Your Happiness Factor

Changes in life like redundancy affect us all deeply. They change us and they change our relationships. Redundancy is like bereavement and can leave you with the same gut-wrenching sense of loss, the furious “why me?”. Everyone says it’s not personal, but of course it feels that way to the one who has lost their job. But that sense of loss isn’t just felt by us, it is felt by those close to us as well. Their lives have been changed and probably in ways they would never have chosen for themselves. Sometimes in mass redundancies you can turn that anger outwards and on to the employer or the perceived cause of the problems for example the Bankers. Then the group binds together against the world. If a whole community is facing difficulty, there is likely to be lots of support from within that community – think of the pit villages in the North East of England between the thirties and the seventies. Under siege you pull together. But most of us live in communities without that kind of tradi

I've  decided to add another blog to the family –  Leaving the Public Sector  - and I’m seeking your help.  Following the 2010  Spending Review  it was revealed that between them UK Government departments were expected to shed over 100,000 civil service posts as part of their efforts to reduce administration costs.    The Government's cull of quangos, in which 192 public bodies are to be abolished and a further 112 will be merged, will also contribute to an overall headcount loss in the civil service In addition vast numbers of posts are likely to be lost from the wider public sector - Local Authorities, the NHS etc . Many public servants have already been invited to consider taking voluntary redundancy, and many more will be invited to do so as reorganisation plans begin to take shape.  Compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out. For many public servants this is a time to consider the future and the challenge it presents. Four years ago I was facing the same challenge.

Most of us loose confidence when we lose a job.   It’s not just about losing the income but it affects your image of yourself!   Many of us value ourselves based on our work.   For many of us work is the place where we spend the most of our waking life.   It’s often where we find our friends and make our major achievements.   So when we lose a job we feel we lose part of ourselves and we grieve for it. But you can get over it – just like any grief.   You are much more than your job and your real friends and family value you for much more than your salary even when they are dependent upon it. Now is the time to go to work on anew project and that new is very special because it is you! Here are some points for you to consider! Understand this happened If you have been made redundant then remember it’s not personal – you were just unlucky! Plus it makes you part of a very large and growing club.   If you lost your job for other reasons then make sure you understand why and learn fro