The document discusses retrenchment in organizations and its significant negative impacts. It notes that retrenchment leads to panic among all staff until the affected employees are clarified. Retrenched employees feel a "dark night of terror" while unaffected staff feel guilt toward colleagues. Retrenchment widely impacts staff, unions, customers, and the community. The result is a changed workplace with demotivated staff who no longer trust management and fear future retrenchments. The document proposes training modules to help retrenched employees build resilience, deal with finances, pursue career and income goals, reenter the workforce or start businesses. The goals are to manage emotions after retrenchment and access advice to deal with its effects.

2. Retrenchment is not undertaken lightly…
Organisations do not lightly contemplate
retrenchments for reasons of cost, disruption to
business, negative market perceptions and loss
of staff morale.

3. Retrenchment often becomes a matter of
rigorously following check boxes and steps
…… with the consequence that we sometimes
forget that we are dealing with people
Rigorous legal compliance is
required……..

4. The impact on staff is high….
Initially there is panic amongst ALL STAFF
until it is clarified who will and will not be
affected

5. Retrenchment impacts widely ….
• Retrenched people see this as a “dark night of
terror”
• Unaffected or successful staff have
tremendous feelings of guilt towards their
affected colleagues
• Retrenched people influence unaffected staff,
as well as customers; unions and staff
associations; press and the community at
large

6. The result is a changed workplace….
• The retrenched staff are very emotional – anger
and fear reduce their rationality
• The “survivors” feel they can no longer trust
management and fear the next round of
retrenchments
• Management are under great pressure to meet
production targets with a de-motivated
workforce

7. Have to be able to demonstrate that actions
have been taken to mitigate the adverse effects
of the retrenchment
Legal processes have to be rigorously
followed ……

8. • Deal with their high emotionality
• Develop their ability to bounce back
• Deal with their changed financial
circumstances
• Take the first steps to either find another job
or start their own business
Best practice is to assist retrenched
people……

10. Venting
•Acknowledge the
anger
•Acknowledge the
fear

11. We offer …….
Modular training incorporating coaching sessions
with a business coach

12. Training Modules
1. Building Resilience
2. Dealing with your finances
3. Career goals and income strategies
4. Re-entering formal employment
5. Starting your own business
6. Coaching

13. Module 1: Building Resilience
for individuals, teams and leaders

15. Building Resilience
principles

16. 1. Connect to your purpose and meaning in life
2. Use your unique strengths
3. Maintain perspective
4. Generate positive feelings
5. Be realistically optimistic
6. Persevere by being open minded and flexible
7. Reach out to others
Building Resilience Principles

17. Building Resilience outcome:
• Internal resourcefulness and mental strength
• Thinking and listening more clearly

18. Module 2: Dealing with your
finances

19. Module 3: Career goals and
income strategies

20. Module 4: Re-entering formal
employment

21. Module 5: Starting your own business

22. Outcomes for retrenched people
• Manage their emotions and thinking so that they are
better able to deal with the impact of the retrenchment
• Access to advice, practical skills and processes to deal
with the effects of the retrenchment
• Begin the process of finding sustainable income
replacement
• Begin the process of personal reconciling and healing

23. Outcomes for the organisation
• Manage the leavers’ perception of the
organisation
• Sustain the morale of the survivors in the
organisation
• Minimize reputation risk
• Conduct best-practice, socially responsible
retrenchment process

24. We are …..
• Highly experienced managers from finance,
marketing, supply chain, legal, distribution and
HR
• Each manager has personally been involved in
retrenching staff …. and has personally been
either retrenched or taken voluntary severance
• Each manager has deep facilitation experience
and skills

25. Optional
• Briefing of retrenchment team
• Training managers how to inform staff that
they are to be to be retrenched
• Re-energising staff who suffer from “survivor
sickness”

26. Contact us in South Africa:
• Rod Warner 082 456 0819
rod@buildingresilience.co.za
• Visit us:
www.buildingresilience.co.za
www.facebook.com/groups/buildingresilience/