Redundancy Interview on Friday Any tips would be great please

Got a redundancy interview on Friday (lovely having payday on the Wed before Easter with profit share in, then the next day being told we may be up for redundancy, then we’ve had to wait two weeks for our interviews because my colleague is on holiday!)

So after a spoilt Easter, we have the interviews on Friday (first one I’ve ever had so any help and advice would be appreciated.)

I’ve asked for an agenda and if I need to take anything (they said no) but I always like to be prepared so am sorting out a summary of the tasks I do at the moment.

Anything else or ideas would be appreciated thanks in advance Pepper.

Just be polite ask what you getting, when your getting it. Do they want you to work notice, will they be offering statutory or enhanced, etc.

No real need for an agenda, it is a crap situation to be in.

I feel for you. I had this last year, although I WANTED to go and both my bosses were very good to me, as was the company.

No real advicefrom me, but I did get quite stressed about it before everything was confirmed, and I’ve never been one to worry, so look out for yourself! 🙂

I spent 2.5 months on job seekers allowance, retrained as a bike mechanic and I’ve been working in an LBS for 2-3 weeks now, so I’m as happy as a pig in poop!
Play it right, set yourself a goal, and it could be the best thing that ever happened to you. 🙂

Anything else or ideas would be appreciated thanks in advance Pepper.

Dutch courage?

Might be useful reading following advice from Citizens Advice around redundancy:

Linky

Play it right, set yourself a goal, and it could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Amen, brother! 🙂 I had a similar situation to PP some years ago. Spent a lovely “gap” year working with bikes and skis and then back in to the wild world of being a globe trotting post it note salesman. (Ahem!) I had a great year, and now have a waaaay, waaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better job than I had before.

So, as above, go in strong. Get all you can, and then, crucially IMHO, don’t jump in to something. Take the time to find your next role, and make it the right one.

Bonne chance!

Know your rights, make sure everything is done fairly and by the book, get everything in writing…

Good luck and hope all works out for the best. I’ve been there and ultimately it was the best thing that could have happened.

Cheers

Danny B

Read up on the background, know how a redundancy process is supposed to take place, and the steps which are supposed to be followed.

It’s also worthwhile reading up on post-redundancy unfair dismissal Employment Tribunal related shenanigans. You’ll be in a better bargaining position if you know how hard you can make it for them afterwards.

Remember you’re supposed to be able to influence the outcome of redundancies – that’s the point in consulting. Consider what selection criteria would be most beneficial, and in what ways the company could limit the redundancies (reduced working hours, reassignment, extra funding, etc.).

Consider whether you want anybody to sit in with you. You might not, but it shows them you’re serious. If you do, get them to take minutes.

On that note, it might be worthwhile asking if they’re willing to cover a certain amount for legal expenses. Reasonable companies should.

Ask for everything discussed to be given to you in writing and maybe take note of key things to back up any questions you may have after you’ve had time to think after the meeting has ended.

Some questions you may wish to ask:

* Why has a redundancy situation arisen? What’s the background?
* How many people are to be made redundant? How was that number derived?
* How has the selection pool been decided?
* What are the proposed selection criteria?
* What measures have been taken to avoid making redundancies?

Great questions! basically answered by it being an American company owned by a capital investment company, my hunch is they are preparing to sell us and want us to look as good as possible.

* Why has a redundancy situation arisen? What’s the background?
* How many people are to be made redundant? How was that number derived?
* How has the selection pool been decided?
* What are the proposed selection criteria?
* What measures have been taken to avoid making redundancies?

Yeay some great comments thank you all @Singletrackworld!

Probably youll get a written letter, and a chat with someone you dont know, and details of what youre getting.

and then goodbye.

Make sure your bike is tip top because there will be plenty of time to ride it.

Every cloud…

I’m still not sure if I’m going to be actually be made redundant, I’m the senior person between myself and my colleague, neither of us have any disciplinary, sickness or time management problems.
We are also having the interview at the same time as the managers above us and seeing as there are four managers to manage 22 staff, of which many of us have expressed that there are too many of them in the past then I’d hope that they will be looking at them far more closely than us.

@CaptainFlashheart

You work ?

😉

Well, some might call it “lunch”. 😉

No useful input as you know my situation, but I hope it goes well for you Richard!

Cheers Martin, have my Lemond Poprad to hand and have been using it loads recently 🙂

Was trying to find the picture you had of it hanging in the tree all those years ago the other day!

PePPeR,

If you really want to stay then just go and be honest and open. If you really want to go then perhaps hint that you might consider voluntary if the terms were good.

Normally the consultation exercise should seek employees views on alternatives to redundancy. If you have genuine suggestions then make them. Often the decision is made before the consultation starts (which is wrong) BUT if you make suggestions (best confirmed in writing) they MUST be considered. If they then made you redundant without considering them you may have a claim! That might seem cynical – but if you have a genuine suggestion which they dismiss then it is not a genuine redundancy.

Pepper – this is IMPORTANT

It should always be the POSITION that is being made redundant – not you!
They will need to JUSTIFY why your position is being made redundant!!

If they can’t (and you’re entitled to see figures, projections, etc) then they are potentially breaking the law

Cheers Tyger!

That is a hugely important piece of info because as far as I know they’ve done sweet FA!

They are just arbitrarily making people redundant where they see fit!

