Professional support for separation processes – fair, legally sound and aligned with your employer brand.
From strategic preparation to supporting each individual – modular and tailored to your situation.
Preparing the process as well as coaching for managers and HR.
Professional support for departing employees towards a new professional perspective.
Assessment and orientation – also within voluntary leaver programmes.
Legally binding advice, on request together with our partner EY.
Separating from employees is one of the most demanding tasks a company faces – not only organisationally and legally, but above all on a human level, with far-reaching effects on the person concerned, the manager and the whole team.
Professional separation management creates clarity and certainty. It ensures that separation processes are handled in a structured, respectful and professional way – and protects the employer brand and corporate culture even in difficult situations.
This is not about making a separation „pleasant“. It is about giving direction, clarifying expectations and acting professionally even in difficult moments. Four building blocks are decisive.
A professional separation process begins long before the actual conversation.
For employees, their own manager is the most defining face of a separation.
Clear on substance, respectful in manner and reliable about the next steps.
The conversation is not the end of professional separation management – a new phase begins for the person affected.
How a company treats departing employees is noticed by those who remain, by managers and often by the outside world too. A fair, professional process preserves trust and reduces uncertainty within the organisation. Poorly prepared or insensitive separations, by contrast, lead to unease, loss of trust and a negative perception of the employer brand.
Good separation management therefore always considers two sides: the professional separation of departing employees and the stabilisation of the organisation.
Modern separation management does not end with handing over the notice. Preparation, enabling managers, professional separation conversations and fair support offers form the foundation. Outplacement complements this process by supporting departing employees on their way to a new professional perspective. In this way a difficult separation becomes a professionally managed transition – for the employees as much as for the company.
Often a large number of employees need to be let go at short notice and at the same time. Where there is no time for a conventional reduction with a social plan and reconciliation of interests, or where a job-protection works agreement is in place, we help companies plan and deliver a voluntary leaver programme.
Beyond a socially balanced and attractive offer structure, the success of a voluntary programme depends on experienced, practised negotiators as well as a disciplined approach and clear project organisation.
We advise on the process, the internal organisation and the offer structure, and conduct the separation and negotiation meetings with the affected employees. This typically requires 2–5 rounds of talks with each employee until the termination agreements are concluded.
Our extensive experience and high consultant density have already enabled us, in reference projects, to advise several hundred employees nationwide within just six weeks and to successfully persuade over 75% of them to leave. On request, and in cooperation with our partner EY, we can supplement the advice on a legally binding basis with tax, employment-law and pension-law aspects. Particularly with long-serving employees, this can significantly increase acceptance of termination offers. It is also often advisable to complement the advice given to individual employees with career-perspective coaching, up to and including outplacement coaching.
In separation management we also benefit from our experience with our transfer companies, where the regular challenge is likewise to persuade as many employees as possible to make the move — and where we achieve transfer rates of between 90% and 100%.
Let's discuss your options in a free initial consultation — discreet and without obligation.
