After the shock of the retrenchment wears off, there are some constructive steps you need to take to rebuild your career and your life. My advice is to take this as an opportunity to reflect on your career thus far and review which direction you would like your career to head towards.
This period of ‘Employment Interruptus’ can be as tumultuous or as fulfilling a time you make it out to be.
- Review and reflect
You need to study the underlying reasons why you were retrenched. Was it really due to a mass-retrenchment exercise over which you had no part to play or could it be performance-based after all? If it was the latter, you need to find out what went wrong and try not to repeat it in the next job.
However, if it was a mass-retrenchment exercise, was it a company-specific one (ie, only your company downsized) or was it an industry-specific one (every one of your competitors has also let people go)? If it a company specific one, what were the reasons why your organization didn’t do well? Was it their products, culture or leadership team? Uncover the reasons, then try to look for another company without these characteristics that might face a better fighting chance in the market you are in.
If the retrenchment is industry-wide, then you really need to reflect on whether this is an industry you want to be in for the long haul, or whether the writing is on the wall and there is really no future in this sector anymore. Some industries are undergoing such massive changes that they are unable to ever return to their ‘glory days’ – e.g. Plastic Manufacturing, Yellow Pages, Print/Publishing, etc. If you belong to a sunset industry, it is time to consider retooling and pivoting into a new industry altogether.
Treat this period as a time for reflection, rest and re-strategising – come talk to us if you need any advice!