Strategies To Take You From Redundancy to Recovery

 What steps can I take if I've been made redundant?

Being made redundant can trigger a wide range of initial feelings, including shock, anxiety, and fear, often followed by a loss of confidence and a sense of identity. These feelings can be accompanied by emotions like anger, resentment, and even some relief, and you may find it difficult to relax or switch off. 

HR Leader - surveyed 600-plus senior HR professionals and decision-makers, and discovered that while there has been an increase in the number of employers planning to increase wages, redundancies are also on the rise – increasing in the Financial Year of 2024–25.

I have prepared a brief list of steps to take to manage your career or employment transition if you are made redundant from your position. If these steps seem daunting, I can support and guide you through all aspects of this process until you reach your new career or employment goals. Contact me via this website to discuss areas that you may need some help with.

I recommend taking the following steps before you leave your position - or as soon as possible after you leave.

1. Develop a Self-Care Plan

List your supports – family, friends, professionals, find a counsellor to manage emotions, and for tips on developing coping skills, accepting change, increasing your resilience, and shifting your focus to setting new gaols and moving forward.

Acknowledge your emotions:

It is important to take steps for Self-Care, you will have many conflicting and sometime irrational thoughts going through your mind. Perhaps confusion, anger, frustration, depression and low self-esteem and so on. This is natural so make plans to support yourself in ways that you find helpful. Remember this is a STAGE that You are going through and in time with planning and personal adjustment you will survive and, in some cases, may even improve your situation.

Once you are over the initial shock and your resilience is increasing you may come to realise that this can be an opportunity to reassess your career pathway and realign it with your NEW Values, Interests and Motivations.

You may realise that you want to explore different things in life, which you would not possibly have done if the Redundancy did not occur. This can be a good time to make big changes in your life, reinvent yourself and start to carve out a future that suites you at this stage of your life.

2. Review and Manage Your Finances

Assess your financial situation:

Understand your current income and expenses and create a budget to manage your finances and Redundancy Payout effectively. 

Take steps early to manage expected financial difficulties:

You may want to contact your bank and other financial institutions to discuss payment arrangements or a short-term hold on certain financial commitments.

3. If Possible Whilst Still in Your Current Position Start To Collate a Record of Your Skills and Abilities.

Prepare a Skills Audit:

List all current tasks and work experience gained in your position (A Job Description can also assist you in this exercise). A Skills Audit will help you when updating your Resume, Writing future Cover Letters, applying for RPL or Credit Transfer in the case of transitioning across to another employment field or gaining new qualifications.

Your confidence will also get a boost as your identify all of the skills, experience and formal qualifications that you have – this will work also in increasing your resilience and self-belief as you endure the Redundancy Process. This will help you to feel more positive about your future and give you some ideas on other positions that you might like to try applying for.

4. Look at Your Personal Branding and Prepare To Connect With Employers and New Key People of Influence

Develop or update your LinkedIn account:

Let followers know that you are seeking a new role, also register on LinkedIn for professional positions that regularly become available.

Revise your Resume and prepare a Generic Cover Letter:

These will need to be adjusted to suit each position that you apply for ( book an online session with Alison (Me) to assist you in this task - click onto the Contact Us Button on this website).

5. Increase Your Networks for More Opportunities and Support

Start firming up your list of Networks:

This can include former work colleagues, internal and external professionals and business associates that you know.

Tap into Networks:

Do this in areas of professional development providers, industry related contacts, and LinkedIn and fb groups relevant to your interest areas. 

Join groups:

Consider joining other Industry specific / employment relevant groups to learn of positions that may be available in the near future. 

Join associations:
Join or become more active with your Industry Related Associations to keep your Professional Development current and keep up with industry related trends, learn of upcoming positions available and attend online webinars and connect groups.

6. Take a Closer Look at Your Skills Audit – It May Highlight Areas To Be Upskilled

Consider doing some Gap Skill Training:

Applying for RPL to Fast Track your new Qualification if you identify that you are lacking in a particular skill area – this can make you more employable. Or you may enrol into a new course that will lead to a new career direction.

You can also Register for jobs online 

This includes registering for job alerts with Government and Private Job sites, as well as with national sites such as seek and indeed.

Its important that when looking on advertised positions on Job Websites that you look for the required criteria employers are asking for in each position, and read the Job Descriptions to see if they match up with your skills and experiences. 

Take comfort in these words from – Pearl Zhu:

Adaptability enforces creativity, 

and creativity is adaptability.