How do I find a way through this work situation?

[greatcoffeebadhair]

I don’t think this can end well and think I might have to leave my job, or just die inside. (Nc-ed as outing)

im a head of dept in a public sector org. We are merging with another public sector org and the new one has a huge budget deficit and needs to carry out loads of redundancies.

Today I got the call. Told about ‘change and transformation.’ Basically, the jobs of everyone in my team (9 people) are on the line - apart from mine and one other person. I feel sick. I have worked hard to create a strong team with a supportive outlook. Two of the people who will face redundancy are pregnant. Two have significant caring responsibilities. All of them are amazing hard working people who don’t deserve this.

I need to deliver the news. It will be a bombshell. I have to wait until September because I don’t want to tell them one by one while some people are on leave. Messages from head office are slow and confusing. But the restructure will be announced by the end of September.

its a shitty shitty situation. If I had any self respect (and didn’t need to pay the mortgage) I would walk out of that job and tell them where to stick it. I can’t imagine how awful it will be to run our department’s workload without most of the staff. We work in a public facing role so staff morale is important. We can’t do our jobs if we’re not supported and supportive.

what do I do? Has anyone been in this situation as a staff member facing redundancy, and is there anything I can do to support people?

All you can do is break the news gently and make sure your employer follows all the necessary legislation and policy.

I’m sorry you’re in this position.

Agree with pp and I'm sorry you're in this situation. I'm also in the public sector and had share of similar shit like reapplying for own jobs and some not getting them. Your team are lucky to have someone compassionate like you in your role who genuinely cares about their welfare.

What if they get rid of you too when you get the dirty job done.

Can you get anything in writing? I don’t envy you, you poor thing that’s awful for you all.

Tbh I assume quite a few of them will have an inkling if you are merging with another organisation; as it’s not an uncommon outcome. As a previous poster said break it gently as possible, but be aware that won’t make an awful lot of difference.

I would be very careful to think about how you can protect your own mental health. Some of these people will turn on you and blame you even if they are told it wasn’t your decision.
Chin up op you can get through this and just remember some people will actually get a better job elsewhere.

I went through something similar and it did eventually work out.

The even more shitty thing is that management assured us ‘no redundancies’ in the merger. Wtf were they thinking? It’ seemed obvious to me that this was likely to happen but I’ve been trying to shield my team from all the gossip and whispering because no decisions were ever made and the constant speculation was not helpful.

now I wish I had been more open about all the uncertainty.

Thank you everyone for your advice

This is part of being a manager. I've made 100s of people redundant and it's shitty but it's a point of professional pride to do it with understanding and compassion. Your team will need you more than ever and while you can't change the situation you can make it nicer for them.

I've run the plan for a couple of transformation (ahem, redundancy) programmes. This is what I learned works.

Most impacted should find out first, I'd tell the whole team together. Coordinate with other teams who may be told the same thing. Get a rep from hr there and senior representative.

Get a slide pack from HR/management. Rationale for change, diagrams, timescales, next steps. Get hard copies and put on intranet asap.

Get the team to compile a list of questions. Discuss ideas for alternative structure. Press management to answer these in three days and publish on the intranet.

Get HR/management to commit to regular face to face q&a sessions.

If the team are in a competitive pool, take yourself out of the interview panel.

For anyone not selected, meet weekly and try to find alternative roles for them. Try and get them gardening leave.

Don't be surprised if management come for you after the restructure goes through. It might be worse timescales as less people involved.

If you stay, you'll need some time and resources to transition to the new normal.

It's crap but redundancy is not really personal - always take the money and move on

It is not the people who are being made redundant it is their job/post.
They must have the right, individually, to make representations before an actual decision is made to make their post redundant.
Tell them they are entitled to reasonable time off to look for alternative work and you will support such as much as you can as well as providing a reference if needed.
Ask if they want to call anybody for support.

I've no doubt you know this and will be prepared, but remember to treat each person as individuals. ie they'll all be a different stages of the change cycle at different times. Will need different types and levels of support. Will react differently.

Your time, a listening ear, a promise to source as much info for them and answer their questions as honestly and fully as you can.

Check in with them regularly in ways that work for them. Some will prefer weekly meetings. Others need a friendly and supportive email. Others need a lunchtime walk and chat. Some will not want your support at all - they'll (unfairly) resent you. Don't take it personally.

Keep a good eye on the other person who isn't facing redundancy - this affects them too.

I'm sorry you're in this shitty situation. Your heart must have sank when you had the call. You sound like a caring, thoughtful and professional manager, I'm sure that in time they'll appreciate that.

Are you sure some of your staff won't actually be content to take redundancy, especially if they've worked there many years, have a decent pension and want out?

Call me a cynic, but is there a possibility that they have decided to cull your team rather than another team because two of the people in your team are pregnant?

Really helpful advice. Thank you everyone.
I think the key things are being as open and honest as possible.

Most of my team have been there (just) under two years . So that is why they are being cut loose I think. They don’t qualify for any redeployment package within our change management policy.

I think I need to find another job too. I can’t stay in a place that treats people like this. As a pp has said, there’s nothing to stop me being next. Killing the team and then just carrying on is unconscionable

Don't wait till September to tell them, maximum warning will help with their job searches and may even throw up early Christmas opportunities.
Can you let the one that's off know separately?

Agree you need to find a way to let them know ASAP so they can get a head start on job hunting. 3 weeks is a long time & they might hear about redundancies on the grapevine anyway & they will question why they haven't been told.

Encourage them all to join a union, if they're not in one already.
BEFORE the restructure is announced

It's a completely shitty position to be in. I've been in both positions myself (both being made redundant and having to work through redundancies on my team).
In my experience, the people in companies who will try to tell you it's part of being manager are usually senior, getting paid a lot more and shielded from the realities. The emotional impact on everyone, including you, can be huge. Not everyone goes into management wants to be a hard-faced management mouth piece.
Echo the advice above - tell your team (informally) to join a union ASAP if they haven't already.
I've left a workplace over this when they announced a third restructure, and (mentally) decided they could go fuck themselves. But I didn't have kids to worry about.
Only you can know how this will impact you, but no one would blame you if you walked. What are employment opportunities like in your area?
If you do decide to stay, don't be careful of your mental health, and see your GP if you're struggling. Confirm with senior leaders that they will be making the announcements not you, and confirm who is your primary senior leader for all questions to go to.
And finally - be prepared that they might come for you when you've done the dirty work.

Things that would have helped when I went through redundancy-

be honest (as far as you can be)
no toxic positivity about how the new company will be more efficient, no one wants to hear that it’ll do so much better without them
let them feel however they want to feel - don’t invalidate those feelings, just listen and let them say or feel or do however they want. They might feel sad, or angry or both.

It would, wouldn't it? Something for the OP to bear in mind though.

Tell them all the same message. We were told our jobs were at risk and going through the assessment process. The others were also told their jobs were safe so they didn't need to worry at the same time they were each told we were at risk So I found out from my peers rather than my manager that it was my job going.

Also, do not refer to "she" when there's only one woman in the department. It makes it easy to deduce who is being referred to.🙄