04 Alternatives to redundancy
An independent supplement produCed by lyonsdown mediA Group
Alternatives to redundancy 05
Career self-ownership
Now more than ever, people are feeling that they need
to take control of their careers to achieve career leverage.
O
wnership of careers was largely, in the past, left to in- with tighter budgets. Many are approaching HDA for advice
house learning and talent management professionals, on how to divert some of their outplacement spend to internal
focused primarily on internal succession. Organisations career development support for their staff. Those employees
which recognise this shift to personal ownership and invest who will remain in their jobs, or even those facing redundancy,
wisely in developing career self awareness, will achieve valuable will get much more benefit from having their careers leveraged
ROI via enhanced reputation, higher engagement levels and while they are still with the company.
reduced redundancy, re-hiring and onboarding costs. The more prepared people are now to manage their careers,
It seems naïve today to even mention a psychological contract the less support they will need in the event of redundancy.
between employers and their employees. As the world reels In-house career centres are becoming increasingly common
from the personal impact of recession, with high volumes of as a way of providing staff with honest, confidential career
redundancy at all levels, black holes in pension funding and leveraging advice, including one-to-one career coaching, group
instability across some of the world’s largest organisations, the networking and facilitated career development events. Such
relationship between companies and their workforces have measures will improve efficiency if or when redundancies are
fundamentally changed. announced, removes the stigma of job losses, and improves
employer reputation.
“Employers need to work harder
At the same time, the competitiveness of employees can
be improved by providing interview and assessment coaching
at maintaining relationships”
alongside vocational training. Redeployment empowerment can
improve the suitability of internal candidates for internal roles
According to Clayton Glen, Director at HDA Associates, and so reduce external recruitment and onboarding costs.
“employers need to work harder at maintaining relationships, Should redundancies occur, it is important to help those
work harder at enhancing levels of morale, engagement and who have been indirectly impacted through survivor support
more staff are taking
hence performance, and work harder at maintaining their initiatives. Those remaining need assistance in refocusing
ownership of their careers
corporate reputation; as this impacts on the quality of key themselves and adapting to the changing needs of their career,
talent attracted to and retained within the organisation. All of as the opportunities within the company change. of people at some point, and it is often a valuable career
these are long-term strategic business continuity imperatives According to Glen, “any internal career advisory service development step.’’
for organisations with long-term survival and/or growth should be underpinned by the realistic and open-cards message
aspirations.” that there will not always be a direct match between the for more information, please contact sweta Patel,
Companies are facing the tough challenge of ensuring organisation’s need for talent, and the current availability of campaign manager-hda, at:
engagement, morale, performance, and corporate reputation talent. Redundancy is not new, it affects an increasing number sxp@hda.co.uk / +44 (0) 207 484 5065
Mediate your way through
the redundancy process
occur, resulting in lost morale and productivity. Training in and betrayed. Again, it is critical that managers and HR are
mediation and conflict resolution skills can help organisations trained in how to handle redundancy conversations in order
before, during and after the redundancy period. to limit claims of unfair dismissal. Managers and HR need
The first phase of redundancy includes numerous meetings to communicate openly about redundancy and, in difficult
anna shields and alex efthymiades, directors of held behind closed doors which make employees feel stressed, situations, appoint an external mediator to help employees deal
consensio, explain how to manage conflict in the insecure and often demoralised. This decreases productivity with unresolved conflict.
workplace before, during and after redundancy. and massively increases the potential for conflict and possibly Once redundancies are complete, the final phase deals with
employee initiated litigation. The best way to nip conflict in resulting issues, such as impact on team morale, survivors’ guilt
I
n difficult economic times, “redundancy” and “conflict” the bud is to effectively communicate with employees and to and new work responsibilities. Again, mediation and conflict
are sadly, common themes. Redundancy is challenging take on board employee feedback. Managers and HR trained resolution skills can be used by managers and HR to resolve
for all concerned, not just the distress and difficulty for in mediation and conflict resolution skills will be able to ensuing conflicts, to boost employee morale and to embed
departing employees, but also the negative impact upon the consult with staff, and, where possible, negotiate alternatives learning from the process.
wider team, business management and clients. The good news to redundancy. By engaging with employees in a procedure With the UK unemployment rate hitting peaks not seen in
is that conflict can be effectively managed and, in some cases, that affects the whole organisation, the likelihood of conflict recent memory, so are Employment Tribunal claims citing unfair
completely avoided through the use of mediation and conflict decreases and “win-win” alternatives may be found, including dismissals. The new ACAS Code of Practice calls for disputes
resolution techniques. sabbaticals, part-time employment, salary decreases and job to be solved at an early stage and recommends mediation as
The redundancy process for most organisations is a drastic sharing. These solutions not only save time and money, but they part of every organisation’s dispute resolution portfolio. An
measure designed to improve the financial “bottom line”. may also decrease the number of necessary redundancies or, at appropriate plan, which includes training management in
Whilst the cost savings are obvious, ironically, the inherent the very least, smooth the process for all concerned. mediation and conflict resolution skills, means redundancy can
conflict caused by redundancy ends up costing business far If redundancy is the only option, resulting conflicts tend to be be managed more effectively at every phase.
more than they expected and indeed, bargained for. The reason the most challenging as they are driven by loss of self-esteem,
behind the paradox is that HR and managers are often not fear and insecurity. Although dismissal is often unrelated to for further information, visit:
suitably equipped to conduct the difficult conversations which performance, departing employees may feel demoralised, hurt www.consensiopartners.co.uk
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