Page 144 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

access to training is an important part of the individual action plan. The training
portfolio covers general courses to acquire transversal skills, such as foreign
languages and communication skills, as well as technological updates, project
management and business areas that can open new professional paths, such as
entrepreneurship training or website design.
The standard 3.5-day outplacement training is used by most employees. This
serves to help employees update their CV, plan their job search and prepare for
future interviews, while addressing the uncertainties and apprehensions linked to
the new situation. Internet meetings have allowed employees, especially those
not located in Helsinki, to participate simultaneously in training activities without
incurring travel costs.
In 2008, the costs amounted to about EUR 21.23 million; they remained the
same in 2009. The financial earnings generated by the pool can be estimated as
the savings in recruitment and joining costs, which is calculated at about EUR 50
000 per person. So far, given that 258 employees have been re-employed since
2006, the corresponding savings of the pool amount to about EUR 13 million.
All pool costs are attributed to the different business units at the end of each
year, as a proportion of the number of employees originating from these units.
This is seen as an effective and fair mechanism to internalise the costs of the
pool in the daily functioning of the units and to maintain appropriate incentives for
line managers to prevent redundancies and focus on redeployment.

6.10.4. Cooperation and external capacity
The role of the public employment service (PES) in the conduct of TSF’s various
restructuring processes has been limited so far, since its field of activity is mostly
directed at people already unemployed. Its involvement in restructuring cases is
focused mainly in rural and industrial areas.
The pool limits its recourse to external consultants to the provision of
specialised training. Coaching and mentoring activities are essentially carried out
in-house.
Over the years, the 3.5-day outplacement training has gained in importance
and has become well institutionalised within the activities of the pool. The work of
external consultants is seen as particularly helpful since they can give the
appropriate ‘distance’ and ‘breathing space’ to the employees to reflect on their
situation, express negative feelings and move them to explore opportunities
which can be tapped through participating in the pool.

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