When I made my New Years resolutions for 2025, I am pretty sure an unexpected redundancy was not on the list. But you know what they say, lay your plans out  beautifully and someone will crash a truck full of treacle into them. If you have found yourself in this position unexpectedly, it can be a confusing and anxiety inducing time. But perhaps, with the right mindset, it could be just the catalyst you have been waiting for.

Waiting for communication from the business about our future has been slow, something akin to a pension age elephant dithering at the self service checkouts in Tesco. I had begun to think that it might not actually happen at all. But then big life decisions have a habit of  suddenly jumping out of the bushes bearing their ugly teeth and forcing you into action before you are really ready. Making that decision is hard but ultimately liberating. Don’t worry, I’m not about to go all zen on you and start chanting, I’m very pragmatic, grab a coffee and let’s get into it.

This week I was given the opportunity to seize control of my own future and at least some space to plan ahead. A chance to work on all those projects that I have been putting off and to really move forward with my career. I could pursue writing, a training course or find a totally different career path. I might even paint the garden fence. That is the narrative I continue to force feed myself at present alongside endlessly repeating ‘everything's cool’ whenever reality bites. 

The reality is this looming redundancy, which I volunteered for has caused a great deal of reflection and thought about the future. In case you are wondering, I have definitely jumped before the inevitable nudge in the back pushed me out into the wilderness. It brings with it moments of sadness, excitement and trepidation in equal measure. But we have all been there right. Right?

According to the most recent data from Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK redundancy rate is about 4.5 per 1,000 employees (July–September 2025). In general terms, the likelihood of facing a redundancy at least once in your career is highly possible. It can even be more frequent depending on the nature of your industry

So far the overriding feeling is about taking control of the situation. But that also means taking control of my own life. On reflection there has been long periods of time where I feel I have been coasting along, where everything seems comfortable and easy in a way, because of the steadiness of employment, earning well, being able to actually have some money put away for a rainy day (lots of them in the north of England!). But was I being brave and pushing for what I really wanted out of life and my career? Well. Probably not.

Writing became a distant sideline for a long time and actually I was spending so much time learning and dealing with the day job that it sapped all my energy. While there were some high points, corporate life has lots of challenges, particularly in HR which I will come on to talk about in later articles. I wondered about the genuine occasions where I felt I had really helped someone, and all the other occasions where it probably did not make any discernible difference. Something had to change. Did you ever feel that you were putting off your true vocation for the sake of maintaining a lifestyle? And what is that true vocation? I hear you ask. I don’t know, I will reply, not yet. But I want to find out.

A few years ago I started writing again. Poems, short stories, even novels. I couldn’t stop. It was like the creativity had been bottled up for so long and I finally got to release all these crazy ideas that had been going round my head. It acted as a great stress relief to be doing something just for me rather than for work, it didn’t feel like work.

When going through a period of change in an organisation, they often drag out the Kubler Ross change curve, which you may be familiar with. There are 5 stages to the model that they expect most people to go through when dealing with a major change: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The psychology behind this model is actually rooted in research into the stages of grief, but is often adapted for use in the workplace. Thankfully, as hard as experiencing workplace change is, no one died. It’s important to remember that, because it means it's survivable. 

Organisational change often feels like something is being done to you, and this time, as far as possible I don’t want any part of that. I wanted to take control of my own destiny, even if that means that I make mistakes, even if it is unstable for a period of time. Because I want to spend the rest of my working life exploring what work is really about, how it changes people, how to help people become unstuck.

I want to use my 25 year career in organisational development and HR, plus my own personal experiences of going through this process, to support and coach people into the next stages of their careers. There is always still a lot to learn, a lot to write about. How we put barriers in the way of our ambition at the earliest opportunity, how we fail to recognise our own value and self worth on the basis of the singular opinions of others.

What I think is unique in my career position at the moment is that I have full choice over the next stage of my career. It is not about re-treading my own steps, but finding new destinations and opportunities. Finding a purpose for your efforts is ultimately more rewarding than appeasing the efforts of somebody else. Besides, I am sure that in the absence of employment (for at least a little while) my lovely wife will make sure I am fully occupied with all the jobs around the house that need doing (must tackle that procrastination).  I want to make the most of it though, because doing the same thing day after day is not me, not any more.

I guess this seems to an outsider (or an insider probably) like a mid life crisis but I assure you I am not scanning autotrader for a red sports car. I am pursuing a path of creativity, to write about what I choose and to work on projects and activities that I feel are worthwhile and meaningful. I have approximately 4-5 months before my current employment will come to an end, but I am getting started early. There really is no time to waste. Now back to that list of jobs around the house to do, probably starting with painting the fence. Very zen.