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Redundancy: A Chance to Re-evaluate

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The current economic uncertainty that the UK, and other countries across the world, are facing will undoubtedly make many feel unsettled about their job security and redundancy. 

That dreaded ‘R’ word can throw up a lot of valid emotions including stress, anxiety and feeling expendable. However, when paired with the right mentality and open mindedness, it can also present new and exciting opportunities. Moreover, it can provide you with a chance to evaluate your values and career direction. 

This blog will examine a few areas in work that can bring added richness into your careers and consequently your lives, and hopefully provide useful food for thought if you ever find yourself at a career-crossroads, redundancy or another type.

Flexible Working 

Since the pandemic, many employees and employers have reaped the benefits of flexible or remote working. And, even with the return to a relatively normal, pre-pandemic era, it appears that flexible working is here to stay. 

A study from LiveCareer found that all generations wanted flexibility with their working options and 9 in 10 respondents declared that a work-life balance was important to them. Working remotely, or on a hybrid basis, allows workers to fit their work around their lives rather than their life around their work. 

This greater flexibility has given both employers and employees alike  improved job satisfaction, engagement and loyalty. Reduced absenteeism and burnout from stress are other benefits.

The trend of flexible working only seems to be gathering more momentum too, with a 4 day work week becoming permanent in some companies as the result of a trial that saw far greater employee productivity on 80% of their hours.

Granted, not all work can be done remotely, but, when evaluating your next career steps, you may decide it is equally important to you to be given greater control over how, when and where you get to work. 

Entrepreneurship

Alternatively, you could decide to throw both caution and conventional office hours to the wind and invest your redundancy lump sum into a small business. As seen during the pandemic, Covid prompted a growth in creativity and people turning their hobbies into a business. So if being creative is something you value, then this could be an excellent opportunity to steer your career into a new direction. 

Whilst this seems like an incredibly daunting experience, there are many courses out there that can teach you the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, including creating a business plan, funding a startup and marketing your business successfully. Franchising could also be another option for you to explore. 

A previous Energise client, Martin, found both delight and success when he turned his passion for photography into a business after being made redundant. His new career could fit around his young children and he enjoyed the freedom of becoming his own boss – something that might not have happened if was not made redundant!

Meaningful Work

Ensuring that careers have meaning has become increasingly important for many workers and reflects a societal change in the perception of work as living standards improve. 

Whereas an occupation used to be a transactional process for a paycheck, now ‘meaningful work’ is something that is not just reserved for the human-rights lawyers and rocket scientists of the world. This is elucidated in a 2020 study from McKinsey & Company that found 82% of employees believed it was important for their company to have a purpose. 

Meaningful work, however, can be derived from many different areas depending on your values. For example, a job can satisfy a creative need or it could be used to further your skills or experience. Conversely, it may be important to you that your voice is heard within your company or that they have a positive societal or environmental impact. 

Any and more of these factors could be what contributes to your sense of meaningful work, but, whatever it is that can help drive your sense of purpose, it is clear that more and more workers are searching for meaning in their careers. And logically, it makes sense, people spend most of their time at work, it is what takes up most of our waking hours and even when we are not actively working, it can be challenging to disengage. 

Therefore, if you find yourself facing redundancy, seeking a new career that has a sense of purpose can leave you feeling more fulfilled in life as a whole. 

Get in touch today!

Whatever it is that you are looking for in your new career, a career coach can be an invaluable way to help you tap into your true values, career goals and what motivates you in the workplace. 

Whether it be a complete change, a new business venture or a twist on your old job, get in touch with us today for advice on life after redundancy. 

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Becoming self employed following redundancy

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This blog shares an example of  one of our clients – an employee who was made redundant and who successfully became a self employed consultant working with a number of customers.  

From employee to self employed consultant – Chris

When we worked together, Chris had been out of work for some time following redundancy and was starting to get quite depressed about the whole situation and any prospects of moving his life forward.

We helped him to come to the conclusion that he needed to change his approach completely and to start his own business.

He was nervous about taking such a big step, but we helped him to see that he had skills that could be very valuable to various companies and to tackle any fears head on.

His choice to become self employed was a pragmatic one in a jobs market where many companies were reluctant to increase headcount and take on full time staff,  so spreading his expertise at a lower investment working with a number of customers was a wise option for uncertain times.

The first few months were a steep learning curve for Chris and quite scary as he switched from looking for a job to seeking paying customers. He achieved customers using social media, a minimum budget, and using his initiative and persistence. 

He is now in a position where he is working regularly for a number of companies and generating the same income he had in his last job, only without the commute to work.

He is now doing work he loves instead of work he hates. So redundancy, while challenging to deal with at the time, resulted in much personal growth, building emotional resilience, the ability to do marketing and sales and a great end result with many benefits.

“Life really has shifted for me and I wanted to say thank you for giving me the insight to see where I needed to go.”  

Chris Ball, Social media expert

Energise future-proof your career summer school

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Energise Future-Proof Your Career Summer School.

6-week Summer School to create peace of mind in an uncertain world. Starts 12-1pm Tuesday 29 July 2020. Book now – limited places.

See EventBrite link for details:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-energise-future-proof-your-career-summer-school-2020-tickets-113878228848

Redundancy – problem or new opportunity?

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How are you feeling about the ‘R’ word?

If you are over 40, then you will remember the late 1980’s/early 1990’s when redundancy and negative equity were commonplace.

I was made redundant in the late 80’s. It was very stressful at the time, but a problem became an opportunity as it was the beginning of my career going in a direction that was more true to me.

I used my redundancy money to pay off my debts and give my discoloured teeth ‘a face lift’ with some porcelain veneer crowns, so redundancy ironically helped put the smile back on my face!!!

The positive aspects of redundancy

All the clients I have ever worked with who have been made redundant have gone on to something better. Did you know that only 20% of people actually enjoy their work?

Often we fall into a job almost by accident, choose a career because our parents did it or thought it a ‘proper’ profession e.g. law or accountancy, or perhaps a teacher influenced our choices. 

Companies can take a short-term view of saving costs, cutting headcount without considering the longer-term implications of losing people or having a talent shortage post recession. 

If redundancy is a possibility for you, it’s worth having a chat with your employer about your skills being redeployed in the business differently, reducing your hours, or having a sabbatical.

Redundancy = new beginning

Redundancy can be a push to make a positive change, even if it feels out of your hands and more like an unwelcome shove that makes you angry and steals your confidence. A redundancy lump sum is often used to start a business or fund a training course to increase marketability.

Examine skill shortages = opportunity to retrain/up-skill

A skills shortage is an opportunity for people being made redundant to skill-up in the areas where there is a shortage. Sheep shearing or being a trained ballet dancer may not be your thing, but jobs such as an engineer, maths teacher or specialist nurses could be. Markets such as care homes, tech, big data and cyber security are growing for example.

Part of my role as a career strategist and coach is keeping up to date with changing trends – in demand skills and new emerging careers.

Get comfortable and competent marketing yourself

The British are very modest and people get so close to ourselves that we find it hard to see what makes us unique and marketable and how we can use these transferable skills in a different way. I can help.

The older we are and the more financial responsibilities and dependants we have, the harder and more risky the change feels.

A career crossroads is a positive opportunity to take a step back and look at who you are, what you want and how to get it.

We help our clients to achieve an uplifting breakthrough at major career crossroads such as redundancy, and have been doing career strategy coaching for over two decades.

How can we help you or someone you know at risk of redundancy?

Get in touch https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/portfolio/connect/