But not everyone is convinced by the flexibility of approach of some of the agencies. You can negotiate, but there is a point that they will not go below. But for employees, particularly those who have fallen foul of internal politics, the offer of an outplacement agency must be hard to resist. Given that someone else is picking up the tab, lawyers on their way out have nothing to lose and just about everything to gain. Larcom, for one, claims a success rate of 98 per cent for her consultancy.
People are notoriously difficult things.
They are unpredictable, difficult to manage and the most complex bit of any business. Even with quantum leaps in artificial intelligence and expert systems, law firms still need them. Clients expect them and the best ones can still outthink a computer even if they cannot match the billable hours. The problem for a people manager comes in trying to predict how that resource will perform in different situations and in different relationships. If they are to get the best out of their human resources, they need to know how it works.