How to Motivate Employees During Layoffs
Layoffs may be the order of the day as a
prerequisite for returning to profitability, but sustaining growth in
the aftermath is the real challenge.
A year ago, business owners were complaining about the difficulties of finding good employees and motivating new staff members even though they were being paid top dollar. Recently, with the increased number of layoffs and restructuring, owners are asking, "How do I keep my employees productive?" One of the most crucial steps often forgotten by business owners during layoffs is open and honest communication with employees about what's happening and how they will be impacted.
When the workforce has not been included in the planning considerations, symptoms emerge that are signs of troubled waters. These symptoms include:
- Withdrawing and merely putting in time on the job (i.e., retiring on the job).
- Feelings of guilt because they survived, while fellow workers are gone.
- Frustration and anger - difficulty getting things done and even when successful, not sure how important the achievement is in relationship to the organization's goals.
- Feeling lost and disoriented - not knowing where they fit in, what their priorities should be and which ones were lost.
- Expressions of negativity among peers about the changes.
- Difficulty identifying purpose in their work - must search and seek their own personal answer to the "what's-in-it-for-me" question.
1. Prepare the workforce for layoffs or restructuring.
Effective and constant communication with the workforce is the most
crucial step. During the communication process, management must address
and then assuage the fears associated with the employees' safety and
security needs.
To create empathy and relate to the workforce's safety and security needs, a dramatic action or sacrifice needs to be taken by management and then communicated to the workforce.
2. Educate the workforce and focus on the same goals.
Get all of the employees focused on the same goal. Naturally, a
prerequisite is to provide them with the knowledge of the
business-of-business in a manner that each person can understand. Once
the workforce is prepared and has gained trust in management, employees
are more willing to focus on the common goal: to improve top-line and
bottom-line results simultaneously.
To get the workforce focused, encourage employees at all levels to redefine how the work will be done and how processes can become more effective and efficient.
3. Implement the participative program at all levels.
It is not enough to communicate and engage the employees during a
staffing shakeup, but management also must enable all of the employees
to effectively implement the program(s) that the employees have set in
place. The workforce already has the power to control the processes,
but they must be authorized to make the necessary changes and be
focused on corporate results at all levels and in every task. To do
this, a process and toolset must be provided that enables managers to
roll out strategic thinking throughout their departments and generate
team spirit.
Once the process and toolsets are in place, it is important to have a comprehensive program to develop and instill effective leadership practices at all levels within the organization. Although management sets priorities, the employees decide the process to accomplish these priorities. Employees should have the analytical and decision skills and authority to determine how to eliminate work that adds no value and define how best to perform the work that does add value. When these steps are implemented, the business-of-business takes center stage, with the entire organization actively participating in its transformation. A company that is focused, nimble and has more adaptability to the changing market and customer conditions benefits from a change in the culture as the workforce becomes more strategically focused and stress levels subside.
Imagine what can happen when all of the employees are as excited about the growth and profit goals of the company as the CEO is committed to achieving them.
For more information contact Lynn B. Keefer, president of Sterling Design (St. Paul, MN) at (888) 723-2410 or via www.sterlingdesign.com.
