Downsizing, rightsizing, wrong sizing, capsizing! What’s going on? The final week of January 2009 began with horrible news for the job market, as over 71,400 more cuts were announced on Monday, January 26, alone. At least six companies from manufacturing and service industries announced cost-cutting initiatives that included slashing thousands of jobs.
As reported by CNN, more than 200,000 job cuts have been announced so far this year, according to company reports. Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost over 2008, the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945.
Concerned as we are about those who were laid off, employees who survive a downsizing feel anything but relief. More often than not, they feel anxious and betrayed.
The painful feelings caused by its downsizing – sense of loss, fear, depression, mistrust and betrayal - aren't only experienced by downsized workers. These wrenching emotions are also felt by employees who survived the layoffs! I experienced job elimination twice in my career and it wasn’t fun! I also remember standing by many other times when my friends and colleagues lost their jobs and how I felt on those dark days and in the months to follow.
Talk to anyone who has survived and they may say something like this, “Just when we began to think our jobs were safe, they changed the rules on us. We didn’t know who was in charge, who we could trust or what we were supposed to be doing. The more unsettling it got, the less productive we became.” Talk about a toxic work environment!
Many employers try to manage these powerful emotions by justifying management decisions and downplaying the challenges ahead. This kind of response only fuels doubt, speculation, rumors, and cynicism rather than commitment and drive to move ahead.
Many executives think surviving employees are so relieved to still have a job that they eagerly get down to business. Nothing if farther from the truth! Often, any relief felt by employees soon is overwhelmed by a number of unpleasant emotions – pain, guilt, loneliness, depression, and job insecurity.
Typically, the work of those who have left the company is distributed among those who are left – the survivors. Add this to the physical and mental exhaustion that already comes from a “doing more with less” philosophy that is so prevalent today – because companies are better at downsizing people than they are at the workload – and you have an organization in crisis. You have a workplace environment that is driving employees and, ultimately, results, in the wrong direction.
Why are the needs of survivors being overlooked in the overwhelming majority of organizations? “Because there’s very little recognition that survivors have any needs at all,” says Harris Sussman, president of Workways, an organizational consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass. “But even if companies do recognize survivors have special needs, there is an ugly Catch-22 involved: Companies downsize for monetary reasons, and programs to help remaining employees cost money.”
That may be a good excuse, but it's a poor reason, in my opinion. Remember…who’s really driving your business? The people! If you don't spend the money to salvage something from the wreckage, your employees will resist any other organizational change effort you attempt. Worse yet, you'll never get the results that the restructuring was intended to get in the first place. “P2P” (people-to-people connections) must be kicked up a few notches!
Survivors need emotional support, extensive communication from management, clear-cut job descriptions and career management assistance for a downsizing to be successful. After all, the remaining employees are the only ones who can turn the company around to survive and thrive in years ahead.
If you or someone you know has any of these symptoms or demonstrates any of these behaviors, seek help at once!
Symptoms:
Insecurity about job
Fear of the unknown
Mistrust of management
Uncertain/doubtful of skills and abilities
Lack of loyalty
High stress levels
Low self-esteem
Feeling overly dependent on the organization
Behaviors:
Narrow-minded
Not open to healthy risk
Low productivity
Depressed
Increased absenteeism
Low morale
Loss of pride in the organization
Increased resistance to change
Acts of sabotage
Once again, it’s all about “P2P” – the people-to-people connections that either creates a positive workplace environment that engages employees and encourages productivity or creates a negative, toxic environment that does just the opposite. It all boils down to recognizing that survivors have special needs. Giving them the emotional support they deserve and communicating with them like adults is the right thing to do – for them and the organization as a whole.
A Positive Workplace Means Business! It Just Makes Cent$! ®
Stay tuned for Part II - Survivor Syndrome: What's A Manager to Do?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Happy New Year! Lemon Meringue Pie Anyone?
Well, we made it through another holiday season and into the beginning of another new year – personally and professionally. Ever the time for new budgets, new goals and, of course, our personal self-improvement resolutions! Before I continue, let me say that you are a terrific person who’s doing the best you can with what you have right now. It’s been a difficult few months out there for all of us and we need to remember that we will be fine…patience, perseverance, positive...
The wild economic ride and ensuing changes during the last few months of 2008 brought change and choices to all of us in one way or another with some more drastic than others. Whether it was change you chose or change that chose you, the effect can be draining on our personal power source. How are you doing? How are your employees doing? Have you asked them? Talked with them “P2P?”
January is also a time for personal reflection. As I approach another birthday (January 9), I don’t waste too much energy thinking about my chronological age! It’s only a number and I’m just glad to be here! I think of my Dad (Carl) who died in 1976 at age 60 and Mom (Jane) who died in 2001 at age 88. I inherited their deep faith, “positive attitude DNA” and their determination to make “lemon meringue pie out of life’s lemons.” There’s so much more to do…
Just like you, I have experienced life’s changes and choices – some I made and some that chose me - changes in residence, geographic relocation, divorce, single parenthood, job changes, job elimination, job betrayals, downsizing, kid’s coming and going, finishing my education while working full-time, elderly parents’ declining health, starting my business…and the list goes on. Some of you may have heard me say, “I used to be six feet tall, look what happened!” And now cap it off by saying, “I’m on the grow again!”
