Do you want to know how to deal with retrenchment?
As someone from the employment world, I know the word retrenchment can be scary.
But, let’s face the truth. Every employee has the potential to face retrenchment.
Especially in a situation like now where the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting every part of our life including employment and job opportunities.
So, in this post, I am going to share how to deal with retrenchment. And this sharing is based on my personal experience of surviving two retrenchment exercises throughout my working years.
Table of Contents
- What is retrenchment?
- Why retrenchment is a scary thing?
- How to deal with retrenchment?
- How did I deal with two retrenchment exercises?
- What I can do differently to better deal with retrenchment?
- Final thoughts
What is retrenchment?
Generally, retrenchment means the act of removing an employee from the job, usually as a way to cut down the cost of employing the employee.
The word retrenchment itself can be rather scary for a wage earner. And some organizations are using very creative and cool names.
But, the result is the same, the loss of employment for the affected employee.
Why retrenchment is a scary thing?
Generally, everyone in the organization tries to avoid retrenchment. Be it the business owner, the head of department or employees.
The reasons could be:
1. Retrenchment causes uncertainties
When retrenchment takes place, everyone suffers:
- employer fear of negative impacts such as a drop in the organization’s productivity and staff performance.
- head of departments having a headache in deciding who to let go or who to maintain. Besides, having a hard time delivering the bad news to affected employees.
- affected employee fear of loss of income and might doubt their self-worth.
- unaffected employee fear of additional tasks and more responsibilities due to fewer headcounts. Besides feeling bad for affected colleagues.
2. Retrenchment causes emotional fallout
Those who have been retrenched would agree that retrenchment also causes emotional fallout.
Some of the examples of emotional fallout:
- Retrenchment can cause the affected employee to feel shame for not being able to stay back.
- The affected employees start to question their worthiness and may have doubts about their professional careers.
- Also, they might have anger toward the manager who delivers the bad news to them.
- Those affected might be feeling angry towards the management for the decision and other colleagues who stay back.
In other words, whether losing the job or staying back, both have negative impacts on the employees.
Therefore, retrenchment is a scary thing and can cause depression, especially in the affected employees.
How to deal with retrenchment?
So, how to deal with retrenchment?
I am sure when you first heard about the retrenchment news in your employment, you will be worried.
And these thoughts naturally surface:
- am I affected?
- will I lose my job?
- are they going to compensate me?
- can I survive without my current income?
In fact, it is normal to feel worried and have fear of retrenchment.
Based on my own experience, I suggest the following on how to deal with retrenchment:
1. Always be prepared
My first thought is always to be prepared for a retrenchment. It does not matter how big or established the organization is, no employee is immune to retrenchment.
In other words, if you are an employee, always be prepared for a retrenchment.
So, when you accept a job offer, here are some of the ways you can better prepare yourself in case of any retrenchment exercise:
- Don’t talk rubbish. But do your work and prove your ability.
- Smartly avoid office politics and gossip. You can keep your ears open. But, filter information wisely.
- Don’t purposely create conflict, especially with someone with higher authority. Because you never know if that someone will find a way to include your name in the retrenchment list.
- Have a good performance and achieve your KPI. So that there is a good reason for the company to keep you.
- Establish good teamwork with all levels of employees. Because an employer usually prefers to keep people who can work well with others.
On top of the above, I also suggest the following to better prepare yourself for uncertainties at the workplace:
- Invest and level up your skills to improve your marketability.
- Create multiple sources of income so you are not solely relying on employment income.
- Not forgetting to have sufficient emergency savings in case of job loss.
If you are always prepared for a retrenchment, then dealing with retrenchment becomes much easier.
Even if you are facing a retrenchment now, at least you know that it is very important to always be prepared to face retrenchment in your next employment.
2. Be clear about the situation
When a retrenchment rumour surfaces in the organization, most probably you become panicked.
After some time, or maybe a couple of days, when you calm down, consider the following:
- Don’t speculate about the news. Instead, take initiative to find out the truth such as:
- Ask Human Resources or a reliable insider if the retrenchment news is a real thing or just a rumour.
- If yes, how serious is the situation (how many staff will be affected)?
- And when the employer is going to take action?
- Don’t trust all you hear because:
- At times like this, people love to gossip and spread rumours.
- Also, people tend to put themselves as a higher priority.
- In other words, people become selfish, even your trusted colleague can be very selfish. So, be smart with all you hear.
- It is best to avoid juicy gossip even though it is very tempting to know who is affected.
- Continue to do your work. Because you are paid for the work you do. I know it can be hard to concentrate at work, but just continue to do your work.
So, instead of wasting time on rumours which can create more worries, help yourself to clear all the doubts. And be clear about the current situation so that you can plan your moves.
If you are still not clear about the retrenchment rumours, it is better to have your backup plans ready.
3. Know the options you have
Now, this is the most important part of dealing with retrenchment. That is you need to know the options that you have.
So that when the employer officially announces the retrenchment exercise, you are well prepared.
Generally, there are two consequences of a retrenchment exercise – whether you are affected or not affected.
1. Affected by the retrenchment exercise
If you are affected by the retrenchment exercise, this means that you shall lose your employment.
Instead of wasting your energy on those negative emotions such as anger, regret or resentment, I suggest the following:
- Check if there is a compensation plan. If yes, study the compensation plan. See if you can negotiate for better benefits.
- And ask about the possibility of extending some employee benefits until your next employment.
