A few weeks on from the UK General Election and it’s business as usual for the newly formed government and MPs. However, for those 218 Members of Parliament who lost their seats in the early hours of July 5th, thoughts about what to do next and how to get there are only just starting to formulate.
Whether it’s a written news article or Jacob Rees-Mogg on Newsnight, we’re hearing variations of “I’m not sure what to do now” from those impacted. The stark change in identity and loss of immediate sense of purpose has left many adrift, with big decisions to be made and a lack of knowledge or skills to make a positive step forward.
This feeling is relatable to many
What struck me was that, behind the headlines, these are the struggles that thousands of people face on a weekly basis. When organisations have to make the difficult decision to restructure and make roles redundant, there are real people on the end of those decisions that are impacted both financially and psychologically.
The loss of income is perhaps the most obvious consequence of redundancy, but have you ever thoughts about the loss of direction and purpose? The loss of confidence? The lack of skills and knowledge to do something about it? The lack of support network to help reduce loneliness and isolation?
What employers can learn from the House of Commons
Last year the House of Commons introduced enhanced support for MPs losing their seats as a result of elections, to “smooth the cliff edge” of departure. As well as severance pay and a Loss of Office Payment, they also receive professional support with career planning, CV writing and interview techniques. In addition to benefiting the individual who lost their seat, part of the purpose of enhancing the exit package was to make it more appealing to be an MP in the first place and attract more people to the job. It was acknowledged that this kind of professional development offering was vital to capture the skills needed for a 21st century parliament.
It’s not just parliament that needs to consider this; if you want to attract and retain the best talent for your organisation, bringing the skills you need, either now or in the future, you should also be thinking about offering career support to your leavers following redundancy.
It starts with empathy
In helping guide people through this time of change, our professional outplacement service starts off by seeking to understand how each individual is feeling. Some people feel a sense of relief, freedom, or opportunity when redundancy strikes, while for others it’s the exact opposite, with a crippling level of fear, anxiety, or simply sadness. Next, we take the time to discover what that person is good at, the kind of organisation they see themselves working in next, and what they want from their career in the longer term. It’s only once we have discovered this key information that we can do such a great job on the practical skills around creating a knock-out CV and LinkedIn profile, and sending people off feeling confident and competent heading into interviews.
Just like for the MPs, offering comprehensive outplacement support to your leavers has the added benefit of improving your employer brand and helping you attract the best candidates and necessary skills, whenever you are in the position to do so.