The story
The story unfolds like this:
You will get a random meeting invite without a specific agenda or a random call from your manager during the day (depending on how civilized this process is). As you join, they invite HR to the session, and it starts with a simple sentence, “I have sad news, unfortunately….”
This is the beginning of a new journey. You’ve been made redundant, and your role or position is no longer required.
From this point onward, you feel a rush of emotions: sadness, disappointment, anger, intense anger. You might start questioning your previous decisions, battling with Imposter Syndrome, and worrying about what will happen to the team and product you were proud of. You think about the barrels of knowledge you acquired over the years, which are almost impossible to transfer properly to the successor (if there is any) in the limited time you have.
Even though they said this is a business restructuring, you might feel it’s due to your performance. You think, “If I had done something differently in the past, this wouldn’t be happening.”
But in my case, our team and business were doing great in all aspects. It was a well-oiled machine, efficient in many ways, growing at a very fast pace — 70% growth YoY. We were delivering three big impactful projects in the first half of the year, and an architectural overhaul was on the horizon for H2 to prepare the business for future growth.
But, one Wednesday morning, I got the call with the sad news.
Navigating through the storm
I have been through multiple redundancies in my career, but I have never been impacted in such a way (to be honest, I’ve been terminated once). This time it was my turn to face it. Alongside the emotion and feeling of rejection, I had to keep reminding myself that this was completely out of my control.
It’s crucial for anyone affected to realize there is no way to control this. It’s a business decision based on several factors like the operating model, revenue vs. cost of each pillar, and maybe the tenure of the person with the business (to reduce liability for the business). Here are important points to settle:
Emotions
As human beings, all the emotions you are experiencing are valid and important to acknowledge, from sadness to anger, from feeling lonely to disappointed.
Let those emotions settle and deal with them in a timely manner. If you don’t acknowledge them, you will deal with them for a longer period of time.
Redundancy package
Calculating your payout figure is quite important. These days HR/People Experience teams are well-versed in this aspect as it can be a legal concern. Request a transparent calculation with all the details, like what is happening with your notice period, how the redundancy payout weeks are calculated, what is happening with your annual leaves and long-service leaves (if you are entitled to them), and if there are any Ex Gratia items added to your package. (This item is more of a thank-you-for-your-service gift, so there is no obligation for the business to pay.)
Handover
Normally, when redundancy happens, it is a sudden decision, and you lose all of your access immediately. But if you don’t, there might be some handover expectations from you. The expectation has to be fair in the handover because no one expects you to go above and beyond considering what you are going through.
Support
It’s important to talk to people. This will help you realize that even though the rug has been pulled, your feet are still on the ground. Reach out to friends, talk to them, explain your feelings and situation. This will help you express in words. Also, you can ask for a CV review and feedback.
Some businesses have third parties to help support their impacted employees land a new job, like reviewing CVs and cover letters. Don’t hesitate to use those services.
Also, there is no harm in announcing your open-to-work status and reason in your professional network; no one is going to judge you, especially in this current climate.
Finally, this is a challenging time for you, your family, and your career. It’s important to stay calm and focused, so use all the resources available to navigate and land your next job.
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