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May - 2013 - issue > siTech10 2013
RiseSmart Bringing America Back to Work
Rachita Sharma
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The average length of unemployment is six months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not only is this timeframe a harrowing experience for the unemployed, but it also negatively impacts the employer that is paying significant unemployment insurance taxes and other unemployment-related expenses. The longer laid-off employees remain unemployed, the tougher it becomes for them and their former companies. Layoffs also adversely affect the corporation's brand if conducted incorrectly or without proper planning.
Sanjay Sathe, Founder and CEO of RiseSmart, saw a huge opportunity to address this issue by creating a results-oriented outplacement solution that focuses on the desired outcome: putting displaced employees in their next jobs fast. Having personally gone through the tedious process of finding new employment, he was familiar with the frustrations of a traditional job search. Sathe connected the dots and came up with a revolutionary outplacement solution, Transtion Concierge, that makes life much easier for the American job seeker.

Founded in 2006, RiseSmart is putting America back to work with Transition Concierge. Successfully providing corporate outplacement solutions during workforce reductions, the company stays ahead in its segment through its proprietary technology platform that combines the benefits of a social network and a job search portal. Transition Concierge leverages technology paired with one-on-one support to help laid-off workers find new jobs fast. Transition Concierge has earned industry praise for changing the way companies manage and measure their employee transition programs.
"We leverage social media in an extremely positive way, and it actually impacts individuals by helping get them back to work faster," says Sathe. "At the same time we help corporates looking to hire talent. With us, it is as a win-win situation."

Transitioning Employees Through Innovative Services

The majority of outplacement companies are stuck in a rut. These traditional outplacement providers offer services including office space and group seminars to help laid-off employees. These services simply show a person how to find a job. These companies also fail to understand that the job seeker of today is tech-savvy and has moved toward social networks for finding jobs. RiseSmart knew this historically traditional industry needed to change in order to put primary focus on getting the individual in transition back to work as quickly as possible.

RiseSmart built a next-gen outplacement solution that combines a unique blend of technology and one-on-one job coaching. The cloud-based platform combines proprietary semantic search technology with human filtering to match candidates to open positions based on qualifications and skills. It is a pioneer in harnessing the full weight of intelligent search technology and other pertinent job-finding tools. RiseSmart delivers these hand-picked job leads as well as other job search tools to the displaced employees on a weekly basis. Users have access to one-on-one assistance from trained specialists during every step of the process. The company puts participants back to work 61 percent faster than average.

"Transition Concierge 5.0 integrates the latest in social media, among other tools, to help jobseekers find jobs faster and employers achieve greater accountability in their outplacement programs," adds Sathe.

The 'David' of the Outplacement Business
RiseSmart can be termed the David of the outplacement industry, up against multibillion-dollar Goliaths. But RiseSmart is giving the Titans a run for their money. With a growing list of Fortune 500 corporate clients, the company has achieved some of the highest customer-satisfaction figures and has a 100-percent customer retention rate. Over the past year and more, RiseSmart has received significant endorsements of its innovative approach. Some of the largest companies in the U.S. have moved away from legacy outplacement providers to RiseSmart's solution.
Sathe's company is also not a stranger to industry and innovation awards. Bersin by Deloitte recently named RiseSmart a 2013 WhatWorks Award winner. Gartner Inc. selected RiseSmart as one of its 2012 Cool Vendors in Human Capital Management Software and LAROCQUE named RiseSmart one of the 2012 HR Companies to Watch. RiseSmart also won the 2011 Red Herring Global 100, the 2011 Red Herring North America 100, the Champion of Diversity Award, the Innovative Company of the Year award in the 2011 and 2012 Golden Bridge Awards, and the 2011 TiE50. These accolades serve as golden testimonials to the trust developed by Sathe’s organization.

The company's unique value proposition and impeccable track record have resulted in it receiving $14.85 million in venture and angel funding from Norwest Venture Partners and Storm Ventures of Silicon Valley.

RiseSmart is helping solve one of the most critical problems facing corporate America today. In the process it's helping build careers and enrich lives.Sathe is happy knowing that every day his company's innovation and hard work are helping put America back to work.
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