How to counsel dislocated workers

Your Mindset as a Financial Advisor When Working with Dislocated Workers

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Preparation Checklist

Meeting Agenda

Resources/Handouts

Having a secure future often means having a good income. For most Americans, that means having a job. A good job involves challenging work, the opportunity to learn new skills, the ability to develop self-confidence, and the chance to earn a good income. How would you feel if all that was suddenly taken away?

Almost everyone who has applied for a job has experienced the feelings of rejection when not accepted for employment. Dislocated workers experience feelings even more intense than these, especially when the reason for their job termination had nothing to do with their performance as an employee. When business takes a downturn (for whatever reason) and employees lose their jobs, feelings get hurt.

As a pro bono advisor, one of the first steps you can take in assisting dislocated workers is to reaffirm their self-esteem and to shift their focus from dwelling on the past to proactively planning for the future. If they have been fired or laid off, neither you nor they can change that situation. But together, you can change their future for the better.

Many resources are available to help an individual cope with a job loss. Your assistance in these situations, as a pro bono advisor, will be of most benefit when you can help dislocated workers to:

Access and manage cash for short-term needs (from an emergency fund, cash advances on credit cards, a loan against the cash value in a whole life policy, etc.).
Establish a plan to apply for a new job offering benefits of value to the dislocated worker.
Manage employee benefits due from the former employer.

To assist you in this process, NEFE has developed several resources for your use. These resources include a Meeting Preparation Checklist, a Meeting Agenda, and multiple forms, checklists and worksheets focusing on specific areas of need for dislocated workers. The best place to begin planning your approach is with the Meeting Preparation Checklist.