"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
-- Marie Curie
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Best Practices | Tip
of the Month
Helping “survivors” in the
aftermath of business downsizing
Introduction
Core strategies,
related objectives and tools
Checklists
for Executives, Supervisors and Employees
How Enterprise
Channeling can help
Introduction
Does reading the news give you the impression
that employee lay-offs (often on a massive,
global scale) have become a standard business
practice rather than an exception?
Although individual company practices
vary, enlightened enterprises recognize
that restructuring and downsizing efforts
are difficult, and emotionally stressful,
and that affected individuals deserve
to be supported through the change process.
Such enterprises take care to provide
career transition support to people who
have no choice but to move on to a new
job, career or retirement, even after
decades of commitment.
What happens to those who remain with
the organization, sometimes referred to
as the “survivors”?
› Should they be grateful they weren’t
selected to “get the package”?
› Should they work even harder than
before to fill in for those who left
› Be even nicer to their boss, and
make sure they keep their job?
In reality, downsizing survivors experience
the force of business change in ways very
similar to employees who lost their jobs.
They also experience a sense of loss,
the resulting numbness, anger or anxiety.
Although enterprises don’t always
budget and plan to address changes impacting
survivors, management teams need to pay
attention to the potential risks of failing
to adequately support the transition process
of remaining employees to the new business
reality.
These risks include:
› Lost productivity or difficulty
concentrating
› Low morale, more frequent sick
days
› Defensiveness and interpersonal
conflicts
› Additional turnover
TOP
Core strategies,
related objectives and tools
Both a Communication Strategy and a Transition
Strategy can help enterprises cope with
the pains of change. Once the transition
to the renewed business environment is
complete, these strategies can also be
used as a framework for reviewing the
success of the planned interventions.
Here are some objectives, content and
approaches to keep in mind as you develop
your Communication and Transition strategies
after downsizing.
Transition Strategy
Objectives
› Share recognition that emotional
response to change is natural and experienced
as much by survivors as employees who
have left.
› Help managers address the needs
of people who remain, and manage expectations
about time frame to get back to standard
productivity.
› Help survivors regain control over
their work environment, reduce anxiety
and feelings of depression and guilt.
Provide coaching that helps individuals
enhance their capacity to manage change.
What to anticipate:
› People respond to change in different
ways; personal distress experienced by
survivors can include illness, defensiveness,
low energy, lack of motivation, difficulty
concentrating, and interpersonal conflict.
› People are experiencing a loss
- allow them time and space to deal with
their anger, loss, denial, and to let
go of the old ways as they begin to move
forward and integrate the new.
Communication Strategy
Objectives
› Share vision of a positive future
and some landmarks that people can refer
to in planning their work and career.
› Provide information to managers
on feelings and reactions they can anticipate
from survivors during transition period.
› Solicit feedback on outstanding,
priority issues to tackle, to help everyone
get back on track.
What to communicate:
› Clear and complete information,
reinforced and updated frequently
› Goals to work on together in coming
year
› Any changes in: mandate of the
organization, hierarchy and reporting
relationships, roles and responsibilities,
working conditions, physical environment,
etc.
How to communicate:
› Being a good listener first, and
available to others
› Emphasize empathy and genuineness
over cold facts. Attend to emotional needs
more frequently and directly during this
transition period.
General tools and approaches:
Use different media to reinforce key messages
and reach everyone:
› Emails, voice mails
› Team meetings
› Social events
› Bulletin board
› One-on-one's with manager
› Personal recognition in the form
of thank you notes where warranted
› Intranet; Transition newsletter,
etc.
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Checklists
for Executives, Supervisors and Employees
Transition Activities
What can the Executive team do:
› Be visible and accessible
› Let people ask questions (e.g.
Q&A sessions) and talk about how their
goals fit in with the larger picture
› Listen to people express their
pain and sadness
› Look for ways to streamline work
processes. Confirm that people have right
responsibilities, are in right jobs.
› Identify resources available to
help people cope, learn new skills, become
more productive
› Pay more attention to rewards
and recognition.
What can Supervisors do:
› First three weeks, supervisor
should focus on being empathetic with
employees, a good listener; not necessarily
trying to solve problems
› Role model positive emotions:
optimism, hopefulness, trust in the organization
› Organize frequent gatherings -
also eliminate unproductive meetings that
may be vestiges from the past.
› Encourage exploration about what
people can do differently, what new possibilities
exist for them now. Let people ask questions
and talk about how their goals fit in
with the larger picture.
What can all Employees do:
› Listen to one another, share experiences
and feelings
› Develop personal coping strategies,
drawing on support network
› Talk about the future and its
possibilities
› Re-establish routines
› Invest time in renewing personal
career and learning objectives, plans.
› Mentor and coach others who need
help.
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How Enterprise Channeling
can help
› Facilitation of information sessions
› Support to development of transition
and communication strategies, plans, milestones
› Employee Surveys
See related services
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