How to bounce back from redundancy

Whether you’re going through a redundancy process, have been made redundant, or are struggling to cope after colleagues have been laid off, redundancy affects almost all of us at some time in our careers. A 2022 study found nearly 1 in 5 companies were considering making redundancies in the next 12 months and you don’t […]
how to bounce back from redundancy

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Whether you’re going through a redundancy process, have been made redundant, or are struggling to cope after colleagues have been laid off, redundancy affects almost all of us at some time in our careers. A 2022 study found nearly 1 in 5 companies were considering making redundancies in the next 12 months and you don’t have to look far on social media to find someone affected every day. 

So why is this common occurrence met with such a stigma? And what if redundancy could instead be seen not as a failure but as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Dismissal from work is the highest work-related factor in the Homes and Rahe scale, a ranking of the most stressful life events, coming in 8th overall. It’s a highly distressing situation, from the uncertainty of long consultancy processes to the anger, shock and sadness of finding out you’ve been made redundant, and then the worry of finding your next role. Everyone handles the process differently so be sure to speak to others and focus on your mental health and well-being inside and outside of work.

With this in mind, what can you do to cope with redundancy and even turn this negative situation into a positive one?

1. Understand that it’s not your fault

It’s common for people who have been made redundant to feel like it’s their fault and ultimately to blame themselves. That’s a damaging perspective but sadly it’s very easy to fall into that headspace, and is something I’ve been guilty of myself. If you suffer from imposter syndrome it can be perceived as confirmation that you were right all along about being bad at your job. I’ve seen friends internalise that blame, damaging their own mental health and losing their enthusiasm for future roles after how they were treated. 

But, most of the time redundancy is due to factors outside of our control. Your redundancy is more likely down to decisions the organisation made, external market forces, or stakeholders demanding cost cutting. You can rarely control the factors that lead to redundancy. 

Redundancy sucks, it’s a terrifying process and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. 

But it’s also uncontrollable and never driven by a single person’s performance. Companies make roles redundant, not people. If you truly were bad at your job, you would have been fired rather than made redundant. Having sat in a meeting where redundancies were decided, it wasn’t personal, it was simply the result of analysing a spreadsheet of data.

Now’s a great time to look back at all the things you’ve achieved in this role and others, and realise you are good at what you do. Redundancy is a chapter in your story, not the end of it. Better things are coming.

2. This could be the best opportunity you’ll ever have

How often in life do we ever get to truly take a second and think about what we actually want in our career? Many of us leave education, jump into the first job we can find and then muddle along towards better jobs or opportunities that come along. We don’t really get the chance to think about what we want as we’re so busy dealing with the day-to-day.

Redundancy, therefore, represents a rare sequence break in your life. You’re no longer running along this almost predetermined career path and have more freedom than you’ve ever had to choose what comes next.

Moving countries, starting a new career path, becoming your own boss, going back to education? These are all big decisions that need time and a free mind to allow you to work through all the nuances. And, with redundancy you now have the time to see what opportunities you’ve been missing.

TOP THEORY TIP

Whenever I reach a career point like this I turn to the T-Shape (Swan, 2021). It’s a quick and easy way to see where your strengths lie, what careers might suit you next and where you could do something entirely new. 

You can see my T-Shape below and to create your own simply write the foundational marketing areas you enjoy at the top, then draw down vertical boxes to show how much experience you have with them (the longer the box, the more experience you have). It usually reveals interesting insights on what you could do next, especially if you compare your T-Shape to people who have the job you want. 

I cover a little more detail how I came up with mine and the lessons it taught me here

3. It’s a chance to do your own thing (if you want to)

Redundancy gives you the opportunity to really explore what you want to do and for some this means the chance to start the business they’ve always dreamed of. The US, UK, France, Germany and Japan all saw an increase in the number of new business registrations during the pandemic.

A surge in redundancies also led to a surge in people realising it was time to do their own thing.

Take me for an example. I had considered starting my own business for over a decade, but it wasn’t until I got made redundant, that I finally took the leap. There are two reasons redundancy is great for this:

1) Notice periods allow you to keep earning, whilst also preparing for your next step. This is even easier if you are on garden leave (although do discuss this with your boss and check your contract first).

2) You’re already leaving so no longer have to think about the 100 things you have to do for that company. You have the freedom to focus your energies elsewhere.

Yes, I’m that clichéd person who says starting my own business “is the best thing I ever did” and “I wish I’d done it sooner”, but there’s a reason those statements come up so often. 

Doing your own thing could also mean taking time out to go travelling, starting a social media channel, discovering a new hobby, looking for roles that better fit around your life and your passions. Or, well, pretty much anything.

That’s the beauty of redundancy, you really are free from all the work commitments you had and you have the chance to shape what comes next.

TOP THEORY TIP

Not sure what your thing should be? Then try the W-cubed model (Stumpf, 1993) by drawing three intersecting circles in a Venn diagram:

  • What I want – What do you want out of life, your next job, or who do you want to work with?
  • What do they want – What would a typical customer or employer want?
  • What can I do – What skills and experiences do you have?

Then consider where the circles line up. What do you want and what skills do you have, that match what others want (and would pay you for). You can see the W-cubed below I created when I went freelance, that helped me define 1) that it was something I wanted to do and 2) that people would actually want to work with me if I did take the leap. 

4. Lean on the community around you

Redundancy also offers a way to test the network you’ve built around you. All those favours you did for other people in the past? Well now is the perfect time to call them in.

I spoke earlier about the wave of emotions that come from redundancy. With my own redundancy I also felt a real sense of fear and loss, but not wanting those feelings to overwhelm me I took this photo.

Whilst owning the redundancy in this way helped me personally accept what was happening, I also posted it to social media as I wanted to be open and honest about it.

The community response really surprised me, with people around the world liking the photo, offering me advice on what to do next and some even offering me freelance work. This led to me feeling far more in control of the situation and launching a strategic marketing consultancy business.

So, whilst it might seem scary or embarrassing to talk about redundancy openly with others, you’ll likely find a supportive and positive community. Whether that’s friends, family, social media connections or old work contacts, try to think of anyone who can help (I went to the extent of having a spreadsheet of people who I thought could help, but you don’t have to go that far, unless you want to!).

Whether they’re helping you find job roles, offering support, or even just being someone else to talk to during that time, being open about the problem can really help you put things into perspective and plan your next move.

I wish you the best of luck with your own redundancy. Whatever comes next it’s important to remember that you were a good employee, you have more control than you think and you have a community around you who can help.  

Mike Essex is founder of Devise Marketing, who specialises in marketing strategy and training. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.