Moving forward from Redundancy
I have recently stepped into the world of providing outplacement coaching as an Associate of Proaction HR. I’m a qualified coach with over 15 years’ experience and many hundreds of coaching hours behind me. However, this is the first time I have provided coaching under this particular banner.
As a coach, it isn’t necessary to have detailed knowledge or experience of the specific topic a client brings to coaching. The key skill is being able to hold a space for the client while they work through their emotions, challenges, decisions and confusion. My role is also to hold them to account for agreed actions, so they can move forward and make progress.
If someone is looking for more practical guidance on things such as CV writing, social media skills or interview techniques, I can draw on my own experience or insights from previous coaching relationships. Within Proaction HR there is also a wide network of coaches with different skills and specialisms. That makes it easy to tap into additional expertise, or even ask another Associate to run a session with a client on a particular topic if that would be helpful.
Outplacement coaching often means working with someone who is at unexpected crossroads in their life. There can be fears, uncertainty and a whole range of emotions. It is rarely clear at the start where the coaching will need to go, and every situation is different. Having the opportunity to provide a confidential and independent source of support at this time is incredibly rewarding, and the feedback we receive is consistently positive and uplifting.
So far, I’ve witnessed a mixture of frustration, confusion, desperation and vulnerability, among many other emotions. There is often a sense that decisions have been made around them with little regard for the personal impact, and that change has been imposed rather than chosen. People can feel a loss of control, sometimes accompanied by embarrassment or even shame.
Creating a safe space where someone can express these emotions — and encouraging them to do so before moving on — is a delicate balance. How long do you stay with the emotions before taking action? The answer, of course, is that it depends. Most people want to take action quickly, but they also need time to process what has happened before they are ready to move forward.
In reality, the process can feel a little like waves on a shore when the tide is going out. The water moves in and out, but gradually it retreats. The sea represents the new world ahead; the beach is what is being left behind.
What is particularly rewarding is the moment when you begin to see the shift — when the emotion of possibility starts to appear and a sense of control begins to return. The horizon starts to look different, and eventually it begins to look positive again.
