What to do when you’re facing retrenchment or redundancy?
First, work to get over the shock as quickly as you can. For some, this may sound harsh as it is a major hurdle, but remember that thought and planning has gone into the organisation’s decision and that it is NOT a personal slight on your ability to perform the job. It is merely that the role itself is no longer required because the parameters have changed.
Signs of looming retrenchment or redundancy may include a paucity of new contracts being won; whole functions being centralised or outsourced; vacancies are no longer being filled; if lines of communication between management and workers are suddenly cut; if you see unfamiliar faces walking around your locations, when a new CEO is appointed; if your industry is facing tough economic conditions across the board, etc.
If you are lucky enough to have had some forewarning, then you may be better prepared both psychologically and at a more practical level. Give yourself a day or two to process the information, but I suggest you pull yourself together quickly and set your sights firmly forward. Unless there is a genuine case of unfair dismissal, FORWARD is the healthiest place to focus.
Career Outplacement
Your organisation may offer you some career outplacement services. These can be a mixed blessing in that the generic offering is often not applicable to everyone and so quickly loses relevancy. If you are in a position to negotiate with the business, then I would suggest you ask them for a financial contribution to go out and find yourself a recognised Career Coach or Practitioner who offers an individualised career coaching service. The best place to find these individuals is through the Career Development Association of Australia (www.cdaa.org.au).
Programs are tailored to an individual’s requirements, and feedback in my experience, is universally positive. Programs range from understanding motivations and strengths, considering longer term career goals and more practical skills like developing a robust Resume and updating interviewing skills. Check out Career Coaching details and programs via the CDAA and Practioners’ own websites.
Don’t Do Anything until your Resume is Ready
Really important is to have your excellent Resume ready to go before you start talking to people. You may be asked to send over a Resume almost immediately and it’s not a good look to ask them to wait a few days while you update and finalise it. The money you invest in getting your Resume professionally written is well worth it. After all, Resume Writers are the experts in this field and understand what is required for successfully navigating current recruitment trends.
The Value of Networks
With over 60% of job vacancies never being advertised, don’t forget the power of tapping into your own networks. Extend far and wide! Recall contacts from previous work places, social meetings, corporate functions, conferences and workshops, school yard collections and kid’s sporting activities, etc, etc. Once you put your mind to it, you’ll be in a position to speak with numerous people across many different organisations.
On-line Job Sites
As well as networking, use the internet job sites to trawl through current vacancies, and research companies and industries. Spending time doing this now will benefit you during interviews when you’re able to ask good questions that demonstrate a more in-depth insight than others.
Improve your Interview Technique
Talking of interviews, you’d be surprised at just how many people are really bad at either conducting an interview or being interviewed themselves! Just because you have interviewed other people during your career doesn’t mean that you’re any good at it! I regularly give interview training to hiring managers, and they improve exponentially and value the life skill they acquire. Again, it is worth investing in professional interview coaching as you will be going for several (or many) interviews and you don’t want to be blowing great opportunities by using ‘live’ interviews to refine your interview technique.
General Stuff
Don’t forget to exercise during your enforced time at home! It maintains your energy levels, gets you out into the sunshine (remember the benefits of Vitamin D!) and provides an excellent focus for the day. I suggest to clients that they focus on their job search for between 4-6 hours a day – depending on how many meetings they have – and once you’ve finished for the day, relax, knowing that you’ve worked well and have earned some down time.
I hope this blog has given a good overview of some steps to take following news of your retrenchment or redundancy. Please contact me with any queries, questions or comments – I’d love to hear back from you.
About the Author
Katie Adler – the person behind Katie Adler Consulting
Katie Adler’s professional career is in senior executive search and the corporate sector. Katie is a Professional Member of the CDAA and helps individuals develop the diverse skills required to succeed in today’s competitive job market by delivering highly acclaimed outplacement programs for individuals and group workshops, as well as other career development and job search services.
For details of all services, click here.