MRD | Group 3

Anindya | Amit | Gurvit | Piyusha | Sargam

COUNSELLING IN REDUNDANCY MANAGEMENT

OVERVIEW As part of our presentation on the counselling process involved in managing redundancy, we look at it from two perspectives the ones being separated and the survivors. Primary as well secondary data will be used to assist us in drawing general inferences regarding the current state of affairs, the need for change (if any) and what could be the steps taken in this direction. BEING SEPARATED We shall look to interview people from all walks of life that have faced/survived redundancy at some point of time in their careers and understand from their experiences, the need for counselling during the separation process. As of now, we are looking at interviewing people from the following domain Retired professionals Daily-wage labourers Employees on bench in IT companies

The primary data we get out of these interviews shall help us understand the present scenario of counselling during separation and also what the employees generally look to after being separated. This will even help us further in our presentation while making recommendations on what must be done to bridge the gap that is present in the organizations. We intend to construct Live Case Studies based on these interviews and present before the class our learning from such instances. SURVIVORS Redundancy and its accompanying effects can have an impact not only on the employees who leave but also on those who are left behind. The understanding of such impact on the survivors is more critical from an organizational point of view, as their response to the situation affects the organization directly. The psychological and social impact on such survivors will be studied from two perspectives Realisation about impending natural redundancy, such as retirement Apprehension of possible unnatural redundancy, such as downsizing

We plan to collect primary information through a questionnaire or a set of interviews, from personnel who have survived retrenchment at their organization in recent times. A diverse set of such views can help us arrive at general conclusions on how survivors react, and some ideas on how their expectations or apprehensions could be managed. Page 1 of 2

MRD | Group 3

Anindya | Amit | Gurvit | Piyusha | Sargam

CURRENT SCENARIO We will also look into the existing counselling process carried out in some of the organizations. Comparison of the counselling process followed in different organizations will give us better understanding of the effectiveness of counselling. We will explore whether the process carried out for managing redundancy is similar or different from the process for managing other issues and grievances. The process might be different with respect to style of counselling followed (directive or nondirective) or the model followed (Rogerian, Carkhuff). For the retired employees, we will look at examples where the counselling is started some time before retirement and if the contact is maintained after retirement also. In difficult times like downsizing when many people are recognised as redundant, the counselling help provided to the existing employees and its effectiveness in coping up with the stress. This will give us an idea of the benefits and effectiveness of counselling. If possible, we will collect feedback from the employees who have undergone counselling. RELATED SERVICES We will also focus on the different kinds of counselling-related services that are provided by the firms. The gamut of services that may be covered is broad. It may range from services like outplacement wherein the firm tries to find an alternate job for the retrenched employee to tax advisory and investment related services wherein the employees are given advice on investment related decisions and tax savings etc. We would try to explore the diverse services that the organizations usually provide. We would also like to find out the prevalence of these services among firms because many firms may be interested in fulfilling only the legal obligations that retrenchment or retirement accompany. There are broadly two scenarios of retirement the normal one (one that happens on attaining the age of superannuation) and second that happens before attaining the age of superannuation like voluntary retirement scheme, golden handshake etc. We would also try to get an idea of whether the counselling-related services are provided for both the scenarios. We would also like to make an effort to find out whether these services are actually provided or they are forgotten paragraphs in the HR policy documents. PRIVATE VS PUBLIC SECTOR Finally, we will have a look at how the redundancy-focused counselling process and related services vary between the private and public sector enterprises. This would include a study of which kind of organizations provide a wider range of such services, their overall commitment/indifference and reasons for the same, areas of concern, etc. Finally, based on our analysis of facts, and discussions as enumerated in the sections above, we would look for plausible recommendations for organizations.

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