The Dilemma of Redundancy

Not knowing for certain whether you are going to be made redundant or not puts you in limbo. This can be a difficult time as it has a major impact on everything else in your life.  The uncertainty can also impact on the way that you think about your employer as it is a very emotional time. Uncertainty can make you feel insecure and bring with it an element of fear. It causes quite a dilemma.  It will create a lot of ‘what if’s’.  In your head you will have jumped ahead to the to the future and will have imagined all sorts of things.  Many of these will be quite negative thoughts. 

Do you look for another job in the current climate or wait for the outcome from your employer?  Deciding whether to make a change can be an emotional roller coaster as you have to let go of what  exists and move towards the unknown.

Do you feel you have no control over the situation? 

Do you have a fear about what change may occur?  

Not knowing what the future holds for you may create fear and panic.  You have suddenly gone from knowing what your job is and planning your life to now wondering whether you will be made redundant next week or in a month’s time. Your whole life plan goes on hold. Some people cope really well with change and others don’t. How you do cope with this will depend on your own personal circumstances as each individual will be different. 

The decision over whether you will be made redundant is in the control of your employer but what you choose to do and how you decide to move forward is in your control.  So, how can you cope with this situation?  Take some control of the situation by thinking through the pro’s and con’s and have a plan in place. 

Firstly, ask yourself these two questions:

What do you risk if you stay in the situation you are in?

What do you risk if you take control?

The risk will be dependent on your own personal circumstances.  If your financial security is sound then you may not be creating any risk for yourself by staying in your current employment until a decision has been announced.  However, not all the risks may be financial.  So, think about what it means to you.

I am now going to give you a strategy for how you can now take control of this situation:

At the moment chances are you are living your life within your comfort zone – your everyday life is familiar and has some sort of routine. Making any change will take you out of this as you are starting to take a risk.  The unknown is a risk.  So whatever you decide to do you need to have thought through the implications of this.  You need to make sure that no matter what happens you will still remain confident with your decision. Keep in a positive frame of mind and view the situation as an opportunity to re-assess your life and where you want to be. Write a list of the options that you have and the pro’s and con’s for each one.  Do you require more information to help you do this?  Where can you find it?  What support do you need? Now make a decision on what is your plan ‘B’.  What actions do you need to take to achieve your Plan B?  You will now feel more in control.   

Now work through the strategy and find the plan ‘b’ that is right for you.