Wilko administration | HR's role in the complex emotions of redundancy

Redundancy is never easy - anyone who has been through it can attest to that. There are so many feelings that go alongside the redundancy process, from anger and fear to nervousness and anxiety, and HR's role in this complex emotional world is a difficult one.

The most recent example of redundancies is playing out in real time as this article goes live - Wilko, the high street retailer, has gone into administration. If you're in an HR team, whether you have only a few people to help navigate the redundancy process, or thousands, there will be so many different emotions. 

As an HR leader, you might well be thinking about the policy or the paperwork when it comes to redundancy, but, rest assured, your team, staff and employees will be thinking about the feelings. And there's a whole rollercoaster of them, for sure.

How a company deals with telling staff about redundancy is the biggest starting point. For a company like Wilko, while some information is out of their hands, and in the news, there will be areas you can control. Even just telling staff you know they're worried, for example. Some of your staff may well suspect redundancy is on the cards, and speculation fuels the emotional fire.