1. Re-recruit the survivors. The overwhelming consensus of downsizing research is that layoffs do not achieve their “going in” productivity goals. Survivors of most organizations are angry, depressed, anxious and fearful. They are not able or willing to take risks or focus on increasing customer service. At the very time organizations need them to be the most creative and energetic; they hunker down in the trenches, absorbed in their own toxic survivor symptoms. Although managers are, rightfully, caught up in cutting costs, they need to be reminded that people are not “things” to be added or deleted to the production equation with mathematical sterility. Managers need to move beyond layoff administration and planning into formulating strategies for layoff recovery. This involves re-recruiting demoralized employees and working to help them overcome debilitating survivor emotions.
2. Facilitate venting. This goes against the culture of some organizations that managers should not tolerate any whining and complaining. The reality is that without the healthy externalization of layoff induced anger, fear, and anxiety, employees will remain crippled by layoff survivor sickness. In fact, research shows their symptoms will get worse. It is essential that managers lead the way in establishing organizationally sanctioned processes that facilitate the venting of repressed feelings and emotions. Many successful organizations do this in groups with the help of a facilitator; others require managers to meet individually with employees. This is sometimes a counter-cultural activity but organizations with the courage and tenacity to facilitate venting have been amazed with the results and found that healthy venting is a necessary means to the end of moving employees back to productivity.
3. Communicate with truth and authenticity. It is a myth that, in troubled times, managerial communication needs to be clear, planned, objective, and structured. It is a fallacy that expressing uncertainly, ambiguity, or dealing in feelings and emotions is not useful. Surviving employees are attempting to deal with a toxic brew of productivity hindering emotions and need to feel authorized to talk about them. Employees would much rather have managers tell them that they don’t know something as opposed to having them not say anything or make something up. It is also important that managers understand and communicate the truth about employment security. We are experiencing a fundamental shift in the psychological contract that connects employee to employer. When the economy becomes more positive, the frequency of mass layoffs will diminish, but long-term, lifetime employment with one organization is a thing of the past. Managers need to emphasize that employees will have to rely on maintaining transferable marketable skills and continually cultivate their professional networks.
4. Brush up on helping skills and lighten up on controlling skills. Don’t be afraid of feelings and emotions; they are the currency of the realm for helping survivors move back to productivity. Telling survivors to “suck it up” and that they are lucky to have kept their job is the wrong strategy. Layoff survivors are not motivated by luck. In fact, evidence is clear that the opposite happens – they are demotivated by survivor guilt and its cousins: anxiety and depression. Managers who have been most successful in helping survivors overcome the trauma of layoffs have formed helping relationships with their employees. This requires managers to practice and, often, re-learn basic helping skills such as active listening, reflecting feelings and emotions, and giving and receiving non-evaluative feedback. For many managers this initially feels like an against the grain activity in a time of economic crisis. It, however, has been proven to be an invaluable tool in helping employees overcome the symptoms of layoff survivor sickness and move back into productivity and creativity.
5. Attract employees by nutritious work. The best strategy for organizational survival in the new reality will be to attract employees because of the work. The most talented employees will have options; they will choose their employers because they want to be there, not because they have to be there. Employees will be loyal to their profession and motivated more by the work itself rather than the organization where they perform that work. Successful organizations will help employees self-motivate by finding nutritious work and an inner sense of purpose rather than relying on contrived external motivational techniques. Paradoxically, employees who are working in congruence with their unique gifts and purpose will be much more productive and increase the probability of their job security. Successful managers will be much more collaborative and have the ability to lead empowered employees not tied in by benefits, services, and social systems that reward fitting in and conformity and motivated by fear of job loss.
