Here are five positive things that organizational leaders can do immediately to help combat layoff survivor sickness and heal the wounds.
Move from directing to coaching. When under stress, many organizations tend to revert to a command and control orientation. This is the opposite of what is needed. Employees need help, not control. I have a t-shirt with the humorous saying, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” It makes my point.
Combat uncertainty, ambiguity, and anxiety by re-focusing and re-emphasizing customer service and helping others. If you feel bad about yourself, find someone else who feels worse and help them. You get a double win – you feel better and they get helped. Focus on a customer is a sure way to escape from an inward orientation. Organizations need to take the opportunity to switch to an outside-in perspective and align all systems with customer service and value orientation. The company will be helped and layoff survivor sickness will be reduced.
Create a practical, short term vision. Visions do not have to be long term or esoteric. They do need to be clear and give employees some hope – even if that hope is to remain a viable firm from month-to-month.
Re-recruit and re-contract with key performers. Key performers will tend to jump ship if you don’t let them know they are important, share what information you have with them, and find ways to communicate that they are needed to help the organization turn around. Organizations should not assume that key players understand that they are key and don’t need reassurance.
Communicate all the time to everyone. In stressful times, withholding information, waiting until you are certain about the future, and managing bad news, only makes things worse. People can handle almost anything if they have a sense of control and information gives them that.
