Hello KSKOers
I’ve been thinking a lot about redundancy lately. I’ve walked along the path with my colleagues over the last few months and now I too am heading for another instance where one door closes and another opens. So, I thought I’d share with you my reflections and reminiscences of my first redundancy in 2019 and what I learned from it.
If you’re going through it right now, I wish you care, kindness, strength and calm. You will get through it, and you’ll come out stronger on the other side, I have no doubt.
This article is usually for paid subscribers, but I thought this one would benefit more people if it was free.
Looking forward to joining you on your learning journey!
In 2019 my role was made redundant. The notice came out the first week in January.
From 2017 to 2019. I’d lead a restructure of my team and was very wise to the fact that the next time around, it could be me. I knew that rather than leading a restructure I might be the one being restructured next time. I had this little mantra in my head…
“If they’ll do it with you, they’ll do it to you.”
So, I always carried Plan B in my back pocket
I’d worked in the organisation for nearly eight years and I absolutely loved every minute of my job. I’d decided, maybe six months before, that I would start looking for another job, whilst I still loved the one I was in. I knew that I didn’t want to hang around long enough to find myself hating my job. I’d been there before and remembered the sense of desperation at not being able to find a way out. I didn’t want to be in that position again – like a cat scrabbling up the walls of a slippery well. I wanted to leave when I had time to be choosy and reflect on my next career move before jumping. But, during my choosy-era, the notice came that voluntary redundancy was on offer.
After six months of passively looking, I realised that the opportunities for me were limited. The roles I was interested in were few and far between. The public sector’s financial situation meant that people were remaining in their roles to see out their ticket. For roles that were vacated, organisations were deleting them from the structure as soon as the incumbent’s heel hit the pavement. Financial efficiency was the strategic imperative and role deletion was the solution.
The only option was to go where the opportunities were.
It was an incredibly exciting time and I was gleefully delighted to be offered a nice little redundancy package after 19 years of work. I started actively looking for jobs and discovered that the Avalon of opportunities was in the Old Smoke: London. I packed up my husband, my house and my dog and we moved 175 miles east to explore what the City had to offer.
Unexpected opportunities presented themselves and I was drawn back to the National Health Service – in England this time, instead of Wales – which is a very different machine.
About 18 months later, after the excitement of the move, and the new job and the new City became the norm, the realisation of redundancy hit me. I can’t remember what situation prompted it or who I was with or what triggered the thought. But, I felt an overwhelming sense of anger that my previous organisation had put me in the position of having to choose, and a sense of grief that they were happy to let me. It was a momentary and fleeting sense, but one that’s………………
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