Career Transition Counselling

Without doubt, job loss through restructuring or redundancy is a major event for everyone when it happens. Most of us invest so much of ourselves in what we do that job loss can take away our sense of status and belonging, as well as the routine and support that work provides. With our job forming so much of our identity, it leaves us feeling disoriented and lost - but it can also be a first step to positive job or career change.

Job-loss / change brings with it an array of emotions. The strength of the emotions depends on individual circumstances and other external influences - financial concerns, a deep attachment to the job, the immediate families' reaction amongst others can make coping more difficult. When managers and companies don't know how to kindly and sympathetically announce redundancies or terminations, their insensitivity can leave you feeling abandoned, betrayed, or incompetent.

Everyone reacts differently at first, although many, if not all, will experience at least some of these feelings:

• Shock and disbelief
• Anger and hostility
• Feeling like a failure
• Loss of self-confidence
• Anxiety
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Loss of control
• Distrust of employers and the company
• Blaming themselves
• Paranoia
• Jealousy

Dealing with loss is an emotional process, which is generally recognised to follow the Kubler-Ross 5-stage model:

1) Denial
“Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of situations and individuals that will be left behind.”

For anyone who has lost their job, denial protects them from experiencing the full force of the loss right away. They may feel shock or numbness about the situation when they are first told, especially if the redundancy is unexpected

Typical reactions - "I’m OK, it’s not a problem.", "This can't be happening, not to me."

2) Anger
“In this stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person may have misplaced feelings and envy.”

Redundant staff may be angry at their boss, company or even the other coworkers who are still employed. They don’t consider the feelings of those remaining, who may now feel angry at having to carry the additional workload.

Typical reactions - "Why me? It's not fair!", "How can this happen to me?", "It’s not my fault – it’s my boss”

3) Bargaining
“The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay the inevitable..."

When redundancy strikes, those involved can start to play mind-games with themselves, replaying past experiences in the job: “If I was the perfect employee, if only Id worked harder, I wouldn’t have lost my job.” None of this makes any difference though, and by going through this process it leads to ……

4) Depression
“During the fourth stage, the person begins to understand the certainty of the situation. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse to socialise and spend much of the time crying and grieving.”

Typical symptoms may include: Sleep and appetite changes, lack of energy or tearfulness. Redundant staff may feel lonely and isolated since they have lost their former role and the identity and possible positive self-image that came with the job. Their self-talk inevitably takes a negative turn, which can feed a downward spiral. Remaining staff may also go through this process, leading to a reduction in morale within the company.

Typical reactions - "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm out of work . . . what's the point?"; "I’ve got no income, how can I go on?"

5) Acceptance
“This final stage comes with an acceptance of the event that is approaching. This stage has also been described as the end of the struggle.”

Typical reactions - "I’ll get through this, it's going to be okay."; "I can't change it, I may as well get on with it."

These 5 stages are not linear and a person can cycle through stages in any order or even experience the same stage multiple times. This can be a real roller coaster ride of emotions.

However, there is a solution: career transition coaching, or outplacement support, can help everyone involved transition through this process successfully. The first stage is to deal deal with the emotions outlined above, by providing an opportunity for the affected staff to talk to someone outside of the situation, who can sympathetically deal with the emotions as they arise. Knowing that there is someone there to help can be a great advantage, and significantly reduce the time between stages 1 and 5, which is when the job of getting them back into work can begin in earnest.