10 Tips for Startup Founders to best support employees during redundancy
As an employee, redundancy is very rarely something you’d wish for. Likewise, as an employer, making employees redundant is never something you’d want to have to go through and action. The entire process has to be one of the most stressful things that can happen in the world of work, and this is only made worse by COVID. There are plenty of articles and guides on the process of making UK employees redundant, but much less written on the more human, emotional elements that often come to the forefront during a redundancy period.
With this in mind, we thought it only wise to offer some helpful and relevant tips to best support employees during the process of redundancy.
1 What is redundancy?
Redundancy is NOT sacking people. Redundancy is when a business has to reduce its workforce due to market/business conditions.
COVID has understandably meant that many businesses are having to reconsider employee numbers, so redundancy is sadly on the cards for some employees, at both established tech startups and within the traditional business sectors.
2. Follow the process
This is not an article focused on following the redundancy process. However, as a clear reminder, there are legalities that must be followed. This can be anything from avoiding said redundancies, consultations, notice periods, and redundancy pay. Make sure to follow a step by step process to make sure that each employee is looked after.
3 Avoid them hearing about it before you tell them
Chances are that redundancy, at least from the employer's perspective, will not come out of the blue. It may well be that there have been a number of senior management meetings to get to this point and to make ‘that’ decision.
Keep those conversations, those meeting notes and that decision private until you have been able to communicate it out to those that are potentially affected. There can be little worse, than hearing second hand that redundancy is on the cards so where at all possible ensure that this never happens.
4 Communication
Redundancy is likely to be a stressful time for both you and any affected employees. As much as you may wish to just hide away, it’s very important that you remain professional and that you keep that communication channel open, providing regular and clear information and guidance.
Even if you have no real updates to give your people, don’t leave the communication channels silent, as this can cause frustration and anger from employees. It is better to communicate that you do not know timescales and outcomes yet, but you will provide an update at a certain given date.
Whilst the redundancy process is ongoing, continue to update them on how the business is doing and any new strategies and plans that you have. To suddenly feel ghosted from finding out about business news and updates can be tough for some under-consultation employees to take. And if there are doubts on what roles will go, be careful to communicate this at the very start, not halfway through the process as this will create more uncertainty and anxiety.
Offer compassion and understanding that this is a terrible situation that they face, but don’t attempt to make them feel momentarily better by offering them false hope that redundancies might be cancelled or reviewed.
Don’t be afraid to show that this is causing you pain as well, you are only human after all and no doubt you will have put your heart and soul into your company, but keep this in balance, don’t let your teams think that you only care about how this is affecting you.
Finally, don’t play favourites. If you have close relationships with some employees and not others, it is not appropriate to give some employees more news, more support and more hands-on care than others. Treat every potential redundant employee equally.
5 Listen
This will be as much about listening as it will be about talking, so make sure to give employees the chance to ask questions, to express their concerns, or to generally talk about the situation that they face. With so many people either furloughed or working from home, provide a range of options whether it is a group or individual zoom calls, or a walk and talk in the park.
If they ask questions, don’t just pay lip service to their concerns or queries - make sure to respond back - even if you don’t have a quick answer.
Employees that work for tech startups will have had a vested interest in the success of that business since the very beginning, and can even feel more than personally affected by the news, worried too about the long term survival of the business.
Listen to those concerns, but also appreciate that this situation will mean that they are also going to be very worried about their finances and future careers.
6 Try to avoid a redundancy consultation before a weekend or holiday
Where possible, try to start a redundancy consultation at the beginning of the week so that employees have the chance to process the news. There would be little worse for an employee than being told on a Friday, and then facing a whole weekend of uncertainty without the chance to ask follow-up questions.
In fact, even worse than being told on a Friday would be being told just before you go on a holiday from work. As an employer, try to look at employee holidays and as best as you can, avoid giving this bad news just before an employee has scheduled time off.
7 The job, not the person
Whilst this might not mean too much to the employees immediately, continue to remind them that it is their roles that are being made redundant, not them as a person, and it is not personal.
8 Importance of the last few days
During the last week and right through to the last day, many employees will understandably be feeling rather anxious and worried about the future. There is nothing worse than having zero communication from head office, personnel or senior management. Make sure to take the time to support these employees, to appreciate them for their contribution and, if requested, to respond to reference requests or recommendations as quickly and proactively as you can. A personal thank you will often go a long way.
9 Support them
You want your teams to know that you are supporting them, you want them to leave understanding that it is not them and you are doing everything you can to support them. It is a sign of excellent leadership if your teams exit during this very difficult time and still speak positively about you, the company and how they were treated during their redundancy.
Be proactive, get CVs and LinkedIn profiles from your team ready, and use your business network, whether that is online via LinkedIn, Founders groups, or local business networking communities, and highlight that some top quality candidates will be seeking employment.
Proactively leave LinkedIn recommendations for employees exiting the organisation, as they act as immediate personal testimonials. Let your teams know in advance what support you will be offering, and also let them know what they could be doing themselves to increase their chances of finding a new role.
Depending on your line of work and the industries your business works in, link up with an appropriate recruitment agency that can offer advice on career aspects such as, getting a LinkedIn profile optimised, creating a standout CV, interview tips, updating their skills via online learning courses and platforms, through to offering them potential relevant job opportunities along the way.
10 Support yourself
As a founder, letting people go is painful, and mentally draining on top of trying to keep your business afloat. It is important that you take care of your own mental health so you can best support your people. This could involve talking to mentors, or other Founders in similar situations. The important piece is to find time to talk with someone who will listen.
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