Call for compulsory post-reduncancy assist

HR leaders call for
compulsory post-reduncancy assistance, as new research found that both
employers and employees in the UK are calling for career transition services to
be compulsory.

Almost two thirds of employers go so far as to
say that the Government should offer funding to help provide this kind of
support – rising to 72 percent of employers in the public sector. The survey,
which questioned almost 300 HR professionals and line managers and over 750
employees across the public, private and voluntary sectors, found that 47
percent of employers believe it should be compulsory for organisations to
provide career transition services to staff being made redundant. It also shows
that despite signs of recovery, organisations are still experiencing change
with 41 percent of private sector employees and 50 percent of public sector
employees expecting further redundancies in the next twelve months.

The majority of staff who have been made redundant said they used support

when it was offered by their employer (80
percent). However more than half said if they were going to be made redundant
the main area they would like support is with finding a new job. The overwhelming advantage of career transition
services for employers is the protection of the employer brand; over 60 percent
reported the greatest benefit is in ensuring that staff leave on favourable
terms. Career transition services can work by helping employees regain their
confidence and find a new job, both of which were cited twice as often as CV or
career path advice.

The potential impact of career transition services is clear. Aside from the financial impact, employees identified the feeling of failure (39 percent) as
the
biggest impact of redundancy. For those that had received support from their employer, the biggest negative factor was loss of structure to the day (just
28 percent).

Despite the clear benefits of career transition support, 73 percent of
employees reported no support from employers when being made redundant. “It’s
critical that redundancies are handled

well, to avoid creating problems further down
the line,” said Mark Staniland, Managing Director of Hays. “A better
use of available funds may be to focus on those employees experiencing
redundancy and offering them practical help to find another job quickly, as
ultimately this will save the Government purse. With a difficult time expected
in the public sector this year, a way to help this issue would be for the
Government to encourage organisations there to use services which make sure
that any employees who experience redundancy don’t lose confidence and have
effective help in finding a new job, thereby keeping them in employment.”

24 June 2010