Public sector employees have little trust

The Institute's quarterly Employee Outlook survey also found that more than 40% of employees favour banning public sector employees from striking if they work in a front-line role delivering essential services.

CIPD employee relations adviser, Mike Emmott, pointed out that Trade Unions only have power to disrupt if they are trusted more than management. It is therefore vital for public sector organisations to communicate the need for change and effectively manage the relationship with employees.

Meanwhile, NorthgateArinso and their HR consultancy partner Chiumento have launched an outplacement service to help public sector organisations and employees through the redundancy process.

Thousands of workers are facing redundancy because of public sector spending cuts and they will be able to receive assistance from trained consultants to help them find, and transition into, new roles. Practical advice will be offered on CV writing and preparing for interviews. In addition a telephone helpline will be set up and employees will be able to access to online learning services.

The service aims to help all employees, not just those holding senior management roles. As many as 600,000 public sector workers could be made redundant over the next five years and Chiumento believes that employers have a duty to help them find alternative employment.

Chiumento's head of business development, David Wightman, said that redundancy can lead to a positive change if employees take the opportunity to reflect and begin a fresh career. However, they will probably need help to bring this about.

Rue Stanley from NorthgateArinso said that as well as giving advice about opportunities for training, the service will also help people who want to set up their own business. He pointed out that research has discovered that 70% of people who use an outplacement service have a new job within six months.

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