Executive Outplacement Services
Relevante provides employers with executive-level career transition support for vice presidents through C-suite officers, pairing each referred executive with one dedicated Executive Advisor drawn from executive search, CHRO, and C-suite operating backgrounds. No advisor carries more than eight active participants. Coaching continues until the executive lands, with no 3, 6, or 12 month caps, and introductions run through both the retained executive search community and Relevante's own national direct hire desk.
8:1
Maximum active participants per Executive Advisor
24–48hr
Advisor engaged after agreement execution
90%
Actively engaged executive participants placed within 6 months
12mo
Re-engagement guarantee if the new role does not hold
The executive tier at a glance
What an employer is actually buying
Executive outplacement is employer-paid career transition support for senior leaders. Relevante delivers it one to one, confidentially, and without a time cap, and invoices only when the executive onboards and accepts services.
Levels served
Vice President, Senior Vice President, functional and divisional heads, C-suite officers, and board-level transitions. Eligibility is set at over $200,000 in salary, or any leader the employer specifically designates for this level of service.
Advisor model
One dedicated Executive Advisor drawn from executive search, CHRO, and C-suite operating backgrounds, supported by a named Relevante partner and a research analyst. No advisor carries more than eight active executive participants.
Program length
No cap. Coaching continues until the participant accepts a role, establishes an advisory or consulting practice, or completes another mutually agreed transition outcome, followed by onboarding support through day 90.
Delivery
Virtual-first by Microsoft Teams, phone, or email, at the participant's choice, in all 50 states. Evening and weekend availability during live interview and offer cycles. In-person sessions available at the employer's option.
Time to first contact
24 to 48 hours from referral. In a single sensitive exit, the advisor is commonly introduced before the separation date.
Fee model
One all-inclusive fee per executive, quoted confidentially. No setup fees, no minimums, no platform charges, and no per-session billing. Invoiced only when the executive onboards and accepts services.
Section 01
Why an executive transition is a different problem
Coaching only helps if the advisor understands the market the executive is entering. Four things shape a senior search, and each one changes how the program is run.
Fewer roles, and far longer cycles
At vice president and above there are simply fewer seats, hiring committees are larger, and a retained search process routinely adds months between first conversation and offer. Six to twelve months is a realistic planning horizon. A program that expires at 90 days transfers that timing problem back to the executive precisely when the search is maturing.
The opportunity arrives through people, not postings
Senior roles are frequently filled before they are advertised, through a retained search partner, a board member, or a private equity sponsor. Application volume is close to irrelevant. What matters is whether the executive is known to the twenty or thirty people who influence hiring at their level in their sector.
The exit narrative is examined by everyone
Every search partner, every board, and every backchannel reference asks what happened. A rehearsed, consistent account of the departure, aligned with the employer's own separation language, is often the highest-value deliverable in the whole engagement. It is also the thing volume programs handle worst.
The destination may not be a single job
A growing share of senior transitions end in a portfolio: a board seat or two, an advisory retainer, a fractional practice, or a deliberate phased retirement. A program built only to produce a resume and a job-board strategy has no answer for any of those.
Section 02
Who the executive tier is for
Coaching only helps if the advisor understands the market the executive is entering. Four things shape a senior search, and each one changes how the program is run.
Vice Presidents and Senior Vice Presidents
Functional and divisional leaders whose next role will arrive through a retained search process or a warm introduction rather than an application.
C-suite officers
Chief executives, financial officers, operating officers, and their peers, including single high-visibility departures where discretion is the first requirement.
Post-merger leadership overlap
Duplicate senior roles following an acquisition or integration, where several leaders exit at once and each one needs a private, individually tailored search.
Sponsor and portfolio transitions
Executives leaving private-equity-backed companies at the end of a hold period, through a recapitalization, or on a change in sponsor leadership.
Negotiated separations
Departures agreed among the executive, the general counsel, and the board, where the exit narrative has to hold up consistently across every audience.
Functional heads in restructuring
Heads of technology, finance, human resources, legal, and commercial functions eliminated in a flattening or cost program.
Section 03
Six structural advantages, plus one that matters most at this level
Relevante built the executive tier around what actually decides a senior search: advisor seniority, time, market access, and what happens if the new role does not hold.
