Redundancy
The sight of stunned employees carrying their personal possessions in cardboard boxes out of the Lehman Bank building is etched in my memory. Gathering in a state of shock in local bars, some dulled their pain with alcohol and tried to rebuild self-worth through group support.
Redundancy is often caused by factors outside the control of any single organisation, like the banking crisis, or a general economic downturn, or a takeover. Yet redundancy is also regularly triggered by management choice - through planned relocations, restructuring, centralisation with economies of scale, and through mechanisation and the increasing use of IT. It is therefore part of organisational life in the modern economy.
Now, however, 'downsizing' will hit us with a new intensity as the UK and global economy falls into recession. Typically, the stock market valuation of a company goes up whenever management announce a severance programme. As market valuations come under intense scrutiny, the pressure to reduce headcount will intensify.
To formulate a response to this situation first means understanding something about the impact of redundancy on people and on organisations.
Personal Impact
Whatever the cause of redundancy, the impact on the individual is traumatic. Redundancy strikes at the heart of the most basic human need for acceptance, security and identity. So, as a result, rejection, pain and confusion often characterise the feelings of someone thrown out of an organisation. A friend of mine said it felt like being kicked in the stomach by an angry stallion.
Employment involves a legal contract, but more importantly it also involves a psychological contract, with meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging. Fewer people in the modern economy now expect a 'job for life', but the phrase 'permanent employee', as opposed to contractor or 'temp', creates a different psychological expectation. A contractor may feel disappointment at not having a contract renewed and anxiety about future income, but these feelings are quite different to the deep sense of loss that can envelop someone made redundant. Everyone is told, of course, that it is the job that is redundant, not the person; but that doesn't make the gut-wrenching feelings any easier to bear.
Self-confidence takes a massive knock in redundancy. It is as though a panel of judges held up a scorecard for you with a big nought on it. From hero to zero, you feel worthless and shamed. There is always the lingering doubt and suspicion that job performance feedback was never really honest, and that the selection for redundancy was just a way of conveniently disposing of you - someone who was simply no longer wanted. That suspicion dwells not only in the mind of the person suffering redundancy, but also, to some extent, in the minds of the people who hear about it. Human nature being what it is, we know that, under pressure, finding an easy way to get rid of an awkward person from a team is a temptation difficult to resist.
So it is not just a job that is lost. Belonging to the workplace community and having an organisational identity and future are also lost. Key relationships that formed part of daily life are suddenly just not there any more, and the familiar patterns that occupied most of our waking hours are destroyed. Whatever aspirations there were for a fulfilling future in that organisation are now gone. So it is that a person's identity, social standing, sense of purpose and destiny can be rewritten overnight. There is a very real sense of loss, and a personal need to grieve. Even when the process of grieving is interrupted by securing another job, it can still have a long-term emotional impact.
Just as people deal with grief in different ways, individuals respond to redundancy differently. The same phases of denial, anger, desperation, gloom, and, eventually, renewed hope, affect everyone to a greater or lesser extent, but they manifest differently. Occasionally there are some exceptions, where redundancy is a long hoped-for happy release, with a payoff and new found freedom, but these are rare.
On top of all this emotional and psychological turmoil is the urgent need to find an income. Most people have mortgages that were taken out on the assumption of continuous earnings. Taking on debt assumes a certain future and when that future crumbles, so often do the mortgage repayments - unless they are insured against job loss. Many people in work have dependents and the prospect of losing a home weighs heavily. Intense financial anxiety adds to the emotional trauma of rejection. That anxiety is not just about the short-term, it is also about the security and value of pensions and long-term healthcare, both of which may also be affected by leaving an organisation.
In sum, the cumulative impact of redundancy is high levels of mental anxiety and confusion, emotional pain and grief, and financial and physical stress that easily translate into illness and sometimes a breakdown. Redundancy is quite a package.
Wider and long-term impact
Though it is tough to see them at the time, there are some long-term positive consequences of losing a job. For one thing, it forces a reflection that might otherwise never have taken place. That may lead to a better understanding of vocation and calling, and a change of direction, which can be for the long-term good. Another positive consequence can be a realisation of the benefit of family and community. People who were consumed by their jobs find that they do have a life outside of work. Job loss can also trigger a spiritual search, as people ask many more questions about meaning and purpose.
That said, redundancy poses many long-term and far-reaching challenges. Although not often recognised, there is the negative impact of redundancy on other people in the organisation. Workgroups are communities that rely on a sense of mutual trust and confidence. Losing peers can have a devastating effect on motivation for the rest of the team. Managerial guilt undermines effectiveness. The whole culture of an organisation often becomes riddled with cynicism, uncertainty and fear. Fear gets around and people become disenchanted, distrusting and less productive. It can take years to rebuild a sense of stability and trust. Successful organisations rely on the 'discretionary energy' of their people - the effort that goes above and beyond the call of duty. After a redundancy programme, that kind of commitment usually evaporates for a long time, sometimes forever.
