Redundancy & Dismissal -Taking Stock

The first step in making plans for the future is to take stock of where you are now. This can be very difficult if you have spent a long time in the same job, with no real necessity to explore your skill set and how this might relate to finding future employment. 

There is an easy way to assess and analyse where you are now – you can carry out a personal SWOT. This tool is often used in the workplace but can easily be adapted for your personal life. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Carrying out a personal SWOT allows you to analyse your strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats within your job. It is important that you are as honest as you can be during this process. 

Strengths and weaknesses refer to your personal strengths and weaknesses. One of your strengths might be that you are a great team player. A weakness could be that you are a poor time keeper. Opportunities and threats are about the external environment to you. For example, an opportunity could be that a rival company has tried poaching you. A threat could be threatened redundancies in your department. So how do you carry out a SWOT?

• Take a piece of A4 paper and divide into 4 parts or use our template. Write one of the four headings (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) in each box.
• Work through each box thinking about how they apply to you. In strengths – what do you excel in at work? Why are you useful to your organisation? What education and experience do you have? Do you have a particularly unique skill? What do people come to you for advice on?
• When thinking about weaknesses, consider – do you hit targets? Are you organised? Where do you fall short at work? Do you put off tasks? How are your working relationships? Have you ever let your boss/company down?
• When looking at opportunities think about – the growth of your market sector, your specialised skills, your transferable skills, how your job directly affects the bottom line of the company, how you can help the business to grow with your input, is there a hobby which you could turn into an opportunity, the wider economy.
• Assess your threats – has the company mentioned redundancy or job losses? Have you been warned about your performance? What was the outcome of your last review? How is the company changing and will this affect you? Is your job on the verge of becoming obsolete? Are you fulfilling all your job description or just the bits you like? Are you less experienced or educated than your colleagues?

After you have carried out the SWOT, the final stage is to make a plan. This plan has to use your strengths and take advantage of the opportunities you have flagged up. The plan will give you an opportunity to work on your weaknesses and neutralise impending threats. Be proactive, learn to blow your own trumpet and make the best of what you have. You may wish to use our action plan template.