01 / Coach
A peer, not a generalist coach.
Executive Advisors come from executive search, CHRO, and C-suite operating backgrounds. Each one carries no more than eight active executive participants, against a 25:1 ceiling across the wider Relevante practice and undisclosed ratios at most national providers. The person who builds the positioning in week one is the person coaching the offer call in month five.
02 / Duration
No 3, 6, or 12 month cap.
Coaching continues at full intensity until the executive lands, launches an advisory or consulting practice, or completes another agreed outcome. No tier downshift at ninety days, no extension fee, no portal that stops working.
03 / Access
A recruiting desk, not just a coaching desk.
Relevante has run a national direct hire recruiting practice since 2002. Executive participants are reviewed monthly against live searches, which produces introductions to hiring executives who are filling roles right now. A pure coaching firm cannot open that channel because it does not place people for a living.
04 / Speed
24 to 48 hour deployment, standard.
The agreement is executed by DocuSign. There is no proprietary platform to provision, no IT integration, and no training cycle. In a single sensitive exit the advisor is commonly introduced before the separation date, so the executive has support from the first difficult conversation.
05 / Pricing
One level, one all-inclusive fee.
There is no tier ladder to negotiate through and no module held back for a later conversation. No setup fees, no minimums, no retainers. The employer is invoiced only when the executive onboards and accepts services.
06 / Assurance
A twelve-month re-engagement guarantee.
If the new role does not hold within twelve months of the start date, the program reopens with the same advisor at no additional charge. Very few providers offer this, because most measure delivery in hours rather than in where the executive ends up.
The confidentiality problem, answered directly
Executives hesitate to engage an employer-paid program because they assume their search will be reported back. At Relevante it is not. Conversations between an executive and their advisor are private, search activity and target companies are never disclosed to the former employer, and executive engagements are walled off from the cohort-level reporting used in larger reductions. The employer receives enrollment and engagement status, nothing more. That single design decision is usually what moves a senior leader from polite acceptance to actual participation, and a program nobody uses protects nobody.
More detail: benefits to the company · the employee experience · featured career coaches
Section 04
The executive journey,in six stages
From the moment an employer refers an executive to the day they accept a new offer, and into their first ninety days on the job. Timing flexes to the situation. Nothing here is a curriculum.
Stage 1 · Day 0 to 2
Advisor engaged
The Services Agreement is executed by DocuSign and the Executive Advisor is introduced. Where the exit is a single sensitive departure, the introduction is commonly made before the separation date so the executive has support through the announcement itself.
Stage 2 · Week 1 to 3
Position and prepare
Exit narrative and leadership value proposition. One executive assessment with a full debrief. The full materials set: master resume with four positioned variants, biographies including a distinct board bio, and the LinkedIn rebuild.
Stage 3 · Week 3 to 8
Open the market
The target map is built with the research desk. Introductions to retained executive search partners begin, warm employer introductions are sourced from live Relevante searches, sponsor and portfolio channels are opened, and the visibility plan goes live.
Stage 4 · Week 6 onward
Interview and negotiate
Mock interviews with a practicing search consultant and a board-style panel simulation. Compensation benchmarking across base, bonus, long-term incentive, and equity. Offer modeling and negotiation coaching, with the advisor available evenings and weekends when an offer is live.
Stage 5 · Ongoing
Until they land
If the search runs long, nothing changes. Same advisor, same cadence, same access. For executives pursuing a portfolio rather than a single role, the board, advisory, and fractional tracks run in parallel with the operating search rather than instead of it.
Stage 6 · Day 1 to 90 after landing
Onboard and hold the role
First ninety days plan, stakeholder mapping, and onboarding coaching, then check-ins at month six and month twelve. Only at landing is the fee invoiced to the employer.
Section 05
Pricing and provider comparison
Relevante quotes executive engagements confidentially. The commercial terms are fixed and set out below. The number itself is specific to the level and the situation, and it arrives in your proposal within one business day.
How Relevante prices the executive tier
One level, one all-inclusive fee
There is no tier ladder to negotiate through, no module held back, and no per-session or per-month charge. Executive engagements are quoted confidentially in your proposal.
Invoiced only when the executive onboards
No setup fees, no minimums, no retainers. The employer is invoiced when the executive onboards and accepts services, never for a program a departing leader chooses not to use.
