Managing Redundancy

Redundancy in the UK and Ireland comes with clear legal requirements. Employers must have a genuine business reason, apply a fair selection process, consult meaningfully and explore suitable alternative roles. Complying with the legal requirements is only one part of the process. Many employers tend to overlook other important areas including the effects on those whose roles are not made redundant. 

How organisations communicate with their workforce throughout and after the process has a direct impact on trust, wellbeing and morale.

Below are some practical tips to assist employers in a redundancy situation.

Prepare Managers

Managers are usually the ones delivering difficult updates. Without preparation those conversations can quickly go wrong. Providing managers with adequate training and information so they know how the process works, what language to use, and how to handle a wide range of emotional reactions is paramount. They should feel confident to answer follow up questions and to offer support throughout.

Anticipate & Plan

Anticipating the questions employees are likely to ask and being clear on the responses can help all involved. Anticipating all manner of reactions can also help managers to be more prepared.

Consistent Communications

Language should focus on the business reasons behind the change and highlight that it is roles that are at risk of redundancy, and not individual people. Ultimately if a role is made redundant then that role holder may be subsequently dismissed by reason of redundancy if a suitable alternative role is not found. Consistency in how you explain the situation helps avoid this. Verbal and written communications (including emails, meeting invites and letters) should all reinforce the same core message/s in a clear and respectful tone.

Lead with Empathy

Redundancy is difficult for all involved. When leaders and managers respond with empathy rather than detachment employees tend to feel valued even in those difficult circumstances. People tend to remember how others made them feel, therefore it’s important to keep this in mind, compassion is key.

Timing

When you decide to communicate any news or updates is important as it can affect how people cope. It’s usually best to communicate mid-week as that allows people time to process the information and to follow up with any queries they may have.

Keeping In touch

After the initial announcement regular contact and updates reassure people that they have not been left in the dark. This ongoing connection can significantly reduce stress at a time when employees may feel uncertain about their future.

Providing Support

Repeatedly signposting those affected to any available support throughout the process is vital. Providing outplacement support for anyone whose role is ultimately redundant can be immensely valuable in assisting them and also how they view your organisation.

It’s important to remember that Managers need to be supported before, during and after the process, having HR expertise throughout can be exceptionally helpful.

Following a redundancy process, the remaining employees may worry about the security of their own roles. It is common that remaining employees are given additional work to do, so ensuring this is planned and managed with adequate support made available is essential.

Post Redundancy Leadership

Following a redundancy process it is recommended that the most senior leader (CEO / MD) holds a meeting (ideally) or issues a communication to provide clarity and reasoning for what has just happened, this often reduces uncertainty, increases understanding and boosts morale.

Important note for HR practitioners regarding collective redundancy notification:

In Great Britain the notification process via the HR1 form moved to an e-form submission from the start of this month, with the previous method of submission via email no longer accepted. The confirmation email doesn’t provide a copy of your submitted form, so it’s important to be aware that you need to download and save a copy of the completed form before pressing the submit button.

In Northern Ireland the notification process to NISRA remains the same with the form being completed and then emailed.

In Ireland the notification process to the WRC remains the same with the form being completed and then emailed.

At AHR we gave extensive experience in carrying out redundancies in both the UK and Ireland and can support employers if they are in a potential redundancy situation. You can contact us for support via the following link: Contact | A Human Resource | AHR.

The following organisations provide helpful codes of practice for handling redundancy in the following jurisdictions:

GB: https://www.acas.org.uk/ 

NI: https://www.lra.org.uk/ 

IE: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en