Dealing with Layoffs, 9
There are 5 things you have to do dealing with a job layoff experience. As we enter into the 8th part of our series allow me to recap the whole thing.
Principle Number 1 is: to face the Emotional Costs - and get it over with!
Principle Number 2 is: to understand where you are in the 5 emotional stages in the process of mourning.
Principle Number 3 is: to get support from friends. To support each other too but to talk and focus only on positive things. To share experiences for the purpose of helping each other.
Today we’ll focus on the 4th and 5th principles which involve a great amount of attitude work.
Principle number 4 is to turn the experience into a growth opportunity.
When you're ready emotionally and spiritually, you can now turn your experience into a growth opportunity. Assess the situation and be honest with yourself.
Dealing with Layoffs, 8
We’ve covered 3 major principles you can embrace if you find yourself on the receiving end of a job retrenchment program.
First is to face the Emotional Costs - and get it over with! Understanding that the loss of a job is still an experience dealing with a loss of something valuable in life. Face the emotional costs of it. Mourn and grieve over it and do not pretend as if it doesn’t hurt.
Second principle is to understand where you are in the 5 emotional stages in the process of mourning. After which you can move on to do something else. Your amount of recovery depends on the stage of emotional condition you find yourself in.
Denial. Bargaining. Anger. Depression. Acceptance.
Dealing with Layoffs, 7
So you lost your job. You’ve been laid-off. Business gurus call it downsizing. Management calls it rightsizing. In your heart you call it dumb-sizing. But whatever it is does not matter now. At no fault of yours, you’ve been handed the papers.
Hi! We’re continuing with our on going series entitled “Dealing With Layoffs.” Today we’ll deal with the 5th emotional stage every person has to go through as he or she experiences loss of something valuable – including his job.
Dealing with Layoffs, 6
An old legend tells of an angel who was sent by God to inform Satan that all the methods he uses to defeat God's children would be taken from him. The devil pleaded to be allowed to keep just one. "Let me retain depression," he begged.
The angel, thinking this is a modest request, agreed. "Good!" the devil exclaimed, as he laughed to himself. "In that one gift, I have secured all."
In his book Depression, What It Is and What to Do About It, Roger Barrett describes this condition as: "a miserable, wretched experience that leaves you exhausted, uninvolved, and in deep, hopeless despair. There seems to be absolutely nowhere to turn and not one single thing you can do to escape these horrible feelings. You feel doomed, trapped, and at the end of your rope... It's awful!"
Dealing with Layoffs, 5
I lost things that were valuable to me. And when this experience hit me many years ago I learned lessons that have helped me through all these years. I was holding a leather briefcase that was barely 4 months old, inside it was my laptop computer, my cell phone, my books, my passport, my airline tickets and all these were stolen in Linate Airport, Milan.
As I stood inside that airport recovering from the shock of the realization that my briefcase has been stolen, I realize that there I went through 5 emotional stages very quickly in my mind. Today I have learned that whether you lose a job, or you lose a loved one or you lose your briefcase; the same stages of emotions hit you right in the face and the key here is to identify which emotional stage you are in so that you can move on and do the next right thing.
Dealing with Layoffs, 4
The job layoffs that are occurring in every part of the world including our country has sent people reeling in confusion and depression. Suddenly people wake up and realize that a major part of their life is gone. The work part. The feeling is terrible.
I’ve always believed that man is created in the image and likeness of God and that God Himself is a Worker. Remove work from a person and it leaves him with an emptiness he can’t explain. It’s not just the salary, it’s the worth and value of being useful and productive.
Dealing with Layoffs, 3
Hi! We’re on our 3rd part of the ongoing series entitled “Dealing With Layoffs.”
We’ve seen in the past few days how massive changes have affected the lives of people in the work place. Many industries have been affected. All because technological developments have suddenly rendered them obsolete. Remember how long it took us to have our landlines installed? Remember when we used to fight with “party lines?” And now I cannot even remember my home land line numbers and for the life of me I cannot understand why credit card companies would ask me to enumerate them to verify my identity.
Dealing with Layoffs, 2
I can still remember the date clearly. It was on the first week of July 1997 when I assembled all of my key officers in the company. I ordered food and I wanted to make the meeting as cordial, relaxed and as friendly as possible. There was a reason for that. I was going to give them good news. Yes. It gave me pleasure knowing that what I was about to say will bring cheers and joy to the people hearing it.
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Dealing with Layoffs, 1
Bad news. This company is closing... these people laid off from work... that’s all I get to see when I watch the business channel. Bits and pieces of bad news. Bite-size tragedies. News reports that prick your heart and make your head spin. This is why we need to refrain from watching the news before we hit the bed.
This reminds me of a conversation that transpired between husband and wife one evening. Tired from work, weary from traffic the husband sat down on his favorite chair, held up his remote control device and said to his wife, “Your choice Sweetheart. Do you want to watch the 6 o’clock news and suffer from indigestion or do you want to watch the 11 o’clock news and suffer from insomnia?” Either way it’s bad news all the way.
But dealing with bad news doesn’t mean you shut yourself off from the reality of what’s happening. You need courage to face it yet you need a healthy perspective on dealing with it. This is why this series we will be starting today, has something to do with an obvious fact of reality that is hitting a lot of people in our country today. The reality of mass layoffs, business closures as well as downsizing.
So people are declared redundant. Jobs disappear. Retrenchments are happening. I deal with HR people all the time and I do know the situation. So what happens if you happen to be part of the people who got laid off from you job?
How do you deal with the situation?
This is what we will be talking about in our series entitled: “Dealing With Layoffs.”