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RiseSmart Reveals Key Findings in Its 2014 Guide to Severance and Workforce Transition Study

Published Date

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- RiseSmart, the leading provider of contemporary career transition services, recently conducted an organic study examining the state of severance across U.S. industries and geographies. The 2014 Guide to Severance and Workforce Transition not only provides a high-level picture of the severance landscape, but also comprises the first study of its kind to contain in-depth benchmarking data for certain industries. The study's findings will help HR departments plan for competitive severance, benefits and outplacement offerings for the coming year.

"I am thrilled to offer the data in this guide, because it is unlike the data returned in any other severance survey available," said Karen Stevens, vice president of practice strategy at RiseSmart. "While there are plenty of salary guides companies can use to benchmark salary bands, until now, there has never been an easy way to benchmark an organization's severance policies against competitors and peers. It is our goal to make it easier to ensure that a company's severance policies are competitive, hence the creation of this guide."

RiseSmart surveyed over 250 HR professionals across a wide range of company sizes and industries in the U.S. More than one-third of survey respondents came from Fortune-ranked companies. At least one-quarter of respondents were VP-level and above, including CHRO titleholders.

Study highlights include:

  • 70 percent of responding organizations have severance policies and state that one of the top reasons for issuing severance to impacted employees is to limit liability.
  • More than 75 percent of those surveyed said their companies offer retention programs for key employees during working notice.
  • Of companies that selected "protecting brand reputation" as a top reason for offering severance, 61 percent do not monitor their brand reputation online through employee review and rating sites, such as Glassdoor, during a layoff.
  • 30 percent of companies are not taking advantage of an outplacement program, despite the potential for cost savings and greatly affecting the competitiveness of a company's severance strategy.

The complete study expands upon these findings and offers in-depth benchmarking data and analysis for companies to compare severance, benefits and outplacement across industries. RiseSmart will continue to grow this study in order to provide the HR industry and companies across the nation with increasingly useful and comprehensive benchmarking data.

"Offering benchmarking data goes beyond competitiveness," added RiseSmart President and CEO Sanjay Sathe. "Having a comprehensive understanding of what payment, notification, benefits and outplacement options employers are offering in their severance packages will help companies mitigate risk and have a potential impact on liability, employee relations and the brand's reputation."

RiseSmart's 2014 Guide to Severance and Workforce Transition is available for download at http://info.risesmart.com/pb-dl-guide-to-severance-and-workforce-transition.

About RiseSmart

RiseSmart is a leading provider of contemporary career transition services that strengthen employer brands, improve retention and re-engage talent. RiseSmart's contemporary approach to outplacement combines personalized services from trained professionals with unmatched technology delivered through a convenient, cloud-based platform. High-performing organizations in more than 40 industries rely on RiseSmart's outplacement solution, RiseSmart Transition, to help former employees find new jobs faster. Landing rates exceeding 80 percent and time-to-placement averages more than 60 percent faster than national averages have helped make RiseSmart the nation's fastest-growing outplacement firm. RiseSmart's innovative approach to human capital management has earned the company a wide range of awards and recognition from organizations including Bersin by Deloitte, the Best in Biz, Gartner Inc., the Golden Bridge Awards, LAROCQUE, the Momentum Index, Red Herring, the San Francisco Business Times, SiliconIndia, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, the Stevie Awards and TIE. Additionally, RiseSmart's outplacement solution has earned the exclusive endorsement of the American Hospital Association. For more information about how enterprise career management can help you, visit http://www.risesmart.com.