purchasing or starting a business
- connecting with private equity or venture capital firms that are seeking talent for start-ups or turnarounds
We educate and continually motivate outplaced executives to use the right search tools on the Internet to identify opportunities and help with contacting the decision-makers. Our expertise in recruitment will maximize the efforts of the Executive in a way that is best aligned with their goals and qualifications. This approach typically reduces the unemployment time period and improves the candidate’s chance of finding an employer that best suits their professional and personal background.
Our services rates are based on a displaced Executive’s most recent total annual compensation, as follows:
Total Annual Compensation (Base + Bonus/es) Outplacement Cost
$100,000 to $249,999 $38,500
$250,000 to $499,999 $49,500
$500,000 to $999,999 $79,500
$1,000,000+ $98,500
Summary
Lifeline is a systematic approach which offers one-on-one outplacement and executive recruitment assistance to Executives in career transition.
The current economic climate is not friendly to those who are going to approach a job search on their own. Merit Consulting’s Lifeline program combines the talents of highly experienced recruitment professionals with one-on-one attention for each candidate’s tailored career development. When an Executive works closely with a dedicated Lifeline Advisor, they will feel better about themselves and will be highly motivated to conduct a job search. Consequently, they will have a higher probability of finding the right kind of employment in a shorter period of time.
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If you are the Employer/Company seeking this service for one of your recently outplaced Executives, please contact us to define the next steps in getting this program started. (In additional to the individual pricing identified above, Merit offers group packages as well. For more information on such pricing, please contact us.)
If you are a recently displaced professional, and would prefer this service in lieu of the traditional outplacement programs offered by most employers, you may want to contact your former employer and request the Merit Lifeline outplacement program… it will be the best use of your time when managing your career transition.
