“If you have never been made redundant, it’s very difficult to imagine how it feels.”

It wasn’t so long ago that being made redundant was viewed as catastrophic. Apart from losing a regular income people often felt a real loss of identity and that there was a stigma attached to the whole issue of redundancy.

Although redundancy today can still cause people a lot of distress and personal worry, there is little or no stigma attached to it as we all appreciate these days that there are very few ‘jobs for life’.

The important aspect of dealing with redundancy in the 21st century is to have adopted a well-established attitude to the world of work and, perhaps, to view work and your role within the workplace very differently to how it was viewed some 20 or so years ago.

For some people redundancy is seen as a great opportunity to do something different. However for many people, particularly those who have been in a position for some years, it is seen as traumatic and surviving the experience and moving on requires support and understanding.

Individuals can console themselves with the fact that they have not totally lost their career, only their temporary employment status as a result of recession. They can of course be positive and face the future by looking for new opportunities, and enlisting on retraining programmes.

A large percentage of people who become redundant, usually find suitable employment again in a relatively short space of time, however, in recession, their efforts will need to be more focused, self motivated, organised and thoroughly persistent, because the qualification and selection process will be more stringent.

Organisations are not exempt from these challenges during these difficult times. Many find themselves needing to make changes to survive, be that restructuring or reducing their workforce. It is imperative that these changes are effectively managed to maintain morale, retain key people and develop talent.

There is no doubt that more organisations are recognising the important part that good outplacement provision can play as the economic situation becomes more challenging.

The benefits flow through the entire organisation from those taking part in the service, the impact on the morale of those still within the organisation plus the positive impact on corporate social responsibility.

The essential requirements of any redundancy programme are good communication, timely planning, careful analysis, effective consultation with those affected, sensitivity in approach, appropriate support, and reliable after care and back up.

Whether you are an organisation looking to make changes resulting in redundancies or an individual who is about to be or has been made redundant Platinum Training Solutions can help you.

Platinum have years of experience helping a wide range of organisations and individuals develop and achieve their goals.

Platinum’s ‘All Change’ programme has been developed to deliver bespoke solutions for individuals and groups and provide innovative solutions for major restructuring or small – large scale redundancies.

Whilst focussing on encouraging people to think positively about change, we are well equipped to deal with the full range of emotions associated with redundancy and the need to rebuild self-esteem and individual confidence.

Platinum recognise that every organisation is unique in its requirements for its people and we work closely with your organisation's senior HR or management team to ensure that we meet those requirements. We believe that our strength lies in our versatility and ability to design bespoke programmes around the needs and aspirations of those individuals who will be participating rather than a 'one size fits all' approach.

To find out more about our services contact Marion Coles on 01727 847080 or email info@platinum-ts.co.uk.

For more information on our "All Change" programmes see below.