Working with a Coach during a redundancy process provides the confidence and support many people require.
For managers, making people redundant can be a challenge. They might not want let their hard-working loyal team go, lack the confidence to tell them, not be in a position to answer the challenging demanding questions, wonder how the workload is going to be achieved. They may be on the redundancy list themselves.
You are in a team with strong values, working hard to deliver what the customer wants, to a high quality, on time and with in budget. You support each other when there is an urgent piece of work or when the work load is high.
The out of the blue, redundancies are being announced. What! Panic sets in, you are all expected to continue work and deliver as normal.
Are you in the process of being made redundant? Or maybe you have already been made redundant? Today this is commonly called being outplaced. No matter what people call it, some people find it incredibly difficult to accept. They feel let down, offended, rejected useless.
Other people see it as a great opportunity to change the direction of their career, take early retirement, do a role that is less demanding and stressful.
Being made redundant a couple of times I can identify with others who are going through the same process. The experience is unique to each person but I have found there are some common feelings of:
Having been through a couple of redundancies and managed a couple of teams through the redundancy process, I have experienced how it can impact those leaving the organisation and those remaining behind.
Are you a manager, Head of department, having to make people redundant? It can be a difficult role to play.
I was managing a team of people that were based in the UK and in America. The UK team were to be made redundant while the US team were keeping their jobs. It was a difficult time. The UK team were angry; worried about what was going to happen to they; questioned their ability; would they get another job. The US team were uncomfortable that their valued colleagues were being put in this difficult situation, that they were losing good hard-working colleagues.
I am hearing a lot of people talking about being made redundant.
I was twice made redundant. The first time was after 9/11 and the American company I was working for slashed the department budget from $60mil to $10mil. This meant that most of the UK project was closed down.
The second time was when a company had not invested in its people, services, or client relationships. As a result, the company collapsed and we were all made redundant.
People react differently to being outplaced. The first-time people felt as though they were losing their family. They had worked in the company for 10 – 15 years and had got to know each other really well; understood the company business; believed in their work; what they were doing; and in themselves. There was a great feeling of “we are in this together”. Most people got a really good redundancy package.
