Layoffs, Leadership and Emotions: The Trifecta of Discomfort

Being the social scientist that I am, I was drawn to do some research on the human side of layoffs. I found a statement which said, “…dismissing 1% of your work force evokes a 31% increase in turnover.” I just threw that out on social media. It was from a credible source, so I just threw it out there. Several people asked questions (Ellen and Kelly), prompting me to dig further. Here is some context from the article and some additional change management thought process.

The article, by Wendy Mack and Deanna Banks, spoke to leaders about managing the process of ensuring that the work force is appropriated properly on their bottom line. These leaders must make very unpopular decisions. They most likely don’t feel good about the selection process, or about facing those people, in the process of turning them out onto the streets. But nobody thinks about them, do they? Well, not managing the human side of being a leader carries a hidden cost. As the process of laying off employees starts, discussions held behind closed doors become secretive. That is where the article says things go terribly wrong. The secretive nature of the meetings may or may not be public knowledge, but it can cause the energy or vibe in the office to change, and people react to that inherently. Leaders don’t want to alarm people so they say nothing – or worse, they may not be truthful. Employees find this unsettling. They feel unappreciated and certainly not part of the team. Unfortunately when the truth come s forward the trust is broken.  This is a lot of energy directed in places other than work.

Layoffs are often executed with very little processing time. One minute, someone is called into an office and the next minute, they’re escorted out of the building. The co-workers with whom they have relationships they’ve cultivated daily, possibly for years and sometimes for longer than their marriages, are left standing, wondering what happened. They are also wondering what’s next for them. This is not an environment of safety. It’s one that evokes the basic reaction of fight or flight, which Walter Canon described as a very human response to fear.

Now in the work place, it’s not politically appropriate to fight. Nor is the timing any better when you’re in danger of losing your job. ‘Just deal with it quietly,’ that’s the implicit message when a leader swoops in, fires someone, then goes back into their own office and closes the door. The remaining employees are left grieving the loss on many levels; for those relationships, the illusion of security, the understanding of their job duties, the environment of safety, and their value to the organization and team. They are asked to manage their emotions without showing them, plus get additional work done. Naturally, internal productivity goes down and so does customer service.

In addition to worrying about those who’ve been discarded, remaining employees may also believe they are next. The only sure way to check their value is by leaving.  People react with fear. Leaders who are especially adept at human interaction will save many of those relationships and, just as importantly, all the tacit knowledge and skills that are in those employees. These are leaders who minimize the “survivor’s sickness” of which Wendy and Deanna speak in their article. They also minimize turnover.

The quick version of their recommendations for how to ease the people side of layoffs all stems around grieving and continuing to communicate through the process. The hot new idea (it’s about time!) is ‘transparency’. That’s just clear communication and allowing people to know what’s going on so they can contribute.

• Senior leaders must be more available and visible.
• Communicate openly internally, as if the employees are part of the team. Don’t just parrot the crafted verbiage which investors want to hear.
• Allow time to process: both the trusted employee being laid off and the remaining employees are left to pick up the pieces of their loss.
• Know that your employees are watching how you treat those who are leaving.
• Appreciate the additional workload for those employees remaining.
• Again, realize that your employees have relationships with those who’ve been impacted.

Now what? As a leader you’re wondering, what should you do? Build in support for those in the positions to execute the layoffs. Expect a period of time that will really show the impact of the changes that have been made. As a leader, you have the same emotions, but you have additional responsibilities to the company and to the employees. Open your door and listen. You will hear the ‘state of the state’ and be able to minimize negative impacts. People need to be heard. The article describes emotions that are likely to appear: Shock, anger, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sadness. These aren’t stages that all people go through, but some will feel them. Listen for signs that people are getting stuck in these emotions.

Sheila Simon, a Minneapolis Spiritual Grief and Business Consultant, suggests a simple set of questions from Dr. John Schneider to help people move through their grief. This is not easy, but it is simple. Ask, “What is lost?” Then ask, “What is left?” And when you’ve moved through those questions and the group is ready, ask, “What is possible?” When you get to what is possible, the sparks will really fly, bringing in new life and new ideas. If you’re uncomfortable holding those conversations, hire a trained facilitator or coach to hold conversations and get the emotion out of the corners and into the room, where you can honor and face it.

Communication through change is essential for smooth transitions. Managing people can be messy, and so is change. But ‘business as usual’ isn’t going to work anymore.

Resources:
Mack, W. & Banks, Ph.D., D (2009) Leading after Layoffs: Best Practices for Re-Energizing Your Workforce, wendymack.com , retrieved 10/21/09 from http://wendymack.com/resource-center/layoffs-anxiety-energy-ebooks-wendy-mack.html.
Bridges, W. (1988). Transitions: Making sense of life’s changes. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Bridges, W. (1991). Managing Transitions: Making the most of change.  Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Schneider, Ph.D., J. (1989, 11/03/09). The Transformative Power of Grief. Noetic.org Retieved 11/03/09, from .http://www.noetic.org/publications/review/issue12/r12_Schneider.html.

Motivational Idea for Week 35

Motivation is even more important today than a week ago.  Actually, not really more important, but just as important as it was a week ago.  It’s Sunday night, the Packer’s are beating the Bears  so all is right with the world.  Now I am starting to think about my week ahead.  I promised that I would put new motivational ideas here weekly.  Since I couldn’t get it posted on Friday I thought I would add this before the next week started.

