What to do when you make an employee redundant?
- July 27, 2020
As a direct result of Covid-19 many businesses are having to look at ways to cut costs to be able to survive going forward. This is where tough decisions are needing to be made. Making redundancies is an awful thing to have to do, but if you’re the employer there are things you can do to soften the blow and help your employees on their next steps...
Provide notice
Try and give your employee as much notice as possible, if they are at risk of redundancy then let them know about it as soon as possible. This gives them more time to prepare for every eventuality, save some extra money and forewarn their families. It isn’t always possible to do but if it can be done, it will be appreciated by the employee.
Offer support
This will most likely be devastating news for someone and this is where you can do your best to help them get on their feet again. Look at writing a personal reference so that your employer can take that to future interviews, this can also be done on LinkedIn which will help them look more desirable to potential employers.
Each individual will react to this kind of news differently and it may be the case that they need counselling or financial advice. If this is something that your business can offer then great, but if not, it will be good to get some useful numbers/websites in advance of the meeting to be able to offer to your staff facing redundancy.
Job searching and training
It might not always be possible but offering a one to one meeting in which you can prep your team member for an interview with your expertise could be very beneficial. It may also be that you can recommend a few training courses to help them have a better chance of getting the role.
It’s important to note, you must pay employees for any time they take off to look for new work or partake in training to help with their next role. This does not need to be more than 40% of a week’s pay, despite the amount of time off you allow.
Fast track back into the business
If possible, you could offer employees the option to come back on a fast track process when the market strengthens. This shouldn’t be something that the employee has to do, but it’s nice to know they will have the chance in the future to come back without needing a formal interview.
Support colleagues who need to break the news
It can be a very stressful job for whoever has to let someone go at no fault of their own, whether that’s yourself or a colleague. There are a few things to bear in mind too, its important prior to the meeting to understand in detail the organisations plans, know exactly why the redundancies are being made and understand the support that employees can get from trade unions. This will ensure you can give your staff the most up to date information.
Consult a recruitment agency or HR specialist
With an abundance of industry knowledge, recruitment agencies like Stonor, will be able to help advise your staff on their next steps. It’s best to pick agencies who specialise in the area you work in as they will have a better idea about individual requirements. Giving your staff member information about agencies to work with will help provide a chance of moving into their next role.
Stonor Recruitment have put together a job seeker checklist which includes tips of what to do when you’re looking for your next role. If you’ve been made redundant or would like to chat to one of our marketing recruitment consultants then get in touch with Charlie Griffiths on charlie@stonorsearch.com.