Outsourcing . . . .Termination
After watching the movie "Up in the Air" staring George Clooney, I was intrigued as to whether his "job" (hired to fire certain employees of other companies) was actually possible. His job as a termination consultant was to travel almost everyday to deliver the "bad news" to employees of certain companies which hired him to do so. In addition to his job would be offering separation packages to the employees. Upon researching in the web, I discovered this article which features both the movie and a brief explanation of how the process of outsourced termination is being done in real life.
Bringing 'Up in the Air' down to earth
Kathleen Pender
In the movie "Up in the Air," the character played by George Clooney works for a firm hired to come into a company, lay off people and make a quick exit.
The idea of hiring a hitman to do your dirty work seemed pretty harsh and got me wondering whter firms like this exist in real life
The answer is not exactly, although the film reflects trends in the American workplace.
As employment laws grow more numerous and complex, and workplace litigation explodes, many firms are hiring outside consultants to help them downsize. Some operate behind the scenes but their presence is still felt; others participate directly in layoffs, but usually alongside the employer.
More small and midsize employers are outsourcing their human resource operations to outside firms, sometimes called professional employer organizations. These firms handle tasks such as payroll, workers' compensation, benefits administration, and hiring and firing workers.
Laying off employees "is a service we provide," says Lisa Pinkard, vice president of human resources with Emplicity, an HR outsourcing firm in Irvine. "Usually we have long-term relationships with our clients. It's not like we have mass layoffs and then leave."
All of the firm's consultants will do layoffs as one of their many jobs.
Emplicity prefers to have the employer deliver the bad news or at least be in the room, but some don't.
"It is very personal and upsetting," Pinkard says. "Because we do it all the time, it really comes natural to us. It's less emotional, we don't know the people. It's easier to have someone else come in and be the bad guy."
Pinkard thought the painful scenes where Clooney gave someone the ax "were pretty accurate. I told my husband, 'Now you see what I have to go through.' "
But unlike Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, who was "very impersonal and couldn't get attached to people, our people - outside the nasty stuff they have to do for work - are very caring. I compare it to a doctor who has to cut your leg off. Nobody wants to do that, it's just part of the job."
Pinkard says layoffs at client companies "have gone through the roof" in the past year. She is also seeing employers using the economy as an excuse to get rid of employees for performance reasons.
Rebecca Heyman says laying off workers "is a small part" of her job as a senior human capital consultant with TriNet, an HR outsourcing firm based in San Leandro.
"My role is to be the out-of-house HR manager for these companies that are our clients," she says. "If they are going through layoffs, I help them manage that process. But I would not go in by myself and terminate an employee without a representative of the company delivering that message. I'll do a lot of coaching up front. I might be in the room to be a witness/note taker and to answer operational questions."
'Character study'
Heyman thought "Up in the Air" "was a great character study on this isolated individual. But from an HR perspective, I didn't think it was reality," she says. "There is a lot of preparation that goes into making the decision (to terminate someone). That would be too boring to show in a movie. It's analysis, financial considerations. You're not going to watch George Clooney work on a spreadsheet."
Robert Conlon, a senior vice president with Sibson Consulting, agrees. "To the extent it is portrayed in the movie, I'm not aware of companies that are hired to parachute in, deliver the message and escape out of Dodge."
As a "strategic HR consultant," Sibson helps companies figure out staffing, but "we do not get involved in actually delivering the (layoff) message," Conlon says.
In the book that the movie is based on, the Clooney character was not a hatchet man, but more of an outplacement counselor who helped the newly downsized.
For the movie, his role was probably changed "as a dramatic device to say not only is he disconnected from the world, his job is to disconnect people from their work," says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas.
Hired help
Many firms hire outplacement firms "to cushion the shock" of a layoff, but not to deliver the news, Challenger says. They help with resumes, interviews and emotional support.
Challenger thought the reactions of workers in the film, many of whom were real layoff victims, "was cinema verite. You see all kinds of reactions. Some people are in shock, some are angry or torn up," he says.
Challenger says he thinks the movie will resonate not only with road warriors, but also with "millions of managers whose company came to them and said, 'You have to cut two people from your department and have to tell them they have been let go.' "
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