Survivors of Layoffs Need Love, Too

January 31st, 2009. Published under Uncategorized. 2 Comments.

The last time the U.S. addressed major layoffs numerous industry consultants noted there was more of an emphasis on those being laid off than the remaining employees.  Terminated employees receive severance plans, outplacement, counseling, more hands on communication, and an optimistic sales pitch.  But for the “survivors,” there’s an unspoken assumption that retained employees should be happy because they still have the job.  Past economic downturns have taught us that a company must be proactive and engaged with survivors to avoid productivity losses, decision gridlock and a deadening of creativity and innovation.

In September 2008, mass layoffs (involving 50 or more layoffs from each employer) reached their highest number since 9/11. There were 2,269 mass layoff events in September 2008 vs. 2,407 in September 2001. Scott Anderson, Wells Fargo Senior economic analyst expects 3 million Americans to lose their jobs in 2009 – up from the 2.6 million who were cut last year, which was the most since 1945, the final year of World War II. The layoffs are happening in “all industries in all areas of the world,” Anderson says. “This will be one of the worst job markets in the postwar period.”

According to the results of Sirota Survey Intelligence research, employee confidence and attitudes declined in several key areas following 9/11, including:

• Job security – 69 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 felt secure about their jobs, but that decreased to 61 percent in 2002.
• Employees feel valued – 67 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 said they felt they were valued and were considered an important part of the organization. This declined dramatically to just 44 percent of employees who felt valued in 2002.
• Cooperation and teamwork – 81 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 favorably rated the cooperation and teamwork within their work units. This decreased to 71 percent in 2002. In addition, 69 percent of those surveyed in 2000 favorably rated the cooperation and teamwork among departments; this dropped to 40 percent in 2002.
• Too much work – Only 28 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 felt that too much work was expected of them. This figure increased to 34 percent in 2002.
• Opportunity for advancement – 48 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 were confident in their opportunities for advancing with their employers, which decreased to 39 percent in 2002.
• Company is innovative – 62 percent of employees surveyed in 2000 believed their company was innovative, which dropped to 52 percent in 2002.

No one enjoys the process of implementing layoffs.  Managers can become so consumed by the prospect of firing people that they find themselves without resources to remotivate the employees who remain. But companies take an enormous risk when they make this mistake. In study after study employers who eliminate jobs fail to bolster productivity over the long run. Anxious and overworked employees become demoralized, risk-averse and unproductive. When companies are forced to hire new workers or turn to outside vendors to compensate, the short-term savings from layoffs can evaporate.

Empty workstations, spaces in the parking lot, the quietness that falls over the organization speak volumes about a massive and uninvited change that has affected everyone. It is natural that this scenario would affect work performance. There is a breach in the perceived workplace contract of trust between employee and management. Add to this an increased workload on already busy employees, and you face lowered productivity, even if the troubled economy reduces retention problems.

Symptoms of “Survivor Sickness” include:

• Depression, feelings of guilt over being spared, sleeplessness, and increased smoking and drinking.
• Uncertainty about what they can do to save their own jobs, so they maintain low profiles so they will not be the next employees laid off.  They feel that if they don t make decisions, then they can t make a mistake and draw attention to themselves.
• less productivity because they may often take on some of the workload of former employees, unsure about their responsibilities and confused about what is expected of them.
• Survivors frequently observe that competent performance may not guarantee continued employment and may begin to distrust management.

Wayne F. Cascio, a professor of management at the University of Colorado, Denver, who has studied the effect of layoffs on productivity said employees “are looking for signals, and they want to know how they are going to be better off.  ”They want to know if they have a future.”

Any organization can reach out to employees after layoffs, but sometimes the process can be simpler in smaller settings.  Management can take the following actions, in five broad areas, to help mitigate the after-effects of layoffs on employees who remain.

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. It is critical to have as much transparency as possible.  Secrecy will just add to the sense of powerlessness.  Employees want to know what will happen, who will be laid off and why was that person chosen.  The Company can articulate the goals of the organization by explaining layoff choices.  Do not delay in confirming whether there will be additional job cuts. Failure to be honest at this moment will create a further breach with retained employees if additional layoffs are required in the near future.  Communicate why workforce reductions are necessary. Employees need to understand when the workforce reductions were a last resort.

2. Create space for an emotional response. Emotions like anger, worry, insecurity, and survivor guilt are all perfectly natural to experience.  A different environment is created if managers assure their workers that it is okay to feel this way.  Even better, managers should create a defined space for employees to express these emotions, an event, meeting or retreat-like experience. Otherwise, employees may release these feelings in non-productive ways or situations. Some companies hold group meetings that stimulate frank discussions of feelings and emotions, others may ask supervisors to have one-on-one meetings with employees just to listen and answer questions.

3. Think creatively about addressing the effects of less staff for the same work. Rethink how tasks are done and involve employees in the search for solutions.  Employee engagement activities like gain-sharing can be particularly effective at this time.
4. Train for the future direction of the Company and demonstrate continued interest in the careers of the survivors. In the aftermath of layoffs managers can use the need to assign employees work in new areas as a vehicle to expand the skills of survivors and demonstrate confidence in them. Increasing the frequency of discussions about professional development can reassure layoff survivors about the company’s commitment.

5.  Team building and counseling.

Integrating “survivor” concerns into group settings is an economical approach to provide employees with ways to understand what is happening and enable them to regain some sense of control over their lives and their careers.  Team building sessions can be used to help employees clarify their new role in the organization, give them input to redesign the work to met new economic challenges, recognize an employee’s  emotional responses, educate them with information on the reduction and encourage the development of internally marketable skills.

Take a look at this  Times article:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1874592,00.html?iid=tsmodule