The Human Touch

Telling someone that they are being made redundant can unleash a great deal of emotion. After the initial shock, it can leave a person feeling scared and uncertain – or even angry. They’ve lost their security and need to find a way of rebuilding that assurance, both for themselves and their families. This is understandable, as it can be a daunting situation for anybody to be in – and a helping hand at the time can make all the difference.

Clearing the obstacles

In order to help employees cope during these windows of change, it’s important to look at redundancy on an emotional level, not just from a business perspective. Applying effort can help any employee adapt and ultimately, they will emerge from the experience with positives. Each individual reacts differently to change. Some resist, while others are more adaptable. It presents each individual with different obstacles and challenges. When this happens unexpectedly it can cause upsetting consequences. Providing an individual with a steadying hand, to comprehend what is next, can be very valuable.

Change for the better

Taking a holistic approach to this is beneficial. Some employees might not have updated their CVs in years, or considered obtaining further qualifications. It is important to make the time to find out what an employee wants to do next and establish what value-added skills they can offer. Do this before talking them through building a CV, interview practice and learning new skills, all of which can set them up to move on to their next role. As part of the career change, employees might take stock and decide to pursue a completely new career – something they have always dreamt about but have never had the chance to try. A bit of extra support to help them get there can make the world of difference.

Positive outcomes

Companies that look after employees facing redundancy until they define their new role will leave the employee with a good memory of the business and its practices. Just because it is the end of their employment, it doesn’t mean the relationships needs to end badly. It just takes a helping hand to ensure an employee knows they have that support in place to move forward.

Outplacement specialists such as Career Evolution can help make this difficult process easier.  They are run by industry experts, who are professional coaches and mentors. As a result, they have a great deal of experience and knowledge of how to approach employees who are undergoing periods of transition in their workplace, which are often not of their making.