| The employment landscape has been altered all over the world as a result of changing social and economic conditions. Increased periods of unemployment and job transition have become a sobering reality for millions of participants in today's labor force. The average American worker can expect to change jobs every 4 years. Outplacement organizations have been challenged to serve increasing numbers of unemployed workers with fewer resources. To date, very few studies using systematic methods have been done to examine outplacement processes or effectiveness. It is unknown what types of interventions or programming activities in outplacement contribute to successful job search campaigns. Performance improvement in outplacement was the primary focus in this study. Accordingly, the study used systematic processes and methods from the field of human performance technology within an action research approach to derive outplacement interventions based on Bandura's (1986) sources of efficacy information and evaluate effectiveness. Constructs of job search self-efficacy (JSSE) and job search intensity (JSI) were applied as metrics of measurement and proposed as a new approach in outplacement. A large body of research reveals empirical evidence indicating JSSE and JSI as predictive of job search success. As a result of the findings in the study, it could be inferred that application of sources of efficacy information in outplacement is related to JSSE, which is positively correlated with JSI. Due to the small sample size in the study, however, a cause-and-effect relationship could not be solidly stated. More studies in general are needed in outplacement and, specifically, more longitudinal studies with larger samples are necessary to increase the ability to generalize results to broader populations. |