Week 35
Start a book club – a business book club.  Put it on the calendar and put it into the work day.  They may (like there’s even a chance) not get time to read during the day.  But talking about the content of the book during the day makes sense as it’s a strong component of leadership development.  The employees build their library, you build your people, you gain a cohesively formed team, and they build internal relationships and grow their resources especially if the club is cross departmental.   Select the list of top business books including a selection of team building, communication skills, presentation skills, change management, innovation or biographies.  When they come to consensus on the books they are using team skills and self forming groups with emergent leadership.  It’ll bring out useful skills in other situations.

Start with one of my great take-aways from grad school which is a book on how to read a book in 30 minutes.   I thought this was an optional book.  But it was THE single best book I bought, EVER!   The book is by Mortimer Adler and it’s called How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. This book will save you and your people hours of time wading through the pulp of a great book.  They will read more if they can get through the books faster.  So will you.

If your team is dispersed bring them in via teleconference.   The program would be especially effective with a sales team who is separated by distance around the country.

Establish some ground rules or let them form their own group and rules.  Here are sample ground rules:
1.    Get a core group of people to start it.
2.    Establish a regular schedule.
3.    Advertise the program.
4.    Create a simple list of questions to create a dialogue on the book; over all reaction, biggest take away, any surprises, any inconsistencies, anything we can implement, how?
5.    Ask for stand in facilitators to each volunteer to manage a meeting.
6.    Start with a list of books to schedule.
7.    Give it twelve months with a few months off during vacation season or the tough season for your business.

Trust that you employees will be responsible and fulfill their commitment to the group.  They will have to contribute or be noticeably a slacker.  Regardless of how much they read they will get the gist of the book and the benefits of reading the book by attending the meeting or reading part of the book.

I would love to hear how this idea works in your office.

It’s September 1, 2009 – are you ready to succeed in 2010?

Motivation is the new black!

August is over! As we head into the fall (yes, I said fall) have you securely looked at your 2010 plan? As I write I am stunned at how 2009 passed so quickly. For the past three years that I have been in my own business and that has been a blur. To say that I have learned a lot would be the understatement of my lifetime. I have learned a lot about the difference between marketing a product for another company or a service for another company and marketing my own product and company. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart but more satisfying than I would have guessed. Staying motivated to increase innovation to grow business, or grow in your career is a challenge that all my clients address.

What will you do to ensure success in 2010? Need ideas that result with contribution that don’t add much to the expense account and bring out the best in your employees? Need ideas of how to rejuvenate the innovation of your employees to problem solve with a new spirit?  Building morale is a top issue for most companies with the remaining employees.  Please have basic needs that go far beyond money in the workplace.

Here are 5 low cost ideas to motivate innovation and renewed spirit:

1. Reward with time off. Truthfully the team pitches in for everyone else when they are gone knowing they will get their own time. Even an afternoon or a few hours during the day to do “market research” will cost your company very little. Create a team +building experience or send them out to research and report back.

2. Reward with promotional items that only certain levels get but there is a surplus. In fact you could create a point system and then have a “garage sale” like the state of California.  Even items that are in the storage area that still have value.  Do you need to keep all the office furniture of those who are gone?

3. Do you have a development budget? Send them to a class of their interest and don’t require it to directly relate to their job. They will come back with new ideas.   Even a cooking class might bring treats from home.  But there are valuable skills developed in any class.  Completing the class brings a true sense of accomplishment.

4. No budget for development? Create a series of “lunch and learns” taught by your own employees. Someone has greater knowledge of a topic than others. Create a white board for ideas of topics from the group. Then ask people to volunteer to facilitate the experience. Give them guidance on facilitation. You have a development program for each facilitator and the attendees are building new skills. Work related or not the act of learning something new build creativity.

5. Lunch with a leader. Have each business unit or department create the problem to solve with a Big Idea and the best idea wins the contest. The prize is to have lunch with a leader of their choice. Leaders must say yes, and they must have lunch within two weeks. Leaders buy the lunch. You may want to put a hierarchical definition of leader so the employees stretch their comfort level. You may want to suggest talking points or questions to ask those leaders to create more comfort. With this you open new lines of communication and get big ideas!

Finding the right motivation for employees is far more valuable than money especially when money is not available.  Right now, motivate with ideas that you can leverage to give you the lever of strength for 2010 strength. Find even more ways to motivate your clients on a shoestring budget at my blog. I will put a new idea every week from now until the end of 2009. The site is www.sage4change.com/blog and you’ll know what to do immediately!  Post your ideas or successes to motivate your teams!  Everyone needs new ideas on how to grow business!

Just so you know my motivation (mission) is to be a conduit to bring back the light in people’s eyes by energizing leaders and employees with their own strengths and ideas. At the end of the day to be the conduit to senior leaders realizing the improved contribution they make with a few subtle differences in approach or to putting a strategy in place where all the corners of the organization own their value propositions and honor coworker’s contribution.

It’s so satisfying but I don’t always know when that happens. My incentive is hearing from you. Whether you connect with me on Facebook on Twitter @weilandpatricia and follow me or LinkedIn and say hello. I will be even more motivated to write more and research more budget sensitive solutions to grow your business!  Check back here weekly to find a new idea!