Do your employees know how much you care?
If you’re in the unenviable position of letting some or all of your team go, you probably already know the requirements for redundancy, consultation periods, statutory redundancy pay, and all the necessary employment law that comes with making redundancies. But there is another element that is just as critical to your company.
When we’re faced with these tough decisions we may revert to, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business”.
And that can be very true for some employers, but for employees it’s extremely personal. They are now faced with the uncertainty of finding a brand new role in a saturated candidate market. Their finances may no longer be stable and their confidence will be shaken as they wonder why this has happened to them and not another colleague. They are commiserating with their friends, family and network about how they’ve been treated by their employer and all of this has an effect on the morale of your existing employees and new employees when you start hiring again. It may not feel like a priority right now but doing the right thing for your team is far more cost-effective than you can imagine, especially given the long term effects of a negative employer brand. Consider the time, energy and money it takes to “re-brand” your company to shake off an employer and consumer backlash. This is much more expensive than the support required to help your former colleagues find their next career move.
THREE GOOD IDEAS FOR EMPLOYERS
1. Review their experience and skillsets and think about who you could connect them with in your network, before the dreaded meeting. Let them know you’ve been thinking about where they could be valuable and give them people to connect with in order to reassure them this isn’t their fault, it really is a business decision and doesn’t reflect on their work. If you don’t have the capacity, consider hiring a day consultant to speak to each employee about how to utilise their own network and get their LinkedIn profile and CV up to date. These basic, but extremely useful courtesies will take some of the sting out of getting back into the market as employees unsurprisingly will be thinking, “Where do I begin…?”
2. Give them the framework to be successful and room to think about their future. We’ve designed a Careering out of the Crisis guide that covers – mindset, updating your personal brand and profile as well as techniques for interview preparation that you can download. We are happy for you to pass on our 20+ years and experience of finding careers for our candidates as they transition out of your team.
3. Provide them with real resources. Even a simple list of free training courses and upskilling opportunities is better than a – “I wish we could do more”. The answer is you can do more, our free online community called Navigator supports candidates as they transition careers and deal with redundancy. And it’s yours to use! You can share this link and give them access to free video tutorials, articles, and a group of supportive members who are equally interested in networking, upskilling and new opportunities.
For more in depth, personalised support, Navigator provides a modern, cost effective approach to help your employees get back into work, but please remember the free options provided are still better than a handshake and a “best of luck” to those affected and who genuinely require support.
For more details on our Navigator service, please get in touch on 03303 359 818 or contact me on the form provided. Thank you.
