Results from a survey of over 1000 jobseekers finds that nearly one in three believe the HR department of their previous employer handled their redundancy poorly. One in two said they were given no extra support in their redundancy.
The findings also show that a quarter of those made redundant have a very poor perception of their employer, while another half have a poor or indifferent view. Generally, half believe their overall treatment by their last employer was unfair or poor.
In a stark wake-up call to employers, over 31% of the jobseekers told more than ten people about their experience, while another 44% told between 3 and 9 people.
The survey, says Richard Banks from Careerplan4.me, shows the extent ex-employees’ views can impact employer brand, and in particular future recruitment. “In the past, redundancies could be handled away from any media glare. However, with the advent of social media comes the increased risk of employees generating many one-to-one, as well as online conversations, which can rapidly and virally escalate.
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“The speed of which our members answered the poll speaks volumes. Distributed at 7pm by email, over 400 people responded overnight. While many HR departments and employers are rising to the challenge of making redundancies as well as possible, far too many aren’t, which potentially leaves those made redundant with damaging views about the organisation.
“I’ll make an educated guess, too, that redundancy survivors may also dislike the way colleagues have been treated and are likely to talk about the situation.
“It could be a slow-burn PR disaster waiting to happen and have a long-term effect on productivity and future recruitment.”
- 29% of respondents rated the handling of their redundancy by the HR department as poor, 21% were indifferent, 28% felt it was fair. Twenty two percent of the respondents’ ex-employers didn’t have a HR department.
- Overall treatment by their employer was rated as poor by 30%; 22% said it was unfair; 35% viewed it as fair and 14% said they were well treated.
- Just over half the respondents said they were given no extra support in their redundancy; 20% were given outplacement services; 39% received a financial package, 15% were given advice to find a new role and 9% were given legal advice.
- Asked their perception of their previous employer, a quarter said very poor, while 22% said poor. 32% were indifferent, while 16% and 5% said good or very good, respectively.
- 31% told over 10 people about the treatment of their ex-employer, 44% told between 3 and 9; 16% told between 1 and 2 others, while 9% told no one.
- 86% of employers made it clear why the employee was being made redundant.
- Respondents who were made redundant less than a month ago equalled 8%; 2-3 months ago (20%); 4-6 months ago (26%); 7-11 months ago (24%); and over 12 months ago (22%).
- 1046 jobseekers across the professions responded to the survey.
Careerplan4.me provides a range of online tools to help professionals who’ve been made redundant to find a new career. The career advice tool normally costs £500, but membership is available free via a local Jobcentre Plus. Careerplan4.me gives a competitive advantage over other jobseekers, helps break down the often daunting task of finding a new job and focus on the positive aspects of redundancy. It firstly offers career planning resources to assess skills, identify key strengths and areas for development and helps set objectives and goals. It then provides door-opening tools such as jobhunt4.me which scours 450,000 companies and job sites; Mandis, the UK’s leading business intelligence provider; CareerSiteAdvisor to help understand the modern day job market; as well as advice to use technology and the Internet successfully, in the same way as employers and recruiters.
