When public sector spending cuts made their presence felt, the senior management team at East Midlands Business (the organisation behind Business Link in the East Midlands) was faced with placing 155 employees at risk of redundancy. The task of supporting these individuals through the process was given to EMB’s Learning and Development Manager, Julie Harper.

Julie was committed to sourcing an impactful and high quality outplacement programme that would support EMB’s ‘at-risk’ employees as they faced re-entering the employment market.

Realising that an off-the-shelf outplacement package would be neither cost-effective nor tailored to the unique needs of the EMB staff, Julie turned immediately to the specialist HR team at Awbery Management Centre for advice and support.

Working closely with Julie, the Awbery Management Centre team of Jane Rawden and Simone Greasley created ‘Springboard’, a high-value outplacement solution that supported EMB’s staff with an insightful and energetic mix of employment market updates, interview training, CV coaching, personal branding and life coaching. Awbery invited marketing specialists V Formation Ltd to deliver the session on how to harness the power of Linkedin when seeking new employment or contract opportunities. V Formation also gave valuable advice on how to ‘stay safe online’.

Employees were invited to book in for a one-day Springboard workshop followed by a one-to-one CV Coaching or Life Coaching session. Over 90% of staff took part in the sessions and feedback was excellent, with early delegates encouraging their colleagues to book in for subsequent sessions.

Commenting on the Springboard programme, Julie Harper said:

‘The proactive, tailored and intuitive approach taken by Awbery Management Centre ensured our people felt supported and helped at what has been a very difficult time for both them and the organisation as a whole. From out-of-hours coaching through to even delivering one life coaching session to a delegate at their home on a Sunday, the Awbery Management Centre team ensured that EMB’s staff remained at the heart of the outplacement programme throughout its duration.

‘We have had universally good feedback on the Springboard programme and it’s rewarding to see that our people are approaching the employment market with new skills and confidence and finding some excellent opportunities.’

 Awbery Management Centre’s Head of HR Services, Jane Rawden commented:

 ‘Julie’s deep understanding of learning and development enabled her to put together an outplacement programme that delivered a huge amount of content and support for a very reasonable budget. We were glad to be able to support the talented EMB team through this difficult process and wish them all well in their new roles in the future.’