Managing your redundancy process effectively

You’ll have read recently in the news about British Airways axing up to 12,000 job roles. 6,000 have volunteered for redundancy whilst 4,000 have had compulsory layoffs. We feel a huge amount of compassion for those employees and are deeply saddened by the number of redundancies rising throughout this worldwide pandemic. With so many people struggling through this period of time we thought it was essential to write an article which informed you how to manage your redundancy process effectively, fairly and kindly. You may not need to make anyone redundant now and you should always take every step possible to avoid making anyone redundant. However, should the time arise you will be equipped to support your employees in the kindest way possible and manage your redundancy process effectively.

How to handle your redundancy process in the best way possible

The news has been flooded with tragic stories from British Airways employees, detailing how they were pushed out of the company. The BBC recently published an article explaining how employees felt forced to leave and how the entire redundancy process felt very underhand. Here a few examples below:

Carol, who had worked for BA for 23 years, told the BBC: "Even before I had accepted the voluntary redundancy offer, I had a message on my roster from BA: 'Thank you for your service. Good luck'. That is all I got from them after 23 years.
"It's a slap in the face, but it shows they knew who they were getting rid of," she said. She says she will be forced to sell her home since her redundancy payment won't cover her mortgage.
"It's actually age discrimination, we were forced out."
Erica - again, not her real name - had been with British Airways long enough to remember being cabin crew on a Concorde jet, but accepted voluntary redundancy after seeing the brand airline turn into a "toxic work environment".
"The way they dealt with this was so underhand," she said.
"Yes coronavirus has had a terrible impact on the industry, but these are permanent pay cuts to what is a temporary problem. But this is a restructure that BA has wanted for a long time".

We can’t comment on whether this is true but what we can do is give you pointers of how not to make these mistakes yourself.

Don’t treat your redundancy process like ‘business as usual’

A redundancy can have a huge impact on a person’s self-esteem and wellbeing and it shouldn’t be treated like an everyday practice. You must approach your redundancy process with kindness, compassion and respect. Being mindful and showing empathy can transform how an employee copes with the situation. This is especially true during the pandemic as anxieties are already running high. People will be worried about health and how sparse the job market is at the moment. You should always consult your staff face to face unless you have 1000s of staff to take through the redundancy process which means face to face consultations won’t be possible.

To act respectfully you should be honest throughout the entire process, always let them express their concerns to you and never dismiss them as unimportant. Make it obvious that you understand their worries and give any advice or support which will help them through the difficult period. Here are a list of helpful sites to guide your employees to:

Alternatively, you can create your own guide of how to support employees after redundancy. This shows that you’ve put the time in to fully support your employees and demonstrates that you care.

Hold a redundancy consultation

You have to notify all employees that you are entering a redundancy phase to let everyone know that they could be at risk and give them time to process the news. Not doing this could be grounds for unfair dismissal and lead to an employment tribunal. There is a minimum time period from when you hold your consultation to when you can dismiss an employee:

Your redundancy consultation should include:

Why you are making people redundant?
How many people you are expecting to make redundant?
Which parts of the business will be affected?
Reiterate that the cuts are because of company performance not their performance as an individual.
When do you expect the redundancies to happen?
How they will be carried out?

It is fair if you send a risk of redundancy letter to all employees who are at risk of losing their job. You should carefully consider who this letter comes from. It is usually best to have it from the CEO however, if an employee has a closer relationship with their line manager this would make more sense. It should look something like this:

Dear (name),

Unfortunately (company name) has seen a significant decline in revenue. Because of this we have had to dramatically cut costs which has led us to consider reducing the need for certain departments.

We are sincerely sorry to say that the (department name) department is one which is now under analysis so it is our duty to inform you that your position as (their role) could be at risk. We want to reiterate that this is purely due to company cuts and not down to your performance.

This is not final and we still have to come to an ultimate decision. We will do our best to figure out possible ways for you to stay but this has been an incredible difficult situation and unfortunately some employees will have to leave.

We regret having to send you this letter and wanted to give you adequate warning so you can cope with the situation better should it be your position that is made redundant. We appreciate this news will have a serious impact on you and we would invite you to tell us as any questions you have at this time. We will be here to support you.

Kind regards,

(your name)

Give your employees an agreed leaving date

After you’ve held your consultations and your final decision has been made. You will need to give your employees an agreed leave date. This will be based on how long they have worked at your company. The minimum notice periods are as follows:

However, we would suggest agreeing a leave date as early as possible. This means you can give your redundant employees a lot more time to cope and handle the situation. You don’t want to create anymore stress than needed.

Don’t undervalue the importance of your goodbye

Being made redundant is exceptionally hard for any person to take. It changes the life for a person as they know it and opens the floodgate for financial worries, career anxieties and instability. For a lot of employees it will also come as a shock which will hit them even harder. Not placing value on the last message you send your employee can leave a bitter taste in their mouth. This is especially true if they have served your company for a long period of time. As one British Airways employee stated "Even before I had accepted the voluntary redundancy offer, I had a message on my roster from BA: 'Thank you for your service. Good luck'. That is all I got from them after 23 years. It's a slap in the face.”

Even if you have to send thousands of blanket emails, it’s still crucial that you put thought, care and attention into your farewell message. You must let your employees know how much you appreciated their hard work and leave on a good, positive note.

Tips for writing a good farewell email when you make an employee redundant

Thank your employee for their time with you.
Tell them how much they helped you and what they helped you with.
Let them know that they will be missed.
Express your sadness and sorrow for them leaving.
Wish them good luck for the future and tell them what confidence you have in them succeeding.

Free Template

Dear (name),

We want to thank you profusely for your time at (company name). You have been an incredible addition to the team and have helped us so much with _______ through the (number) years which you have been with us. Your contribution in this area has helped us achieve _______ and improve _______ so we can’t thank you enough.

It goes without saying that you will be sorely missed by everyone here at (company name). We are genuinely saddened by the decision to have to let you go and we hope that you understand.

We wish you all the very best luck for the future and have great confidence that you will flourish in your next position. You have been a key player in our team and we hope you continue to impress your future employers.

Thanks so much (name),

Yours sincerely,

(your name)

The template above could also be used as a reference for future employers.

Don’t forget about the employees who haven’t been made redundant

Going through a redundancy process is a hard and stressful time for everyone. It denotes feelings of uncertainty and fear for all employees involved. But during this time it can be all too easy to forget about those employees who still have their jobs. Although they will be feeling relieved that they haven’t been made redundant. They will also be feeling fearful about what is in store for them. Putting a plan in place for the ‘survivors’ of your redundancy process is a crucial part of managing your redundancy process effectively.

You need to ramp up your communications and keep these employees in the loop every step of the way.
You need to be positive and tell them your plans going forward.
You need to make them feel valued, tell them how much you appreciate their hard work and how crucial their role is to the company.
Reiterate open communication with them and let them know that they can come to you at any time with questions or concerns.

We hope that this article will aid you in managing your redundancy process effectively and fairly. Let’s treat all employees with the respect and kindness that they deserve.

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