Provider comparison
How Relevante compares with the major executive outplacement providers on the criteria that decide whether a senior leader actually lands. Where a provider does not publish a detail, the cell says so rather than assuming.
| Criteria | Relevante | LHH (ICEO) | Right Management | Challenger, Gray & Christmas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advisor model | Dedicated senior advisor, 8 participants maximum | Senior advisor plus a bespoke specialist team | Executive coach | Coaching first, senior consultants |
| Program length | Until they land, no cap | Typically fixed term | Typically fixed term | Typically fixed term |
| Executive search firm introductions | Mapped campaign with follow-up managed for the executive | Global hub network | Confidential networking support | Networking led |
| Employer-side recruiting desk | Yes, national direct hire practice since 2002 | No | No | No |
| Deployment speed | 24 to 48 hours after DocuSign | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Post-landing support | Through day 90, plus month 6 and 12 check-ins | Not published | Not published | First 90 days included |
| If the new role does not hold | Program reopens for 12 months at no charge | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Executive pricing | Confidential proposal, one all-inclusive fee | Signature coaching published from $11,310 | Not published | Not published |
Comparing vendors? See Relevante vs. LHH · vs. Korn Ferry · vs. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, or the 2026 buyer’s guide.
Section 06
Outcomes we publish
Most outplacement firms do not disclose placement rates. These are Relevante’s.
90% placed within six months
Among actively engaged executive participants. Senior searches run longer than professional searches, which is why the six month window is the honest one to measure against. Coaching continues past six months at the same intensity for anyone still searching.
Net Promoter Score of 74
From a 2025 survey of 1,045 participants across the whole Relevante practice, a statistically robust sample rather than a handful of selected responses.
More than 90% client repeat rate
More than nine in ten Relevante corporate clients refer their displaced employees back to Relevante year over year.
Eight participants per advisor
A hard ceiling at the executive tier, against 25 across the wider practice and undisclosed ratios at platform-driven providers.
Twelve month re-engagement guarantee
Included in the fee and written into the services agreement, not sold as a premium tier and not conditional on a program length.
More than 60 named testimonials
Verified and LinkedIn-linked across ten industries and available for independent review, where most competitors publish anonymized or composite quotes.
Do not take our word for any of this
Every figure above is self-reported, which is exactly why it should be checked. Relevante is listed on independent review platforms where participants and HR buyers publish under their own names.
SHRM HUMAN RESOURCE VENDOR DIRECTORY
5.0 out of 5 across 79 reviews. The vendor directory of the Society for Human Resource Management, where reviews are posted by named participants and HR buyers. As of July 2026.
GARTNER PEER INSIGHTS
Verified enterprise buyer reviews. Gartner confirms reviewer identity and employment before publishing, so these come from the HR leaders who bought the program rather than only its participants. As of July 2026.
Section 07
Senior leaders, in their own words
Verified, LinkedIn-linked participants at director level and above. Every testimonial links to the participant’s own profile for independent verification. More on the testimonials page.
VP of Accounting in the Financial Services industry lands new role in Colorado
Senior VP in the Nonprofit industry lands new role in North Carolina
Project Director lands new role in the Aerospace industry in Illinois
Vice President of HR lands new role in Industrial Manufacturing industry in Georgia
Operations Director in Automotive Manufacturing industry lands new role in Michigan
Vice President HR in Gaming industry lands role in New York City metro
Logistics Director lands Leadership role in Animal Health industry in Kentucky
Director of Sales in Medical Device industry lands new role in Minnesota
Sales Executive lands VP role in Medical Device industry in Minnesota
Vice President in the Non-Profit industry lands new role in Pennsylvania
Engineering Director in the Defense and Space Manufacturing industry lands new role in Virginia
Senior Compliance Executive in the Financial Services Industry lands new role in New Hampshire
Senior Professional in the Financial Services industry lands new role in New Hampshire
Section 08
Severance, timing, and compliance
General information for HR leaders, general counsel, and departing executives. This is not legal advice. Confirm your specific obligations with employment counsel before notifications begin.
Outplacement is one of the more negotiable items
It is a low cost line for the employer and a high value one for the executive. Where an executive is negotiating, the specifics worth naming are the tier, the advisor's seniority, the program length, and whether search firm introductions are included.
