Redundancies are a necessary and inevitable element of many businesses. When implementing redundancies companies should not only examine how they are perceived by those leaving but also by those who are staying. The effect that redundancies have on the morale of those staying could lead to a de-motivated and de-moralised workforce.

An effective outplacement program gives a strong message that management is aware of staff concerns and will commit to ensuring as smooth a transition as possible into their next or new position. It can also create the confidence that, should further redundancies be required, they will be supported   An outplacement program that shows a company cares about its workforce may negate a large amount of the negative factors associated with redundancies and protect its reputation as a desirable place to work.

This is not simply a strategy for dealing with the immediate problems. In the long term former employees of the company could potentially influence good or bad press about the manner in which they were treated.  The impact of a positive experience can give a company the edge over a competitor.

A solid outplacement plan will have other positive effects. Treating transitioning employees with respect , care, honesty and dignity not only supports the company’s reputation , but can help with staff retention and attract a higher level of industry talent and high performers as the reputation of the company is raised.

Financially, Outplacement is justifiable for a number of reasons. Aside from the employee issues discussed above, outplacement programs may avoid the risk of future litigation.  As staff move on they spend less time in the transition process and move as quickly as possible to the next stage of their career.

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Before you know it you’ll be surfing the professional networks, establishing connections and creating exciting opportunities for yourself and your business.

But there’s a slight problem. You don’t have a profile.

Building a profile is the first step towards starting your LinkedIn use, however for many it can be a tripping point. A good profile can say a lot about you, give people a snapshot of your professional credentials, and encourage them to engage with you on a professional level. A bad profile can leave people wondering who you are, what you do, and why you’re trying to connect. This guide will take you step by step through the main points from building your first profile.

Get a picture!

Frequently this can be a tricky topic for users. Either they don’t have a suitable picture or they’re not sure they want a picture of themselves up on the internet. A profile picture is typically a necessity, as not being able to put a face to the name can be quite disconcerting. The type of picture is important but not difficult, it should simply be a nice respectable picture of you, smiling if possible.

What’s a Summary?

A summary is a basic rundown of your current status, previous experience, and areas of speciality. LinkedIn has tonnes of examples of these, and if you’re not sure just start randomly checking pages to get a feel for it. Always write in the 3^rd person and be as economic with your phrasing as possible. People will usually not read a long summary so keep it to a few sentences at absolute maximum.

Work Experience

This can be a tough area to fill out (despite seeming relatively straightforward) as most are unsure of stating too much or too little information. Generally the key to this is moderation. Include the major working points of your career, the major duties in each job (the important ones, not the one where you were on tea rotation) and then leave it at that. If you’re job was more than a few years ago you don’t need to go in to massive detail about it.

Keywords

This may seem to be a minor part of the profile, but may well in fact be the most important (or at least, the most critical not to have) aspect of the process. The “Skills & Expertise” section allows you to list the areas you’re particularly good or interested in. This is not just for your profile, this will also allow keyword searches to rank your profile higher. Essentially, when people are looking for someone with, say, social media marketing skills, you can rise higher in that ranking by having it as one of your skills. This will ensure that when you want to be found, you will be.

There are a number of other elements involved in creating an online profile, however these are best discovered yourself, as you scan other profiles to see what you think works and what doesn’t and become more familiar with LinkedIn. Typically you should only place as much information online as you’d be happy to discuss with a complete stranger, however in this case you will most likely find that if you give a little, you’ll get a lot back.

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It is vital for any company engaging in planned redundancies to have a structured communications plan for all levels of management and staff. This is an extremely sensitive period for all involved and a good communications plan can facilitate a smooth transition and a pre-arranged flow of information.

The typical view of redundancies tend to focus mainly around the employee/s that are departing, however the impact that it has on all the remaining employees cannot be underestimated.

For remaining employees there will be a period of instability while everything settles down. It will be natural for them to be concerned about what will happen to their job or what will happen to the jobs their colleagues did or the extra workload they could have as a result. Management need to be aware of these potential issues and the unsettling effects redundancies can have so they need to keep communications open from an early stage.

They should not allow the grapevine to go unchecked with rumours and should have regular briefings to ensure that the remaining staff will support the new look organisation. Directors should be regularly seen on the floor and in offices talking to everyone

Organisations that come through a Redundancy plan successfully are those where Directors understand the legal and selection processes, regularly explain the details of the redundancy process and can describe the need for the new organisation structure in layman’s terms.  This can generate an element of goodwill and re-engagement where people are more likely to buy in to what is going to happen, even if they are personally planning to leave the company.

A strong communications plan is an integral part of a supportive, effective outplacement programme to ensure the transitional period is completed with a minimum of negative repercussions both internally and externally.

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