We have had the privilege of working with some lovely people over the last few weeks who are sadly facing the risk of redundancy in the New Year. We have been providing a support service, helping them look for alternative roles, prepare CV’s, and get ready for interviews and assessment centres. We have practiced interview questions, talked about how to best present yourself and given some tips on what your CV should contain. Some of them have never had an interview in their lives – learning their trade as an apprentice straight from school and moving up the ranks, been with their employer for almost 30 years and have no idea where to even start looking. They are looking at a whole new ball game and some with only 5 years or so to retirement.
We spent a good part of our session exploring some of the emotions that were in the room – and there were a whole load, from anger and resentment, to fear and complete stress. A few were hopeful and one or two felt uncomfortable - as the restructure meant that they probably had new roles to come back to. That was the really interesting part for us – the guilt that the 'survivors' were feeling. One lady got very tearful when she talked about how colleagues of 20 years would no longer be there and how bad she felt that she "was probably going to be OK."
It made me realise again that whilst the work with those facing redundancy was critical to get them ready to "Move On", it was essential for the organisation also to do some work with the survivors. They too felt resentment towards the business, but for different reasons. Resentment that their pals of many years were facing unemployment and surely there was another way this could be handled? Resentment that people had given so much, often putting work before their families, doing all that was asked of them, they felt – but still the organisation didn’t care much for their loyalty now.
We talked about how there is nothing certain BUT change right now, how many other organisations are going through the same, how different industries were struggling, and our own personal experiences of dealing with change – and logic tells us, eventually, that it is just business. It is just the way of the world today and not personal. It’s a place to go to earn a living so that you can do the things that matter to you, isn’t it?
So how does that then sit with the challenge of encouraging high performance, high engagement and the encouragement to "go the extra mile?" if that’s how people are now feeling? A real dilemma and something that will need managing carefully – it would be great to do some work with the survivors, to support the managers who will now be managing them, to help them through this transition – but the budget was to cater for those that might be losing their jobs. So what about the survivors? Who will now help them? Luckily this client has an excellent HR Team who I am hopeful will do just that and the lady who wept for her friends who are fearful for their future, I hope she is OK.
If we were to continue to work with them, our top tip would be "Communicate, communicate, communicate!" - two way! Let them know what is going on and why, listen to their concerns, hear their emotions, keep them informed, keep visible, keep reassuring but understand that 'Survivor Syndrome' is real - and if not managed effectively could negatively impact on the new structure and intent.
To everyone who is facing an uncertain 2016, we hope you can have an enjoyable and peaceful Christmas and see it as a potential opportunity - new year, new start, new challenge maybe even a new you?
“You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” – C.S Lewis