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Protecting yourself when communicating redundancy news |
Can redundancy be positive? Communicating news about employees being made redundant is a common task and emotions run high. In your capacity as deliverer of bad news, you can encounter a wide range of responses about redundancy from tears, anger, rage and fear, to joy and relief. Emotional intelligence allied with detachment is therefore a prerequisite. The ability to protect yourself from these strong emotions is important too, otherwise your energy can be depleted in what is a draining task. Remember that any negative emotions projected onto you aren't personal. People aren't taught to know how to deal with emotions and so like a hot potato, they generously pass them on to someone else!
 Ensure you have good support in place, whether colleagues, a counsellor or friends/family outside work.
Also, have quality support in place to help exiting employees think through their options.
Read on for why people find redundancy so hard.
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Reasons why people find redundancy so emotional |
What is it that causes emotions to run so high about redundancy? The news affects people in different ways, but overall it can be summarised as fear. This fear is not just about financial uncertainty, it is often about having no identity. Our society sadly tends to define people by their work, hence that overused question 'What do you do?,' so loss of status can cause real anxiety for some and make them feel inadequate.
In addition many people suffer from low self-esteem and feel that they will eventually be 'found out.' This is sometimes called the 'imposter syndrome' and redundancy is confirmation in their minds that they are really not good enough and they can feel rejected. Redundancy also means that for some they lose their sense of belonging and being part of a group and this can also be isolating, especially if they are single or in an unhealthy personal relationship at home.
Supporting employees well is therefore part emotional and part practical. Many people fall into their careers by chance or chose a job that their parents/teachers thought was acceptable or the same profession as their parents.
When people are made redundant with little prospect of getting similar work because the area is shrinking, this can be quite paralysing and cause inaction, just when they need to get active. Support to identify their transferable skills and think laterally at new areas or explore self-employment as an option is important, as is equipping them with the confidence and practical 'how tos' to market themselves. Endless job applications and rejections can be extremely demoralising and build on the rejection that they already feel, so helping them to be emotionally resilient and see change as an opportunity not a problem is also helpful.
Read on for 5 FREE tips to handle redundancy well. |
5 tips to handle redundancy well
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Prepare written material to hand out as stress can inhibit the ability of people to absorb information
- Communicate the news as if you were on the receiving end
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If you are under pressure from management to rush redundancies, stand your ground and buy yourself some time - the reputation of your company and your department is at stake
- Remember that today's exiting employees could be recruited in future or the source of word of mouth for future talent, so communicate as professionally as it is possible to do
- Nurture yourself - dealing with redundancies is stressful for you as well as the exiting employees
As someone who has coached many people who have been made redundant, I can say from first hand experience that the overall common outcome is that they go on to do a job or find an employer that is more suited to them following redundancy. So redundancy can have a positive outcome, even though people are in a state of shock when first told the news. |
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Kind regards,
Rachel Brushfield, Director
Energise - liberate your talent
The Talent Liberation Company
T + 44 (0) 845 22 55 010
M +44 (0) 7973 911137
Twitter: @talentliberator
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