By mid-career, most professionals are not short of self-awareness. What they are short of is clarity, specifically the kind of clarity that comes from having someone look at the whole picture with them and help bring order to what can feel like an overwhelming amount of noise. That is my job, and it is one I take seriously.

Here is something that does not get talked about enough. Outplacement is not just about the people leaving. It is a direct communication to everyone who remains. When your team watches colleagues being made redundant, they are asking themselves a question: if that were me, would this organisation treat me with respect? The answer they arrive at shapes their engagement, their trust in leadership and their own commitment to the business going forward.