Ensuring the employment of redundant workers is one of the tasks of career guidance services

The placement of redundant employees is a function of the career guidance service, which plans and implements redundancies or downsizing to minimise disruption to production and avoid legal costs, help redundant employees mitigate the trauma of leaving the organisation and assist them in finding alternative employment or a new occupation.

For dismissed employees, job loss is a strong stress and trauma-inducing factor, especially if the dismissal has been sudden and violent. It provokes anger, anxiety and depression and can cause decompensation in people unable to adapt to chronic mental illness. On rare occasions, anger may be expressed in sabotage or violence directed at supervisors and managers responsible for the dismissal. Sometimes violence may be directed against spouses and family members.

The trauma of job loss is also associated with illnesses ranging from headaches, gastrointestinal and other functional disorders to stress-induced heart attacks, ulcerative haemorrhages and colitis. For managers and artists, the process usually involves a series of stages that often intersect.

These stages include the following:

Leaving a previous job

The aim is to help the candidate to respond appropriately, to understand and accept his or her difficulties. In some cases, the intervention of a psychiatrist or psychologist may be necessary.

Preparing for the new job

This stage aims to create the conditions for thinking and acting positively. The self-esteem of the person who has lost his or her job starts to recover. A personal database of the candidate's skills, abilities, knowledge and experience is created and he/she learns to speak about him/herself clearly and concisely. At the same time, he/she starts to consider suitable job offers and, in particular, those that best match his/her background. In this way, the candidate gains a taste for collecting and organising information that will help him/her to better understand his/her experience and level of competence.

CV writing

Here the candidate learns to master a flexible tool that will present his/her purpose, level of competences, education, arouse the interest of a potential employer, help him/her to get an invitation for an interview and be useful during the interview. A CV does not have to have a strict form. It should present skills and work experience in a way that is attractive to employers.

Assessment of employment opportunities

The counsellor helps the candidate to assess the availability of suitable potential employment opportunities. This involves researching the job market in different types of industries in different cities, opportunities for growth and development and potential earnings. Experience shows that around 80% of vacancies are hidden, i.e. the job title does not reveal the content of the vacancy. In some cases, the candidate evaluates the possibility of freelance work.

The job search process

It includes the identification and exploration of existing and potential opportunities for direct contact with potential employers, the use of contacts and the involvement of third parties. The company offers the opportunity to interview the "right" people and uses letters both to obtain this opportunity and to determine the next steps after the interview.

The consultant helps the candidate to improve their CV writing and interview skills. The letter writing practice aims to improve the communication skills needed to identify job opportunities, identify the "right" people and determine the next steps after the interview. The candidate receives training on interview preparation, including role-plays and critical analysis of videotapes of sample interviews to improve the effectiveness of self-presentation during the interview. This improves the candidate's employability.

Salary negotiation

The counsellor helps candidates to overcome their reluctance and even fear of salary negotiation so that they get the maximum salary possible under the circumstances, do not over or underestimate their claims and do not find themselves in a situation of conflict with the interviewer.

Supervision

As part of the counselling contract, there is continuous contact with the person until they get a new job. This involves collecting and collating information to keep track of how the company is doing and the best use of time and effort. This helps the candidate to avoid mistakes and to point out when to correct wrong actions.

Notifications

When a new position is obtained, the candidate notifies the consultant and the previous employer with whom he or she may have negotiated.

Contract Outcomes

Also as part of the contract, the consultant stays in contact with the candidate to help him or her adjust to the new position, overcome adversity and encourage career progression. Finally, at the end of the programme, the consultant provides a summary report of the results (personal information is usually withheld ).

Conclusions

Downsizing is, at best, a difficult experience for redundant workers and those forced into retirement, for those who remain in employment and for the organisation itself. Inevitably, the experience becomes traumatic. Employment of Reduced Workers is a professional counselling service designed to prevent or minimise possible adverse effects, developing the health and well-being of employees.