Boris offers mind coaching for City Hall staff made redundant

Boris Johnson is offering City Hall staff confidence-boosting classes as part of their redundancy packages.

The workshops, with titles such as Cresting The Curve, Create Your Own Luck and Me, have been set up in the wake of a jobs cull aimed at saving millions of pounds.

Posters advertising the sessions, which will cost the taxpayer £9,000, have appeared in lifts, and they are being publicised on the staff intranet.

At least 120 posts have been axed at City Hall, including half the environment team - the group in charge of London's bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Mayor wants to save about £7.5million from an £80million budget. Many of the cuts are of middle managers earning about £40,000.

Greater London Authority chiefs claim redundancy "coaching" will boost self-esteem and help those who have lost jobs find new ones.

But critics say the courses are little comfort for those made redundant.

A source at City Hall said: "I laugh every time I see the adverts. I know we are going to save money by job cuts but even so this all seems a bit much. It's all very wishy-washy, lovey-dovey stuff and I question whether it's a good use of time or money."

Life-coaching service The Mind Gym has been recruited to offer 90-minute mental "workouts" to improve memory and problem solving skills. Clients of the Kensington-based company already include Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Octavius Black, founder of The Mind Gym, said enquiries from companies that were in the process of restructuring had soared since the recession started. The former marketing executive said that as well as working with axed staff, the classes helped managers avoid "executioner's remorse".

He said: "We've seen a 50 per cent uptake in organisations who want help with the people-side of a major restructure. We help managers ...handle restructure to ease the journey. It also provides the antidote to survivors' syndrome by helping those who are left to pick themselves up."

The GLA said existing staff including those working out their notices, were eligible for the workshops. A spokeswoman said: "This approach has been used successfully by the London Development Agency during a restructure, and so the GLA has agreed to pilot three sessions. The workshops have only just been advertised to staff. Twenty places are available on each session." Staff are also being offered CV writing and interview skills workshops, while line managers are being sent on half-day events called Managing Change to teach them how to support workers. There are drop-in sessions where staff can ask questions.

Mr Black said: "When people lose their job it can feel like the end of their world. The reality is often the opposite. Our research shows that people who are made redundant and find another job tend to be better off than those who never lost their job in the first place. Our workshops give people back their mojo. This way they turn depression into determination and adversity into opportunity."

The recession has also triggered a surge in enquiries about redundancy "coaches" from City firms. Goldman Sachs and Barclays are among those offering self-help workshops.

My 90-minute workout

Caroline Charlton, 25,
Recruitment consultant from Fulham

Her background: Caroline was made redundant last week after just a few months in her job.

What happened: "It felt just like a careers advice session. Octavius Black, founder of The Mind Gym, started me off talking about my background. I'm definitely looking for a life change and don't want to go back into recruitment, so it was quite a revelation what he picked up on.

"I'm a middle child and that came up a lot. His verdict was I had 'middle-child syndrome' and listened to my parents too much. They think a job is just about the professions - like doctors. My family are really helpful but it made me realise I should take my own decisions now I'm in my twenties.

"Octavius also directed me towards new avenues of what I'd be good at - or not. For example, he picked up on my desire to go into medicine but said he didn't think it was for me. Instead, he suggested media communications or investor relations. I do enjoy the financial side of work so it gave me fresh ideas."

What I learned

"Octavius was not overbearing and I found the session enlightening. It was more like talking to a friend. I could have done with more time though.

"The theory is that the middle child feels out of place and undervalued. They're not overachievers and like to go with the flow of things. Octavius noticed how I was always comparing myself to others, especially my brother and sister and their achievements. His view was I depended too much on other people's opinions and I should follow my own instinct. My degree was in cell biology and pathology but I ended up in recruitment.

"Money is quite a motivating factor for me so it would be a massive step to retrain as a doctor. Octavius read me really well: it wasn't that he didn't think I could retrain. He just realised it wasn't my true passion."