Managing the redundancy survivors: A constant challenge

When redundancy hits, everyone is affected. There are no winners, no smiling faces. A little relief maybe – 'thank heaven it wasn’t me' – then the guilt. And the business needs to go on – moving forward with less people to do more in a very demanding time. Yet there is always something positive if you are willing to look for it. You have a team of committed employees, who will do their very best for the company, even if only for self preservation. This is your moment to turn them into fully signed up company people. To make sure this happens, HR needs to manage the cultural impact of the change, beginning with the leaders and managers. Make sure they understand the new dynamics that are in play. This is an easy moment to retreat from best people practice; to claim that ‘soft stuff is fine when times are good; when times are tough, we need to concentrate on the business.’ That is a dangerous stance to take and one that could have a very high cost in talented employees.