There is a huge section of the UK workforce that, at present, is immune from the fear of redundancy and job security – those people employed in the public sector. That is not to say that those people are not afraid of falling house prices or increased mortgage rates. But, that they are incomparable with the fear of losing your job.

Practical actions

Having lived and worked through three major recessions and seen four million unemployed in the UK, I have learned that every recession is different. There are positive practical actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of redundancy or if made redundant can help them back into employment more quickly. There are also actions that will help the individual to gain that all-important fulfilment of job satisfaction. 

When facing redundancy - excel in your job

Where redundancy is on the horizon don’t just sit back and wallow in self-pity. Be careful not to do what most employees facing redundancy do: apply less effort, take more time off, care a little bit less and generally be a misery at work….

Instead, make it really difficult for management to make YOU redundant. Work a little bit harder. Be positive and supportive. Empathise with management as they too are going through a stressful time. Do more than your job asks of you. If you are customer-facing, do everything that you can to make sure that the customers like you and they need or depend on you. In other words, excel at your job.

Ask yourself these questions

Do your managers and colleagues regard you to be reliable and a ‘safe pair of hands’? If you are asked to do something, do you really deliver? Will management regard you as the last person to go before the ship sinks? Make yourself the person no-one can do without.

Downward turn

That said, in a downward economy even your best efforts may not prevent you from being made redundant. However, if you have applied yourself and worked hard, you will leave with your pride intact and more self-confident, making it easier for you to gain new employment. Be careful though – this confidence and self-belief can dissipate quickly until you are working again, so it is important to limit the time you are unemployed as much as possible.

Turning redundancy into an opportunity

As soon as redundancy is looking likely this is the time to start looking for other employment whilst also undertaking your ‘master plan’ on how to become an indispensable employee!  Do not start looking on the day that you lose your job as this is one time in your life where you must seriously think ‘outside of the box’. Do not just look for an identical position – redundancy should be viewed as an opportunity to broaden your experience and do something different or more challenging.  Be absolutely open-minded and think about all of the skills and experience that you have gained that would enable you to be successful in another career. 

Self-belief

The fact that you are reading this article means that you have already an ingredient that most wise employers look for and that is the right attitude. You may be looking for new ideas and for self-improvement and that already makes you different and a cut-above-the-rest. Self-improvement is still something in the UK that is regarded by the chattering classes as derisory. Let them criticise and pooh-pooh self-improvement. No monument has ever been erected to a critic, only to those who have been criticised. Being positive and genuinely enthusiastic, willing to adapt or just being a person that others would like to have around will unquestionably be the major ingredient in helping you back into employment.

Can-do attitude

Looking for the job of your dreams can be a lengthy process; whilst you search the Internet, scan the newspapers and meet with recruitment agencies, taking a part-time job will keep your confidence up, give you something to do on the quiet days and pay the bills. It may not be the job you want, but any work is better than no work and, as they say, it is easier to get a job when in a job. Taking a part-time job, even if it doesn’t pay as well, will show motivation and dedication to future employers and a ‘can-do’ attitude, rather than sitting around reading papers and watching TV hoping that the phone is going to ring.

Interview

Lastly, when you go for an interview dress for the job you want not for the one you’ve got and be really interested in the company and think what you could do for them rather than what they can do for you. Good luck, great success and remember in every adversity there is an equivalent or greater benefit.