Redundancies are not easy.
It goes without saying that most employees selected for redundancy face financial challenges, the challenges of finding new work and perhaps even the challenge of the perceived stigma of redundancy – what does that say about me, my value, my ability? Employees facing redundancy should be assisted through the process and key to that is good communication, management support and outplacement services. Seeing people treated fairly and kindly also helps those employees staying with the organisation to accept the change and move on positively and productively.
What should not be overlooked is the impact of redundancy programmes on the messengers. Those bearers of the bad news – the managers, HR team and senior leaders.
Those responsible for planning, communicating and implementing redundancies often feel anger, frustration, sadness and guilt. Left unsupported these key people in the organisation can be left feeling stressed, unengaged and unproductive at just the moment the business needs them to be leading the change and recovery process.
So how can your business make sure that it reduces the negative psychological impact of redundancy on those delivering the message?
Empower managers in the decision-making process – strategic leaders should involve their managers in decision making. Being party to the difficulties an organisation faces allows managers to offer solutions, explore alternatives to redundancies in a meaningful way. The result? If staffing cuts are the only option, managers will own the decision, making the communication of it relatively easier, more authentic and clearer.
Build skills and confidence – equip your managers with the knowledge and skills they need to plan and communicate redundancies effectively. Being able to deal with conflict, be resilient and communicate clearly is as vital as understanding the employment legislation.
Focus on positive actions you can take – you may not be able to avoid job losses, but if your managers and HR teams are enabled to help those being made redundant to find alternative job roles through CV writing support, interview skills coaching and outplacement, all will feel less helpless, less frustrated.
Redundancies will never feel easy, and should be a last resort, but they can be less challenging if organisations carry them out in a way that puts people first. And of course, we are here at River to help you put in place the foundations of a good process through policies, procedures, coaching and training.
