How to limit 'the sinking ship syndrome' during redundancies

Chancellor Rishi Sunak stated that the UK is ‘entering one of the most severe recessions this country has ever seen’. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the economy has seen redundancies soar, with a record high of 370,000 redundancies taking place between August and October 2020. 9.6 million UK workers have been furloughed as part of the Government’s job retention scheme. As we approach the end of the furlough scheme in Spring 2021, the scale of redundancies is likely to increase, despite the Government’s best intentions. In some cases, redundancies are inevitable. In other circumstances, organisations may be in a position to implement certain initiatives to limit the amount of redundancies. We examined ways to do this in an earlier article. Before organisations adopt redundancy as a cost saving strategy, it is important to recognise that research confirms that an unintended consequence of redundancy programmes often includes a drop in profitability and productivity, failure to reduce costs and decreased levels of commitment. Despite occasional reports of success, the majority of organisations report that the consequences of redundancy programmes are negative for the organisation as well as the workforce. This article explores ways to minimise the negative impact of survivor syndrome which could lead to better success in the implementation of redundancies