Engage before the separation date
In a single sensitive exit, introducing the advisor ahead of the departure keeps the exit narrative consistent from the first conversation and gives the executive support through the announcement.
ADEA and OWBPA review periods
Where the executive is 40 or over, statutory consideration and revocation periods generally apply before a release is effective, along with the group disclosure schedule in a group termination. Build outplacement into the offer early so it is not renegotiated inside the review window.
Restrictive covenants
Non-compete and non-solicit enforceability varies significantly by state and continues to shift. Coaching respects active agreements while identifying compliant adjacent employers, sectors, and geographies.
WARN and state mini-WARN statutes
The federal WARN Act requires 60 days of notice for qualifying mass layoffs at employers with 100 or more employees, and several states add lower thresholds or longer notice periods.
Consistency documentation
Where several leaders exit at once, offering a consistent program on documented terms strengthens the employer's position. Relevante's documentation discipline supports EEOC, OFCCP, ADEA, OWBPA, and WARN obligations, with records retained for seven years from program close.
Related reading: the legal mistakes HR leaders cannot afford in 2026.
Section 09
Resources for HR leaders and boards
Practical guidance from the Relevante research desk for HR, Legal, and Communications teams managing senior departures.
2026 BUYER'S GUIDE
Best career transition and outplacement services for employers
A side by side look at leading providers: pricing, coaching models, durations, outcomes, and the questions to ask before signing.
VENDOR DILIGENCE
What to ask outplacement vendors
The questions that surface what a vendor will actually deliver: coach credentials, session structure, time caps, and reporting.
COMPLIANCE
The legal mistakes HR leaders cannot afford in 2026
WARN timing, OWBPA review periods, OFCCP documentation, and the discipline that protects an employer in any subsequent inquiry.
PLAYBOOK
Repairing culture after a reduction in force
How to rebuild trust, morale, and engagement with the leaders and staff who remain, which is often where the real cost of a senior departure shows up.
EMPLOYER BRAND
Outplacement with integrity
Workforce transitions are increasingly visible to the press, to candidates, to remaining staff, and to the community. Senior exits most of all.
HR LEADERSHIP
HR Leadership Transition Program
Relevante's dedicated program for HR leaders in transition, run on the same one to one model.
Section 10
Industries we support
Executive transition is a functional discipline. The advisory that helps a divisional CFO land also helps a chief technology officer land. Each page below carries named, LinkedIn-linked participant evidence in that sector.
Financial
Banking, insurance, and corporate finance
Healthcare
Health systems, clinical and revenue cycle
Industrial
Steel, metals, and manufacturing
Materials
Building materials and aggregates
Information Technology
Enterprise IT, health tech, and fintech
Utilities
Power generation and distribution
Energy
Generation, fuels, and energy services
Real Estate
Commercial development and property
Consumer Staples
Food, beverage, and household goods
Consumer Discretionary
Retail, restaurants, and hospitality
Communication Services
Media, telecom, and marketing
Nonprofit
Foundations, associations, and mission-driven
Not sure which bench fits your population? The outplacement services overview maps functional depth across every sector, and our featured career coaches lists the industry backgrounds on the bench.
Section 11
Executive outplacement, frequently asked questions
Seventeen answers covering the program model, eligibility, pricing, outcomes, and compliance as they apply to executive transitions.
Executive outplacement is employer-paid career transition support designed for senior leaders, typically vice presidents, senior vice presidents, functional heads, and C-suite officers. It differs from standard outplacement in advisor seniority, program length, and market access. The work centers on confidential positioning, retained executive search relationships, board and advisory pathways, and compensation negotiation rather than volume job board activity.
Industry reporting places dedicated executive outplacement between roughly $5,000 and $25,000 per person for a six to twelve month program, against a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for staff-level packages. Almost no provider publishes executive rates. Relevante quotes executive engagements confidentially as one all-inclusive fee per executive, with no setup fees, no minimums, and billing only when the executive onboards and accepts services.
Most national providers sell executive programs in six or twelve month windows with paid extensions after that. Relevante does not cap the engagement. Coaching continues at full intensity until the executive accepts a role, establishes an advisory or consulting practice, or completes another mutually agreed transition outcome, followed by onboarding support through the first ninety days.
