Wednesday, 18 September 2013

WAYS TO MAKE A SMOOTH TRANSITION AFTER BEING RETRENTCHED

By: Moleboheng Masilo

 We all see success differently our aspirations are influenced by how we were brought up, the environment we live in, how we see ourselves and the people we live and work alongside with. You never stop having ambitions and goals; they just change as you grow older or if you are in a situation that you can never get yourself out of and retrenchment is one of them.

Ways to become more confident after the ordeal
Joseph Nkosi is a fifty-two year old man that worked for twenty seven years at Nampak Glass Company and he was the longest worker in the company and worked for 27 years. He was retrenched from the company in the year 2009; Nkosi says that being retrenched from the company left him angry, feeling bad, worried and having a lot of mixed feelings. When the management told him that he was one of the people that were going to be retrenched he ended up being ill and because of that he was hospitalized and he was diagnosed with bipolar and depression. Nkosi says that the union and company failed him because when they proceeded  with the process he was in ICU and they never gave him the opportunity to voice out his  concerns as they should do like the procedure states. “This brought so many changes into my life because I ended up being mentally disturbed because I didn’t believe that I was jobless” Nkosi said. There is more to feeling good about yourself if you bring positivity in your life and gaining the confidence you had before can make many other aspects of your life plan seem more achievable. Nkosi concentrated on getting better on his health and went for counselling and spoke with his family for further help to ensure that they were also fine with this change in their lives. Mrs Alina Nkosi said that “I put myself in an understanding position and understood that my husband needed all the support that I could give him.” If you work to build your confidence you become better at withstanding the life’s challenges.

Things to do before it is too late and spending less
We all make plans for the future but sometimes we tend to wait for a long time before doing them. Setting our goals for the future is important, it would be disappointing if you had goals and never achieved them especially when you work hard to make sure that your family has everything they need and you can give them all their basic needs. When you get retrenched you need to think of all the important things you have to do before the money they give you finishes. Nkosi says that he thought of his family first and what they had to have. He said that it is wise to pay of all your debts    but most important is to invest the money. Very few people can claim to have all the money they need so when you are retrenched it is only wise to reduce on your monthly spending on unnecessary things. Budgeting is really important and these are the things that you have to budget for
·         Your fixed monthly outgoings
·         Your regular household bills
·         Food and other living expenses
·         What you spend on entertainment

Opportunities that will help you get over this
When you have been retrenched you finally find that you have time on your hands, and this can feel very strange and unsettling after a long and busy life of working. Nkosi says that one way of filling the time you suddenly have is to develop new interests and volunteering is one of them. Volunteering is not just about helping other people but it’s also about helping yourself. “I volunteer at the nearest NGO called Heart beat where we work with orphans and even though I don’t get paid at the end of the month I must say I am happy because I love and enjoy what I do and it brings great joy in my life and I’m doing it for my society” Nkosi said. You can volunteer in so many places like schools, families, prisons, charities, hospitals and so many other places.
We all have different life plans and we all start from somewhere equally as ambitious and goals vary widely, but the minute you are told that you don’t have a job that sounds very daunting and feels like your life has just ended because you are not sure how you will end up living with so many things happening around us with the recessions but at the end of the day you have to live a happy life and make it happen.
    



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