{"id":2529,"date":"2013-03-07T15:19:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-07T23:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=2529"},"modified":"2023-05-15T11:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T18:09:49","slug":"is-this-redundancy-or-just-failure-to-manage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/is-this-redundancy-or-just-failure-to-manage\/","title":{"rendered":"Is This Redundancy or Just &#8216;Failure to Manage&#8217;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Admit it. You\u2019ve been there, or you\u2019ve at least seen it happen around you. A poor-performing team member. A difficult conversation glossed over. And now a need to make a change; and fast.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A quick chat to HR and some uncomfortable questions follow, like, any chance you\u2019ve told them they\u2019re not performing? And what they might do to turn it around? Or that they might lose their job?<\/p>\n<p>(Ahh, not really).<\/p>\n<p>And did you happen to make some notes?<\/p>\n<p>(Um, not as such).<\/p>\n<p>Mere technicalities in the minds of some managers who think they have the magic antidote to anyone not performing, or maybe just not fitting in. It\u2019s called, \u2018let\u2019s make the job redundant\u2019.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"why-does-redundancy-happen\"><strong>Why does redundancy happen?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We are asked to advise on this type of situation regularly and think it\u2019s borne mainly of two things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">an unwillingness to have constructive conversations about poor performance and behaviour; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">insufficient time spent on recruitment<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Are you <em>really<\/em> that busy or do you just struggle to find a way of telling someone they\u2019re not doing what you need or expect?<\/p>\n<p>Did you really think enough about what type of person and experience you needed to do this job before you went looking?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s understandable that this happens given the constraints on many businesses but we see this approach as a false economy.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"what-exactly-is-redundancy\"><strong>What exactly is redundancy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A true redundancy occurs when there is no longer a need for a certain type of work or as much of that work as there was before.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about the <em>job<\/em> or the type of work; <em>not<\/em> about an individual.<\/p>\n<p>There are generally procedural requirements that you need to meet when selecting individuals for redundancy and communicating it to them. These vary from industry to industry and level of role but they exist nonetheless.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"why-its-not-such-a-hot-idea\"><strong>Why it\u2019s not such a hot idea<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">It\u2019s grossly unfair (in most cases)<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> \u2013 they don\u2019t have a chance to change and improve if you won\u2019t clearly tell them what you want and then tell them if they\u2019re not doing it!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Unfair Dismissal<\/b><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> &#8211; an eligible employee who believes their redundancy <\/span>wasn\u2019t genuine<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> can still claim Unfair Dismissal and will increasingly find a way to turn this into an \u2018Adverse Action\u2019 claim to up their likely payout.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">It\u2019ll cost<\/b><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> \u2013 even if it doesn\u2019t end up in a tribunal, the cost of paying a redundancy is generally higher than a properly-managed termination. Add up the Redundancy + Go Away Money + Recruiting and training a replacement and why wouldn\u2019t you manage their performance in the first place?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">You\u2019re sending a message to your team <\/b><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">\u2013 and it\u2019s one you can\u2019t control. Whatever spin you put on it, with some of your team you\u2019re planting the seed of, \u2018<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I can get paid to leave if I play my cards right\u2019<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">. You\u2019re also frustrating other great team members who think, \u2018<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Why do I work hard and they pay people like that to go away?\u2019<\/em><\/li>\n<li><b style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">You\u2019re making it someone else\u2019s problem<\/b><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> \u2013 you know how you love it when a new hire starts alarm bells ringing and a bit more digging into their employment history shows they\u2019ve been \u2018made redundant\u2019 or \u2018it was a mutual decision to leave\u2019 their last four jobs. If you\u2019ve done this when you should\u2019ve managed the problem, it\u2019s workplace karma at play. Sorry about that.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 id=\"whats-the-alternative\"><b>What\u2019s the alternative?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>It might seem obvious but it takes strong people managers to build and lead effective teams. You need a clear set of values and robust performance management practices (note I didn\u2019t say \u2018complicated\u2019) that are based on fairness, transparency and accountability for all. You need to measure the performance of your managers based on their ability to manage people.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s simple, but it\u2019s not easy. It takes commitment and consistency. But it can be done and done well.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll know when you\u2019re doing it right because these places are a joy to work in, work for and be associated with.<\/p>\n<p>We think it\u2019s worth the effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Please note that the information in this post does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. The People Department does not accept liability for any loss or damage that may arise from any such reliance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sam Baker<\/strong>\u00a0is one of the cofounders at \u00a0<strong>The People Department<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; a boutique Human Resources consultancy. With qualifications in HR, Business, Employment Relations and Training &amp; Assessment her HR experience includes the nuts and bolts of managing day-to-day HR operations and performance issues. It also encompasses national enterprise agreements, regional reward and recognition programs, national training programs, large-scale re-structures, M&amp;A and change management initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In order to avoid an unfair dismissal or adverse action claim, you need to understand that a true redundancy occurs when there is no longer a need for a certain type of work. It\u2019s about the job &#8211; not about the individual team member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is This Redundancy or Just &#039;Failure to Manage&#039;?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A true redundancy about the job or type of work - not about an individual. 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