A complete package includes a dedicated senior advisor, confidential exit narrative development, a master resume with role-specific variants, professional and board biographies, a LinkedIn rebuild and visibility plan, introductions to retained executive search partners, interview and panel preparation, compensation benchmarking and offer negotiation coaching, board and fractional pathway support, and onboarding coaching after the executive lands.
Three things change at the executive level. The search runs longer because there are fewer roles and longer hiring cycles. The opportunity usually arrives through a retained search partner, a board member, or a private equity sponsor rather than an application. And the exit narrative is scrutinized, so how a departure is explained matters as much as the resume behind it.
Eligibility is set at leaders earning over $200,000 in salary, or any leader the employer specifically designates for this level of service. In practice that covers vice presidents, senior vice presidents, functional and divisional heads, C-suite officers, and board-level transitions.
Yes, and executives frequently do. Outplacement is a comparatively low cost item for the employer and a high value one for the departing executive, which makes it one of the more negotiable elements of a package. Ask specifically about the tier, the program length, whether the advisor is a senior executive advisor, and whether search firm introductions are included, because the answers vary enormously between providers.
The former employer pays, as part of the separation agreement. The executive pays nothing and is never billed for sessions, extensions, or materials. Relevante invoices the employer only when the executive onboards and accepts services, so an employer never pays for a program a departing leader chooses not to use.
The better ones do, though quality varies widely. Ask whether introductions are warm and named or simply a database of firms the executive is expected to contact alone. Relevante runs a mapped introduction campaign across the retained search firms active in the executive's sector and level, with follow-up managed on their behalf, and separately introduces executives to hiring organizations through its own active direct hire searches.
Senior searches typically run longer than professional-level searches because there are fewer roles, hiring committees are larger, and retained search processes add months. Six to twelve months is a realistic planning horizon at the VP and above level, which is precisely why programs that expire at ninety days or six months so often end before the executive lands.
Yes. Conversations between an executive and their advisor are private. Relevante does not report search details, interview activity, or target companies back to the former employer, and executive engagements are walled off from the cohort-level reporting used in larger reductions. The employer receives enrollment and engagement status only.
It should. A serious executive program treats board and advisory work as a distinct track with its own materials and campaign: a board biography rather than a resume, committee and governance readiness, and introductions into the board recruiting community. Relevante runs board campaigns alongside operating role searches, including for executives building a portfolio rather than taking a single role.
Yes. A growing share of senior transitions end in a portfolio rather than a single role. Relevante supports fractional and interim practice launches, including positioning, a capability deck, pricing, and pipeline development, alongside search fund and acquisition entrepreneurship and structured phased retirement for executives choosing a deliberate wind down.
Relevante includes a twelve month re-engagement guarantee, written into the services agreement. If the new role does not hold within twelve months of the start date, the program reopens with the same Executive Advisor at no additional charge. Very few providers offer this, because most measure delivery in hours rather than in where the executive ends up.
Ask five questions. How many participants does each advisor carry at once? Has that advisor actually held a senior role? Does the program end on a calendar date? How are search firm introductions made and counted? And what happens if the executive's new role does not hold? The answers separate genuine executive practices from standard programs sold at a higher price.
Relevante begins onboarding within 24 to 48 hours of a signed services agreement executed by DocuSign, with no platform to provision and no implementation period. For a single sensitive executive exit, the advisor is commonly introduced before the separation date so the executive has support from day one.
Yes. The program covers vice presidents, senior vice presidents, functional heads, and C-suite officers, including chief executives departing through restructuring, merger integration, sponsor transition, or a negotiated separation. Engagements at the most senior levels are delivered with partner-level oversight and quoted individually.
Have a question not answered here? Browse the full FAQ library or contact our team directly.
Explore More
Related services and markets
Executive departures rarely happen in isolation. Explore the wider outplacement practice and the state market guides.
Outplacement
State market guides
Section 12
Supporting a senior leader through a transition?
Send us the shape of it: level, function, and your target separation date. A Relevante partner responds within one business day with a tailored proposal, and the Executive Advisor is engaged within 24 to 48 hours of agreement execution.
No setup fees. No minimums. No time caps. If the departure is confidential, say so in the notes and we will handle it accordingly.
