There’s no such thing as a job for life, not even for senior managers.
That’s why a new mentoring programme in Ireland for redundant executives has proved to be a real eye opener. Paula King reports
The Chinese word for crisis involves two English words: danger and opportunity.
During constant change, the challenge is how to move from a mindset of fear to one that embraces new opportunities, vision and growth – and all with renewed motivation.
Such a change in mindset can be difficult for senior managers and executives who have built up a successful career over many years, never imagining they would be made redundant. However, a combination of mentoring and coaching can make all the difference, as an initiative in Ireland last year revealed.
Executive Coaching Solutions Ltd (ECSL), a coaching and mentoring consultancy based in south Dublin, had been approached by the Irish National Training and Employment Authority (FAS Ireland) to design a programme meeting the needs of redundant managers, leaders and senior executives.
The Executive Mentoring and Networking programme was rolled out to around 300 participants nationwide over a number of months between March 2009 and September 2010 with extremely positive results.
The ongoing programme sought to enhance participants’ productive job-seeking skills and self-confidence, helping them keep up their morale in the short term, despite setbacks. Long term, the aim was to help them gain employment with high economic, social and psychological rewards, developing competencies including self-awareness, adaptability, self confidence, adaptability, presenting with impact, empathy and organisational awareness, and influence and communication.
In my years of working with executives who have been made redundant, I have come to appreciate what a significant event this can be. Familiar routines change, self-esteem can get bruised, relationships and family life can be affected. The redundant person can experience a great sense of grief. It is akin to a bereavement – from shock, denial, anger, hopelessness, stress, to acceptance and integration of the experience into future life planning.
The stress that redundancy triggers needs to be understood and managed. Although hard, it is crucial to hold on to the belief that we still have choices. ECSL’s programme highlighted three mindset options.
We can see ourselves as:
- a victim of circumstances,
- a survivor, adopting a reactive, aggressive approach, or
- a navigator who takes initiatives and harnesses positive energy.
Unusually, the programme recognises how crucial a sense of control, mastery and social support are in sustaining mental health, as well as the importance of combating feelings of anxiety, helplessness and depression.
It encourages self-efficacy, the knowledge that one can succeed, as a motivational force for attempting new challenges.
Critical resources
Research has shown that enhancing job search self-efficacy stimulates participants to engage in intensive job search activities.
Positive mental health is a value in its own right. It refers to cognitive functioning, positive self-esteem, social and problem-solving skills, the ability to manage major changes and stresses in life and to influence the social environment, the ability to work productively and to contribute to the community, and a state of emotional, spiritual and mental well-being (Hosman, 1997; WHO, 2001).
Skills, social support and knowing how to cope with setbacks are all critical resources that can have a powerful preventative impact on people who would otherwise be very vulnerable to the adversities of life transitions such as job loss.
Much of the intervention’s rationale derives from research on vigilant coping (Allart-van Dam et al, 2003). This shows that people under pressure often narrow their search for solutions and tend to become prematurely invested in a certain course of action. Participants were trained in diagnosing unemployment problems and generating alternatives for re-employment. Through one-to-one coaching they also received tips on ‘inoculation’ against setbacks.
Participants were also given lots of opportunities to engage in active learning. These involved group brainstorming to diagnose problems as well as active coping solutions and ways to overcome obstacles. They were also encouraged to generate their own solutions in true coaching style so they were more committed to them.
The programme listed five keys to success:
- One-to-one coaching
Participants were encouraged to work with a coach to help them with focus, action planning and forward movement leading to effective job achievement.
So-called ‘POD’ activities grew generically from the work of each workshop. Groups of four or five met offline and reported back to the main group weekly. POD members were rotated to encourage networking. ‘Entrepreneur’ groups became ‘stable’ teams.
- Advanced communication and presentation skills
This included skills practice, interview preparation and designing a professional CV for every participant.
- Job campaign strategies Managing mental blocks and emotional well being.
- High levels of social and emotional competencies Competencies included flexibility, empathy, self-confidence and a positive outlook. Facilitators also had excellent listening skills, talent in giving feedback, skill in facilitating group process and the ability to manage challenge in a constructive manner. They could navigate ‘prescriptive’ course content with the flexibility of working with participants’ needs at a high level. Also, all facilitators were trained professional coaches with a strong belief in self-empowerment and faith in the individuals they were working with.
- Reassessment The programme helped participants carry out a major reassessment of their personal situation, strengths and weaknesses, career aspirations and values and goals in life.
Many of us will remember the positive slogan Barack Obama used when he was elected as president of the US: “Yes we can.” This is not just a clever use of words but a description of a very powerful mindset. Programme participants were encouraged to reframe negatives to positives. For example: “I can’t” became “I can”; “I’ll try” became “I will”; and “I should” became “I could”. A problem became an opportunity; helplessness, self-empowerment.
We need to be motivated, challenged and stretched to perceive these new horizons.
There are positive and negative aspects to change. It can be difficult, unsettling, chaotic, unwelcome. It can also be exciting, challenging and a time for new opportunities.
The words of Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, should be kept in mind: “It is not the events in our lives that determine who we become, but the meaning we choose to place on these events.”
Paula King is managing director of ECSL and president of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council Ireland www.ecsl.eu
Case study: Thinking outside the box
The client Mark, an architect and participant on the Executive Mentoring and Networking Programme
I did not realise that work played such a central role in my life, giving me purpose, structure, identity, social engagement, status and direction and, needless to say, income and financial security. It was also an opportunity to use my talents and skills – a source of satisfaction, fulfilment and pride.
When I was made redundant all of that was taken away from me. I felt isolated and in many ways a failure. I had lost my identity and really did not know how to function in this new and unfamiliar world. Whereas once I bounced out of bed in the morning with a great sense of purpose and, dare I say it, importance, now I found it difficult even to get out of bed. I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. I did not want to meet old friends as I thought they felt sorry for me and I couldn’t bear that. Slowly I was turning into a recluse.
I believe that without the programme I would have become seriously depressed. It was wonderful to meet kindred spirits. I found it challenging and enjoyable working with my coach who had such an unfailing belief in me. I began to think ‘outside the box’. I am a qualified architect and had worked my way up in a very large organisation over a period of years. My focus had been to return to a familiar work environment, however through the coaching process and working with my colleagues on the programme I decided to set up a small consultancy.
Six months later I have a number of contracts, providing me with not only a respectable income but also allowing me to spend more time with my family than before. My quality of life has improved immensely and I am a happier person than I have ever been.
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 2