Dealing with the aftermath of redundancy

14 October 2008

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You may feel reasonably competent in identifying the main issues relating to the redundancy itself, but how do you handle the staff who continue to work on, and who may be worrying about the future of the business that they work in? How can employers and HR professionals help those employees through the hard times of economic downturn and redundancy?

Be honest with the remaining staff. There is no surer way of losing the remaining good quality staff than not being honest about the situation. Treat your staff with the respect they deserve and encourage them to remain because they want to, because they have faith and trust in the business. Do not try and hide any bad news - it will just destroy your credibility.
Keep your line managers informed. Employees will be curious and they will be concerned. They will also have families, mortgages to pay and food to buy. They want to know that they will have a job to pay for those essentials. Make sure managers are empowered with the facts of the situation so that they can talk coherently with the staff. Make sure that senior managers support and assist line managers.
Support your staff. Look at using counsellors who can help with the increased stress and strain on the remaining employees.
Keep an open door. Be available, be positive and send out the right messages. The remaining staff will need reassurance followed by more reassurance and then some more.
Make sure that you give employees a clear message of hope for the future. Tell them what the business is doing to rebuild or regroup following a redundancy and ways in which the business is actively seeking new business to maintain the work force.
Look at training as a means of strengthening the skills of the work force and building a new future for the business.

The aftermath of a redundancy exercise can be catastrophic for the remaining employees, in many cases the speed with which a business will recover depends upon the way in which the remaining staff are re-motivated. Employers will need to work hard to boost morale and maintain it through those difficult months.

Download our redundancy selection template bundle, taken from the Employment Guide for 2009.

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Dealing with the aftermath of redundancy

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