Lessons Learned from Redundancy

I’ve been made redundant twice in my career and both with very different experiences, but I learned much more the second time round and here’s why.

The first time I was made redundant it was in 2007/8 and it was farcical, a kangaroo court and it was obvious what was happening (I was last in and therefore the first one to be out). Back then I was purely focussed on the fight for employment and that I was unfairly treated in the process. I needed to find a way (any way) of paying the bills, rent and sorting out the other worries that come with it. I struggled with the stresses of uncertainty, I lost sleep, I lost weight and people were worried about me (and I worried about being the cause of their worries).

In the end I got by and moved on to other jobs.

The second time however, was this year and a far different experience from the first. So here are some lessons that I hope will be helpful to you regardless of your situation.

1. You are not your job title…

As much as it pained me to admit it, I truly believed (at 39) that I had my identity all figured out. However, when I was hit with the reality that my position would no longer exist, I thought about all of my skills and experience that I had accrued, the positions that I held and the successes within the company. I had worked there for 11 years and built great relationships, had a strong positive reputation within the business. Much of what I had built was going to leave me.

It was then that it hit me… Who am I really?

For years, I facilitated training workshops for leaders to help them understand their personal branding and how important it is to show up as their authentic selves. Suddenly, I find myself taking these same steps because when I stripped the job title away, I wasn’t really sure how who I was. Why? because too much of my identity was wrapped up in the work (even when I told myself it wasn’t).

So I urge you, reading this, even if you are self-assured in who you are, revisit your core values once in a while and ensure you have a clear image of who you are outside of a job title and responsibilities. So when somebody asks you what you do, you can you answer this question with confidence without saying your job title?

2. Beware of Funfair Tokens…

I would pride myself on the reputation I built within the company I worked for. They knew what I was good at and it was great to know I was highly thought of. The trouble with this is that by moving away from that ecosystem, I would be losing that strength in my reputation, even with the support and kindness I received when I left.

There will be a lot of what you do within your work (training especially) that has no value outside of the business you have achieved it in. If they are not recognised within the industries you reside in, then regard these as funfair tokens: they are bought with real money, but have little meaning if you are looking to translate these certifications outside of that business (circus or funfair).

Now it’s not my goal to completely belittle hard won achievements and this is not to say you haven’t learned or benefitted in experience using this learning. What I am trying to say here is be careful not to over estimate the value of this learning (because I did). If you have a CV dusted off (I hadn’t touched mine in years) ready for an overhaul, you will be leading with your real world experience and achievements in the role and not on the digital certification for “Password Security Awareness Training”. It doesn’t hurt to know what credentials are desired across your industry and not just inside your immediate sphere.

Ultimately it is you and who you have become that is of real value and that cannot be taken away. So in the words of Scar from the Lion King “Be Prepared!”

3. You are in the change curve no matter what…

The Change Curve, as it is known, describes the emotional phases one goes through when faced with change, and this is based on the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief. Now even if you know this model (or ahem, even taught the model), you cannot escape its effects.

I thought as I’ve been through the process before and I’m far more mature than I was in 2008 that I could navigate through this problem and walk out the door directly into the sunset. Instead, I noticed all manner of non-character like thoughts go through my head during this process and it contributed to a lot of internal turmoil (and some cracking headaches):

I knew it wasn’t personal, but some aspects of the situation really pissed me off; I knew the role wasn’t forever, but I had so much unfinished work; and I knew those around me valued my contribution, but redundancy makes you feel categorically not valued. Your a nice to have, but can no longer afford you…sorry. And these were just a few examples of my Change Curve journey.

The thing about the Change Curve though, is that it is far from a neat picture, it is more like a scribble, a back and forth or everything at once. You do, however, come out of the other side where eventually you move from resistance to acceptance.

In Summary

I wanted the last redundancy experience to be my last and to be over as quickly as possible. I wanted to move on mentally and, well, become the master of my own destiny. The experience of knowing what was coming and having no control was one that has put me off of being an employee again, not because that was a bad thing, but because I don’t think it’s right for me anymore. I want to be able to create value in a way for clients that play into my skills and experience. I also wanted more autonomy over how I would like to do things.

So now I carry these lessons with me and use them to help others in my Coaching and Facilitation practice (you can find my website here: https://www.deepspaceuk.com/ ), and am now sharing these with you too.

:)

Thanks for reading and I hope this post has helped provoke your thinking in some way.

Until next time…