For family dependents, redundancy can mean a disoriented, depressed and irritable partner or parent. It can mean a person suddenly needing much more emotional and spiritual support, as well as having spare time on their hands during a period of uncertainty. It may mean financial hardship and, for children, a sudden inexplicable change of atmosphere in the family home, even a marriage break-up. Things suddenly became very tight indeed. Churches and charities experience the knock-on impact of losing financial support. One church I heard about lost most of its income after three key people all lost their jobs.
Amongst friends in the wider community there is an unspoken cultural pressure to be gainfully employed. Being redundant and being on the dole is an embarrassment, which is why people describe themselves as being 'in between jobs'. People who find themselves suddenly unemployed can develop an extreme reaction - either withdrawing into a shell or indulging in frenetic activity to get another job. Social awkwardness ensues and others can distance themselves, which is hard to bear.
And spare a thought for those who are self-employed, who were never told they were redundant, but are effectively suffering the same fate, because their livelihood is drying up through lack of demand. People running small businesses and services are the unseen casualties of wider economic downturn, sensing some of the same feelings of rejection and loss of self-esteem as those who lost their jobs more formally. Both short-term pain and long-term uncertainty are brought on by a dwindling level of business and yet, when you're self-employed, nobody else knows. It can be a very lonely place to be.
Pastoral and practical response in the local church
Thankfully, nobody can ever be redundant from their calling and vocation in the kingdom of God, or lose their identity or life in Christ. So probably the most important Christian response to redundancy is to first affirm an individual's self-worth, their acceptance and their personal significance and dignity. The way to do that is not just to sympathise, but with support and proactive involvement in the following ways:
1. Showing personal friendship and offering a listening ear
2. Financial help
3. Prayer ministry
4. Helping someone more clearly understand their vocation and affirm it
5. Assistance with redeployment
6. Introduction to the gospel for people seeking meaning and purpose, or reaffirmation of the gospel where appropriate
Friendship and making the time to simply be with people who are out of work is an important way to support them. Often the ability to simply talk about the experience outside the immediate family circle is therapeutic, and good listeners are very valuable. Having lunch with someone, or just doing something regularly to get them out of the house can keep a person feeling useful and in some sort of pattern. Loss of structure and loneliness is known to be a medical risk for retirees, and the same risks apply to the unemployed.
Financial support by other Christians for a person temporarily unemployed can have a huge impact. There are often initial feelings of embarrassment, but these soon give way to gratitude and relief and, equally important, the sense of acceptance and inclusion and affirmation that is imparted by receiving a gift.
Helping people through the grieving process is a patient ministry of mercy, sensitivity and prayer. Someone who has been made redundant often needs to release forgiveness for healing, and needs encouragement in a non-patronising way. Sometimes another person in the church has trodden a similar path and can be that encouragement. Successful redeployment can sometimes be accelerated by helping people be real, and to deal with emotional baggage and recover their poise.
On the topic of active redeployment, helping someone to widen their network of contacts is another form of constructive support. Using the expertise and commitment that is in the church to, for example, review CVs, do dummy interviews, and pray for the job search is also practical and effective support.
Providing people do not feel suddenly put-upon or used, offering appropriate opportunities to serve in the church community can help to rebuild a sense of self-esteem and purpose. Keeping a working pattern alive through voluntary activity helps both charities and individuals. Constructively engaging with someone to help them discover their gifting and their vocation is a golden opportunity to turn a trauma into a blessing.
Finally, for people who have not yet made a commitment to Christ, redundancy is a time where they may be reappraising their lives and looking for meaning and purpose. Helping people see the values they have that cannot be undermined is a positive and encouraging thing to do. This is an opportunity to respond to questions and for sharing the gospel in a sensitive and appropriate way.
Links
For Further Exploration
Handling Redundancy and Overcoming Redundancy by Peter Curran are two Grove booklets that are helpful and inexpensive resources, available here:
http://www.christianbits.co.uk/product.php?id=1851743006
http://www.christianbits.co.uk/product.php?id=185345205X
For employers who need help, you can download a document, Recession Planning for Employers here:
http://www.indicator.co.uk
What Colour is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles is a well-known book on helping people through job change. Buy a copy here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Color-Your-Parachute-Career-Changers/dp/1580086152
Christians Against Poverty offer advice and help to those struggling with financial pressure. Click here for details:
http://www.capuk.org/home/index.php
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