When life happens and a “perceived negative event” occurs, sure, I go through the stages of grief, anger, and the rest, just like you do. What I’ve learned to say (and believe), is “Everything happens for a reason.” I ask myself "what can I learn from this (adversity) situation? What do I need to do now to keep going? What’s out of my control?” Instead of burying my head in the sand just waiting for time to pass and playing the “victim” role, I take a lesson from Jane and Carl’s play book! Let the dust settle, think about what’s happened, the role I played in it, what I can do differently, pick up the pieces, pray a lot for guidance (the real Power surge), get moving and get to work! I give myself a “Power Surge!” What about you? Are you a “Power Surge” or a “Power Drain?”
Either way, You Are Your Own Power Source!
The Power Surge - Self-Empowerment – is relying on your own inner power and actively working through the adversity, which helps ease the pain and frustration. Positive Self-Talk and action are the antidotes for negativity and plant the seeds for success! The power to make your life anything that YOU want it to be is inside of you right now!
Power Up! Take Control! As we begin another year – both personally and professionally – let us remember that, in addition to setting new goals and understanding the financial aspects, effective leaders/managers understand the three key traits they need to possess to achieve results through people are objectivity, empathy, and self-awareness. It’s all about “P2P” and the importance of including in their high priorities, the employees – the people who are really driving their organization.
We know from history that economic downturns and recessions have tested the ability of leaders across the globe – in all sectors and in all industries. We learned that there are no easy answers! Including a “people strategy” (P2P) in your business plans is a wise move because, without them, the plans would not be fully executed.
Keep Your Power! Come out of your office; interact with your employees, your co-workers, your customers, your suppliers/vendors; increase communication; talk (face-to-face) with the people – they make your business work each day; seek their input; show your authenticity and human-ness! It’s all about “P2P”!
Your attitude and behavior have a direct affect on bottom-line results, either positively or negatively. Think about how you are affecting your employees, co-workers and the workplace environment…
Are you a “Power Surge” or a “Power Drain?” Either way, You Are Your Own Power Source!
Let’s “turn up the dimmer switch” in 2009! Lemon meringue pie, anyone?
Happy New Year!
The wild economic ride and ensuing changes during the last few months of 2008 brought change and choices to all of us in one way or another with some more drastic than others. Whether it was change you chose or change that chose you, the effect can be draining on our personal power source. How are you doing? How are your employees doing? Have you asked them? Talked with them “P2P?”
January is also a time for personal reflection. As I approach another birthday (January 9), I don’t waste too much energy thinking about my chronological age! It’s only a number and I’m just glad to be here! I think of my Dad (Carl) who died in 1976 at age 60 and Mom (Jane) who died in 2001 at age 88. I inherited their deep faith, “positive attitude DNA” and their determination to make “lemon meringue pie out of life’s lemons.” There’s so much more to do…
Just like you, I have experienced life’s changes and choices – some I made and some that chose me - changes in residence, geographic relocation, divorce, single parenthood, job changes, job elimination, job betrayals, downsizing, kid’s coming and going, finishing my education while working full-time, elderly parents’ declining health, starting my business…and the list goes on. Some of you may have heard me say, “I used to be six feet tall, look what happened!” And now cap it off by saying, “I’m on the grow again!”
When life happens and a “perceived negative event” occurs, sure, I go through the stages of grief, anger, and the rest, just like you do. What I’ve learned to say (and believe), is “Everything happens for a reason.” I ask myself "what can I learn from this (adversity) situation? What do I need to do now to keep going? What’s out of my control?” Instead of burying my head in the sand just waiting for time to pass and playing the “victim” role, I take a lesson from Jane and Carl’s play book! Let the dust settle, think about what’s happened, the role I played in it, what I can do differently, pick up the pieces, pray a lot for guidance (the real Power surge), get moving and get to work! I give myself a “Power Surge!” What about you? Are you a “Power Surge” or a “Power Drain?”
Either way, You Are Your Own Power Source!
The Power Surge - Self-Empowerment – is relying on your own inner power and actively working through the adversity, which helps ease the pain and frustration. Positive Self-Talk and action are the antidotes for negativity and plant the seeds for success! The power to make your life anything that YOU want it to be is inside of you right now!
Power Up! Take Control! As we begin another year – both personally and professionally – let us remember that, in addition to setting new goals and understanding the financial aspects, effective leaders/managers understand the three key traits they need to possess to achieve results through people are objectivity, empathy, and self-awareness. It’s all about “P2P” and the importance of including in their high priorities, the employees – the people who are really driving their organization.
We know from history that economic downturns and recessions have tested the ability of leaders across the globe – in all sectors and in all industries. We learned that there are no easy answers! Including a “people strategy” (P2P) in your business plans is a wise move because, without them, the plans would not be fully executed.
Keep Your Power! Come out of your office; interact with your employees, your co-workers, your customers, your suppliers/vendors; increase communication; talk (face-to-face) with the people – they make your business work each day; seek their input; show your authenticity and human-ness! It’s all about “P2P”!
Your attitude and behavior have a direct affect on bottom-line results, either positively or negatively. Think about how you are affecting your employees, co-workers and the workplace environment…
Are you a “Power Surge” or a “Power Drain?” Either way, You Are Your Own Power Source!
Let’s “turn up the dimmer switch” in 2009! Lemon meringue pie, anyone?
Happy New Year!
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