Is this an interview to tell you you are going to be made redundant, or is it an assessment?

If an assessment, make sure you go back through any appraisals you have had to make it absolutely clear that this is going to be pure redundancy and they’re not going to try to diddle you with invented performance issues. This is the company’s problem, if the business is no longer performing well enough to accommodate you, then they should compensate you.

Good luck.

Appraisals? We’ve had one in 9 years!

As for management, the aforementioned managers have been out in the field with me just the once in the last 4 years! (That was for the half an hour of the appraisal!)

Is this an interview to tell you you are going to be made redundant, or is it an assessment?

No sure at all, as all we’ve been told is that its a meeting for the reasoning and processes, but all the other staff who have been made redundant have already gone in less than a week!

Just made redundant almost 3mos ago.. Do you have a union?

…as mentioned prepare the bike to be in tip top condition.. for me it means months of riding and… Applying jobs in between 😀

PePPeR – Member

Cheers Martin, have my Lemond Poprad to hand and have been using it loads recently

Was trying to find the picture you had of it hanging in the tree all those years ago the other day!

I’m quite sure that died with photopic 🙁

Ahh bugger, didn’t you get your access back and pick your photos back up again?

They opened the servers back up recently so we could do it, I have the emails about it if you want it.

If they can’t (and you’re entitled to see figures, projections, etc) then they are potentially breaking the law

Not sure you are. They can explain why the job is going, they don’t have to prove it.

At the end of the day, they won’t be reducing staff unless they need to or the staff can’t do the job they are paid to do.

At the end of the day, they won’t be reducing staff unless they need to or the staff can’t do the job they are paid to do.

That’s a very idealistic view, or possibly a different definition of “need”.
Companies will perform redundancies for all sorts of reasons, often unfairly or without good cause.

And if the staff can’t do the jobs they’re paid to do, that’s a reason for fair dismissal, not redundancy. Roles are redundant, not people.

]probably a bit late in the day and a touch overkill but hey

All depends on what type of interview it is. Our place recently went through a round of redundancies. First off they informed people if they were in the selection pool and each of those had an interview, partly to explain the process and partly to allow the people to give their own feedback/ask questions. I think in the end about 75% of the people in the selection pool were made redundant, but the final selection was done mostly via appraisal ratings and skillsets (surprisingly sickness didn’t come into it). I doubt many people changed their outcome through the interview process but it was an opportunity for people to clarify what they currently do – which might not have been properly understood before.
Some places will just use the interviews as a tick-box exercise though with everyone getting canned but I guess you may as well make the effort and get it clearly across how much value you bring to the company, at worst it’s not going to hurt your chances of keeping your job.

surprisingly sickness didn’t come into it

Discriminating based on sickness would definitely be an unfair dismissal.

Unless you mean like “sick riding skills”.

Good luck!

Trying times but stay positive. Keep in mind this is an opportunity to create a new future for yourself.

Good luck for today Rich!

Cheery Martin, have prepared as much as I can, shall see how it goes.
If I get made redundant I’ll be riding a lot more again though 🙂

You could prepare by looking through the Web to see which bike you fancy with your payout!

Was made redundant very recently and went to 3 meetings.

First meeting to formally let me know that my position may be chosen for redundancy, the grounds / basis, how the process would work and the how a final decision would be reached.

Second was a consultation where I was able to put my views forward and basically say why my position should stay etc. I did offer reduced hours and less money and I threw everything I could at it hoping something would stick!!

Third meeting was the result. Not the one I wanted!!

Advice:

I appreciate that there is a lot going on but update your CV and get it out there on websites and in agencies now. It is easier to find work when in work in my experience and you will be ahead of the game if the worst does hit.

You can influence the redundancy in the consulting stage so do throw as much at it as you can. Now is your time to shine with ideas, new ways of working, increased efficiency, working more effectively or economically.

Take someone into the meetings with you. Emotions can run high and a rock in there with who can offer a friendly face and reassuring smile is an amazing thing to have in my experience.

Now is the time to look as if you are working harder than you have ever worked before.

Be as calm and professional as you can throughout the process. While this is a horrible situation for you to go through it is not pleasant for the managers who have to be part of this either. Not many people bask in the glory of redundancies – amazingly I have met one or two that do!!

Wishing you all the best

Well all is not totally lost, we had the first part of the formal process today and will have the next part early next week.

But we’ve put ideas forward that may help us end up getting some of our jobs made redundant, but finding space for us lower down the company again.

Hopefully we’ll see what can be done next week.

You’ve been there a long while haven’t you Rich?

As someone who’s been through my fair share of redundancies, I’ve got a good idea of how they work… On the top level they will do the fairest thing and assess everyone by individual criteria, and rate them on various things, and score them and then the lowest overall scores will get the cut.

Realistically though, what happens is LIFO… MUCH cheaper to get rid of someone who’s been there a year than someone who’s been there 10… So without wishing to sound like a knowitall sod, I’d say you probably stand a better chance of keeping your job than some of your colleagues will.

Yeah been there a long long time! U doing HONC this weekend?

Trouble is if I don’t go down we’ll end up with 2 redundant, doing it the way we’re trying to then it may be one person going who hasn’t passed probation which has been extended twice, and that would be it!

Well I still have a job, but I’ve been demoted, and had a pay drop! Yeay!

Got a new contract which I’ve put a separate thread up about.