Testing Times 2

Often we hear of employees who, losing their jobs through redundancy, receive little support from their organisations other than occasional days off to search for a new job. The assumption is often that the individuals concerned will simply look for a similar job. Easy?

Well, of course it is not always that easy. Sometimes there will simply not be similar jobs available, but even if there are, the individual may nevertheless find it hard to make the transition to a new role. For instance, they may have worked in their current role for many years. They will “know the ropes” within that organisation and also know their colleagues well, enabling them to know how to approach problems and find resolutions. They will have been operating within their comfort zone. Take them out of that environment and place them in a new organisation with different rules, systems, culture and new colleagues and even if it is in a familiar industry, the individual may struggle to settle down and to perform well and be happy.

Sometimes, of course, redundancy leads individuals to take stock of their career and even to reconsider a new career all together. Gone is the risk of giving up the security that tenure within an organisation provides. With a few pounds in redundancy pay as a buffer, gone also is some of the worry of making a wrong choice. Perhaps surprisingly, people made redundant will often look back several months later and say “redundancy was the best thing that happened to me”. Although, of course, at the time they are made redundant it can be very daunting and may feel like the world has come to an end.

So, how can organisations offer more support to such employees, to help them make that transition more quickly and successfully? More enlightened employers recognise the value in offering training support; for example help with CV writing, skills training or interview skills training. This is of course valuable to the individuals concerned and may remove some of the sting of redundancy, as well as potentially ensuring that they speak more highly of that organisation to their friends and family. However, what if the individuals concerned do not know what to do next, or are not especially self aware about where their potential strengths lie? What if they have been working in a role which “suited”, because of the salary and terms and conditions, but nevertheless left them feeling underutilised or even stressed because of the need to “put on a mask” every day, to be someone they are not? How could you help them reassess what they should do next?

Many of our clients ask us to conduct developmental work with redundant staff, including an in depth discussion with one of our consultants, using the Caliper Profile results to frame the conversation and indentify their preferences to help them make informed decisions. We don’t tell them what job they should do next but we can make them aware that options they are thinking about may or may not be the best choice and also help them to realise what they need from a job: be it clear rules and systems or a lot of autonomy, etc. An individual we worked with in this way, for instance, realised as a result, that the reason they had been really frustrated in their last job was not because they found it all too familiar but because they were not given enough autonomy to make their own decisions. Furthermore, we helped them recognise that they DID show the courage to take a totally new direction with their next career choice.

Enjoy High Profile; we value your comments and suggestions. Finally, I wish you and all your team a great summer.

Sally Duff
Managing Director