“It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.”
While that cliché phrase may be true in most cases, it’s also the last thing you want to hear when you’re facing redundancy. Your first instinct may be to fire back your own cliché; “Well it’s not me, it’s you!” but that would probably be quite low on the list of ‘The Best Way of Dealing With Redundancy’ – if there is such a thing.
Yes, there’s no doubt that dealing with redundancy is hard on almost every level; emotional, financial and mental.
If you are facing the Big R, the last thing you want to hear right now are platitudes about when one door closes another one opens, and clouds with silver linings.
No, what you need is a qualified career coach to give you practical, usable advice on exactly how to get up and fight your way back into the job that you deserve.
Dealing With Redundancy
Feeling Crushed?
So you’ve been made redundant, and you feel crushed. Your confidence is lying in a small puddle on the floor, and you wonder how in the world you’re going to summon the motivation to pick yourself up.
You are not alone.
An article in the Telegraph highlights the fact that most of us will be made redundant 2.7 times, and some figures suggest that 7.1 million white-collar jobs could be made redundant by 2020.
The sad fact is that businesses are battling – including large corporations – and the economic landscape is simply not what it used to be. That means that this (horrible) business decision that was made to cut employee XYZ123 from the company payroll, i.e; you, was just that – a business decision.
Navel-gazing and deliberating over whether you weren’t good enough, if you did something wrong or if you were being plotted against won’t help you at all at this time.
When you stop taking it personally, no matter how difficult it may seem at first, it does lighten the load of self-doubt and low self-esteem.
Key Takeaway: No matter how awful you feel about your redundancy, make a conscious decision to leave on a positive note. A mature and professional attitude, even though you may feel like setting things on fire, may leave doors of opportunity open in the future.
Starting Over
How does that saying go?
“Don’t make promises when you’re happy, don’t reply to anything when you’re angry and don’t make decisions when you’re sad.”
Give yourself a little time and mental space to get over the redundancy. It’s going to affect you, but it won’t be forever.
An excellent way of moving forward lies in looking around us at where we are now. Perhaps the time and stress that our previous job demanded from us blinded us to other opportunities. Think of this time more as a recalibration.
Can you spend a little time adding to a particular skill set? Is there something that you’ve always wanted to learn? Is there a career possibility within a field that you really love, something that nourishes your soul?
We’re not telling you to look for a silver lining here, rather, allow yourself out of the box that you have been in for however many years.
Consider the example of Ryan Plews who was made redundant in 2012.
“For me, it’s like a new lease of life,” he says. “I always think you get too comfortable.”
But when he was made redundant, he had a one-year-old son and he and his wife were in the process of selling their house and buying a new one in Yarm, near Middlesbrough. On the day he lost his job, Ryan describes “plucking up the courage to tell my wife, and she turned around and told me she was pregnant”.
Ryan then had a decision to make. Take the comfortable route and look for a job in his chosen field or go with his heart and set up his own business. As far as he was concerned, he had no choice. He just had to run his own business.
Ryan says that being made redundant was “a shock. The door’s closed and you wake up in the morning and think ‘I’m not going to work’.”
But he says he had the attitude of: “Let’s do this, let’s push on.”
Unable to get a mortgage, the family started renting a house but slowly he has built up his business and his family are now in a position to buy again.
I’m not suggesting everything is perfect, however Ryan is really enjoying running his own company, and “being self-employed, I’ve got this flexibility to spend time with the family,” he adds. (Source)
Getting back on the proverbial horse may not be quick, or easy, but it can be an adventure.
Why not make a list of the people that you know in various companies who may be able to offer advice or direction? What about using your free time to get more involved in volunteer work, networking or blogging? Can you start a new chapter in your life by talking to friends, family and your extended network and asking for a referral?
Key Takeaway: This experience may well prove to be an incredible opportunity rather than a complete disaster. Did you really love your job, or was it a means to an end?
In Conclusion
Dealing with redundancy is hard – there’s no way around that. But it’s not going to be forever, especially if you are determined to rise above how you feel and focus on small wins.
Redundancy, and the inevitable emotional and mental strain that accompanies it, is something I’ve been helping people with for many years. As a career coach, who has been kept busy with outplacement work, I have seen the issues first-hand. I can provide you with practical, workable solutions which will refocus you and channel your energy into something new and exciting.
If this sounds interesting please feel free to contact me for more information, I will be thrilled to assist.