- If needed, get help to ensure you are compensated according to the Labour law.
- Take care not to burn bridges. Because some industries can be a very small circle. You never know who you will meet again.
- And don’t get angry with the management team, superior or colleagues. Instead, bid farewell nicely.
- Move on according to your backup plans.
I can understand it won’t be easy to think and act rationally when being retrenched. Especially if you have spent many years in that employment.
But, if the employer has made the decision, there is no point to fight to stay on. Therefore, think and act rationally, not emotionally.
2. Not affected by the retrenchment exercise
If you are not affected by the retrenchment exercise, you still need to take note of the following:
- Be ready for a change of roles to suit the company’s needs.
- You might need to take up additional responsibilities.
- Be prepared for more workload and tougher time ahead because the employee who stays put needs to cover the work of those staff been laid off.
- Have backup plans ready because you never know if there is a second wave of retrenchment exercise.
In some cases, the employee who stays back in a retrenchment exercise might find that it is equally hard to cope with the demanding and challenging work situation.
Therefore, for those who stay back, it does not necessary means a good thing.
How did I deal with two retrenchment exercises?
As mentioned above, personally, I had been through two retrenchment exercises.
Although my name was not on both retrenchment lists, there were a lot of changes to my job roles.
Below, I share how I survived both of the retrenchment exercises.
1. Surviving my first retrenchment exercise
About 5 years into my employment, my then employer had to reduce the number of staff due to the Mergers and Acquisitions exercise.
It was my first retrenchment experience. The fear was real.
I recalled it happened suddenly. My colleagues and I were told if we were affected, we shall receive an email in the next two days.
From what I know, many things happened in those two days. Among them, superiors found it hard to pick names from their team to be on the retrenchment list.
Even though I was not affected and I continued working there, I had to make major changes in my job role.
Among them:
- I had to take up additional job roles.
- I was from the support team stationed in the office. Because of the retrenchment exercise, I had to take up additional roles to do sales.
- An additional job role meant additional tasks and responsibilities.
- The retrenchment exercise removed the other two support teammates. This brought an additional workload and new responsibilities to hit the sales target.
Thinking back, those were tough years. But, one thing is for sure, those were among my best years.
2. Surviving my second retrenchment exercise
A few years later, I had my second retrenchment exercise.
Even though I was more experienced and ready for the retrenchment, the fear was still there. Also, the feeling of being on the ‘unwanted list’ was really demotivating and crushing a person’s self-esteem.
A part of me doesn’t want to be on the ‘unwanted list’. While the other part of me was hoping my name to be on the retrenchment list. So that I can receive the compensation and then move on.
Unfortunately, my name was not on the ‘unwanted list’. Instead, I was offered a different job role by another section in the group of companies.
As expected, there were major changes in job roles and reporting lines. Again, I learned new things and make new friends.
Perhaps, these are the reasons I survived my second retrenchment exercise:
- Built a trusted relationship with superiors and others.
- Willing to take up different roles within the organization.
- Willing to learn new things. I meant totally new things.
- Being useful to the organization and not a problematic employee.
Among the reasons above, I think it is the trust that my then superior had in me that leads me to the new opportunity. I am always grateful for her reference.
What I can do differently to better deal with retrenchment?
The above is just two of my experience dealing with job insecurity.
Throughout my employment years, I also experienced other job insecurities such as:
- employment downsizing causing the need to multi-task among employees.
- financial crisis causing no bonus or increment.
- business realignment changes the way tasks are performed differently.
Thinking back, these are the things that I can do differently to make my retrenchment a better experience:
1. Actively looking for better opportunities
Instead of just staying back with the same employer, I should venture and look for better opportunities elsewhere.
By changing to a new job with a new environment, I am sure there are more valuable lessons learned.
2. Don’t stay too long in a job
Some say changing jobs every four years benefits you.
Personally, I think changing jobs every four to five years is a good idea. Other than the list of benefits you can read from the article itself, working too long in a job has negative impacts as below:
- Can make you feel complacent. When you feel complacent, you are not interested to do your best. Next, you don’t feel motivated at work. And you become lazy.
- Can make you feel extremely hard to let go of your job and things you have accumulated along the way. Among them, are employment benefits, great teammates, good memories and all the good things.
The longer you stay in a job or employment, the harder it is for you to let go. Trust me, you will need a lot of courage to step out of your comfort zone.
Therefore, leave the company before the company leaves you.
3. Avoid overcommitment at work
I should have learned to say “No” to reduce overcommitment at work. Rather than just accepting tasks and doing my very best, even if I need to sacrifice my own personal time after working hours.
During the first retrenchment exercise, my colleague and I were feeling angry because we had put a lot of effort into our job.
Thinking back, there is no point to feel angry. I cannot change what has been done.
What I can do is learn from it and plan for the future.
Final thoughts
Retrenchment can be a really scary experience, especially for those who are not prepared for it.
But, as mentioned earlier, as long as you are in employment, there is the possibility of facing retrenchment. Treat it as a part of the employment thing.
Therefore, it is important to know how to deal with retrenchment or even VSS and MSS.
Overall, I strongly believe ‘Being prepared and Being able to adapt‘ are the two most important things to survive a retrenchment exercise.
Do remember life does not end when being retrenched, but it might mean a new path is about to start. For many, it is a path that is more interesting, joyful and meaningful.
With that, I hope my sharing on how to deal with retrenchment is beneficial to you.
Image Credits
Image by Peter H from Pixabay
