April 27th 2009 (this article first appeared in the NZ
Herald's Career Portfolio on January 21 2009)
"A sudden meeting on a Thursday
afternoon with your boss. You know it can't be good news. It made
me nervous…" Shelley is talking four weeks after first hearing that
her coaching role at one of New Zealand's banks was one proposed
for disestablishment. A month on, she's not at all gloomy and even
rates herself as "fortunate".
She had seen it coming for nearly two years, as her department
steadily shrank and she found herself training others to do parts
of her job in smaller, better tailored roles. "I've actually wanted
it to happen for the last six months. It's been soul-destroying
working in a poorly designed role." She agrees with the business
logic behind the proposal, too, unlike some of her colleagues who
have reacted very badly to news of their jobs being removed.
Take Control - Fast
Another big plus for Shelley is the bank's offer of free access
to career transition services. "I've realised I love coaching and
probably want to stay in this type of work." She's looking forward
to external, independent advice on planning her search process and
polishing her CV, a document she has hardly touched in eight years.
While Shelley waits for that appointment, she's begun calling
people in the training industry to put out feelers. Pre-Christmas,
her contacts are too busy to be receptive, but taking action has
made her feel confident. "Don't let things be out of your control",
she advises. "Get back your sense of control as fast as you
can."
Take Time, Too!
Getting past the shock of redundancy is a crucial step in
turning the situation to your advantage. "There are myriad
responses to the news but it's usually a jolt. The psychological
contract you had with your employer, of giving your loyalty, time
and skills, is displaced. Until the smoke clears, you can't develop
your sense of confidence on why you are a great candidate," says
Jude Manuel, Business Development Director at career transition
specialists, DBM New Zealand. "You have to give yourself time to
work through the emotion or it will spill out at inopportune
moments, like in a social setting that could have provided useful
contacts, or even in an interview with a prospective employer."
She recommends grabbing outplacement support with both hands if
it is offered, because it can help people move through the emotion
faster. One practical method her firm uses is to gather affected
people together. "It's very valuable. They say, 'Gosh, it's not
just me, it's not personal, it was a business decision.' And these
forums are a great networking tool, too!" Next come three steps to
finding a new role or direction. Manuel lists out preparation
through self assessment; focus through targeting relevant roles and
skills; achievement through negotiating the new job offer.
Clean Sheet
The self assessment step is critical. "Start with a clean
sheet," recommends Eugene Ng, a director of H2R Consulting. "There
are even career option exercises you can buy online. The thing is
to see this as the chance to do something new. To do what you
enjoy, not what you're trained to do or what you're good at."
Self-assessment should range widely, encompassing work style
preferences and financial expectations because not everyone will
end up in a traditional job. "A lot of people go into contracting
or become owner operators. We've been seeing this since the early
nineties when there weren't enough jobs for everyone and people set
up their own consultancies," says Ng. "I've seen examples across
many industries of redundancy becoming an opportunity. People were
pushed out of their comfort zones and they've never looked
back."
Values
Take time to reflect on your values, too. "Were your personal
values aligned with your old employer's?" asks Robyn Webb, who
delivers career management and transition services at professional
services firm, Pohlen Kean. "You can get so busy, you don't notice
the company going down a path that you're uncomfortable with. Your
value set becomes really useful later in your opportunity search.
It helps you identify target organisations. It's great for when an
interviewer invites you to ask questions. And if you have multiple
offers on the table, it's a way to assess them." A values-driven
approach can lead to candidates to look first for aligned companies
rather than pursuing a specific role. "It's about getting the order
right. What can I offer? Who do I want to offer it to? Then
exploring with that company what roles they have."
DIY
Not everyone can access career transition services. The
fundamental process is the same, however, whether you use experts
or take a DIY approach. Webb's advice for those handling redundancy
alone is to find a mentor; this could be a business colleague, a
friend or family member. Mentors can assist the emotional healing,
and can also highlight opportunities and open their networks to
help create new contacts. Candidates should leverage their own work
and social networks, too, partly to uncover the jobs that are never
advertised, but also to find out more about companies that
appeal.
How long will it take to find a new opportunity? That depends in
part on seniority, says Manuel of DBM New Zealand. Senior roles are
subject to a more rigorous process that takes longer. Also, the
initial self assessment is usually more complex because with more
experiences to draw on, there are more future paths to consider. An
industry rule of thumb for time between roles offered by Ng at H2R
Consulting is that it is similar to the time taken to sell a
house.
Remember that new opportunities can lie far outside traditional
employment. My business partner, Galia BarHava-Monteith, developed
the concept for Professionelle.co.nz after being made redundant
from a local corporate. Searching for tools to support her next
steps thinking, she found a reference to the Reflected Best Self
exercise in the Harvard Business Review. This exercise costs $US6
and is available online. Using it, she gathered specific stories
from friends and colleagues about times they had seen her at her
very best. Combining these with perspectives from mentors, and with
intuition about the rising interest in professional women, she
tailored her own self employed role in a unique business.
How to Stand Out
Some employees are landing in the job market alongside many
others from the same background and skill set. It is still possible
to stand out from the crowd. "Look for transferable skills and
don't focus on the technically specific skills of your previous
industry. Good candidates stand out by the quality of their CVs and
their interview skills - you need to practise these," recommends
Ng. "Candidates can also help themselves with recruitment
consultants by being clear about the role they want to go for. The
most successful candidates think things through to specific roles
that are right for them. The less successful leave the thinking up
to others." Another key CV element is to highlight your
quantifiable achievements. "People want achievers on their team,"
says Manuel of DBM New Zealand.
A Kick
And finally, what of Shelley's plans? "I'm going to have a
holiday, switch off from the old career, and start fresh in
January. People who come through redundancy best will be those
prepared to see it as a blessing. This is the kick up the butt I
needed a year ago!"
© Professionelle Ltd 2009