Redundancy is a fact of working life. Economic downturns, changing markets and corporate reorganisations are all factors that may lead employers to implement redundancy programmes.
For those being made redundant, it can be a rollercoaster of emotions. If you’re faced with being made redundant, it’s important to remember that you are not alone – it’s estimated that there will be around 1,600 redundancies per day across the UK in 2009. It is not a slight on your character or a reflection of your relative personal worth; redundancies are now a part of the cycle that today’s modern economies go through.
It’s important to remember that people survive redundancy and most go on to have rewarding careers, sometimes in entirely different professions. In this guide we look at what you can do to be one of them.
1. Try to remain positive
This might sound difficult if you have just been made redundant but try to remain positive. You’re experiencing some major, perhaps unexpected, change so accept that you need to mourn the loss of your job and allow yourself an opportunity to be sad. But don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend it hasn’t happened either.
One way of remaining positive is to develop an attitude of acceptance. The more you accept all that is going on rather than getting angry or frustrated about it, the more clearly you’ll be able to see what you need to do to improve your situation.
Think back to previous major life changing challenging events you’ve gone through – you survived them one way or another because you are still here today. Imagine yourself 10-20 years from now looking back at the ‘redundant you’ today. You would undoubtedly tell yourself to stop worrying and that you’ll soon be able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back to your career.
2. Consider all of your options
Though it may not seem it at first, redundancy can be a liberating experience if you’re adaptable. For many it provides the catalyst, excuse or space to reassess what they want or where they want to be. According to Badenoch & Clark’s Happiness at Work Index, nearly a quarter of UK office workers are unhappy at work at any given time. Do you want to do the same type of job or could this be the push you need to do something different?
Consider what motivates you. When do you get excited about your work, what do you engage with most, what gets you out of bed in the morning? Do you prefer working autonomously or in a team? How much strategic input do you like having? Do you enjoy travelling in your job? A little bit of self-discovery is likely to reveal the recipe for a happy work life moving forward.
It may be that the type of role you’ve come from ticks all the boxes, in which case you’ll want to target comparable roles. It may be that the key to satisfying your core motivations lies elsewhere. Explore every avenue that might give you the work life you’ll genuinely thrive in – be it alternative job avenues, different industry sectors or even retraining for an entirely new profession. Though it can be a difficult exercise to do without the luxury of a regular pay cheque, it could be well worth the anguish longer term.
3. Take advice
Tap into resources around you to help you shape your future choices. Do you know someone who has recently been made redundant, how did they get through it, what were their key learns? Develop a relationship with reputable recruitment consultants in your market to find out about market conditions, skills that are in demand and details of who’s recruiting, to help you plan your job search. Use your networks of friends, family and contacts to further extend the links you have to help you find your next role. Review your finances so you know how long you can afford to be out of work and speak to your financial advisor for ways to reduce your outgoings where necessary.
4. Keep a routine
The new-found freedom of not having to go to work each day can be both exciting and frightening. Tempting as it may be to stay up late at night and bury yourself in the duvet by day, there’s a lot to be said for keeping a sense of routine in your life. Keep active, invest in your friendships and not the bottle. Have something to achieve each day, whether it’s to do with your future career or not. It’s all too easy to become absorbed in the minutiae of daily home life, so whilst it’s a good time to factor in some leisure time and some relaxation, setting yourself some goals as soon as possible so that your days have some structure will help you remain positive and keep energy levels high. With glorious hindsight, redundancy will prove to be just the springboard you need to find yourself the best possible job.
