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.

10 signs you are in the way of getting a job

10 signs your emotions are getting in the way of getting a job

1. You didn’t go outside today (or yesterday.)
2. You stop taking calls from friends.
3. You wonder when telling people what’s going on if you’ve done enough or worse.
4. Your favorite thing to do is sleep. Or you wake up in a dark place you don’t like.
5. Late night television is better than going to bed.
6. Alcohol consumption increases to point of distraction. Whatever your drug of choice is that physically changes you or distracts you from getting a job.
7. You don’t go to networking meetings because “they don’t work.”
8. You talk to potential employers and network connections about how wronged you’ve been.
9. Even you wouldn’t hire the person on your resume.
10. You resent your coworkers who didn’t get laid off.

If you identify yourself in one of these issues, you’re reeling from the impact of layoffs. Yes, there is the financial part which is hard and fast. There is the tactical, technical part which again is logical and tangible. These are completely understood by you and your family.

But what are you doing with the actual process of grieving the loss of who you are without the J.O.B.? Many large brands laid off hundreds of thousands of people this past year or two. In our culture branding is synonymous with decision making. You decide quality and purchase value before you even enter the buying market. When employed by that brand your job is to build that business. That means you compare and contrast to the businesses you compete with in the line of business you sell. Number one in your industry or was your team number one in your class? Without the giant brand behind you what are you? Are you the candidate of choice? How does that translate to home? It’s worse when you are subconsciously asking if you are the spouse, friend, son, daughter of choice. Branding is innocuous so we don’t think about it. It’s always there. It’s just understood. Walk (or be pushed) away from personal alignment with that brand and you are, um, what? That void is real.

The second issue is time. Time for a job search is non-comparative to the “normal world. If you held any success in your previous position you could be on your blackberry 24/7 and it was active with lots of other people just like you. You called it keeping pace. In fact it was how you stayed relevant. Now how is the pace? Quiet? Can make your follow up calls in twenty minutes? Can you peruse the usual job sites in another hour? Thankfully it takes a couple of hours to truly commit to sending a well written cover letter to the right person by doing a little research into your extended network. Or then what do you do? Do you watch daytime television? How do you fill your day, days, weeks…and now is it months?

Third, how do you explain to those around you how productive you are when you don’t feel like that’s enough? Do you tell your spouse, yes, I only applied to one job? Has your enthusiasm faded in your search? You feel it, your family feels it. How do you reassure them when you need reassurance? They have the same fears as you. When they ask you about the path you’re on they want you to be strong and they may not be able to mask their fears after time either. When you both need reassurance what happens? You still need to have a brave front face that empty page every day.

There are people who can help. Get individual or group support with people who aren’t directly impacted by your layoff but can support you through yours. Even if you’re excited to be moving to the next step it’s okay to surround yourself with a productive group of supportive people. Who are facing the same issues as you face. It’s time to talk about what’s going on inside.  I know…I have been there.  It’s a wild, but not fun ride.

Patricia Weiland
www.sage4change.com

Fearless Job Search – What’s that?

What to do with the emotional side of unemployment?

No one talks about the dark side of being out of a job.  That place is reserved just for you.  You don’t share with anyone just how scary unemployment can be.  That’s a lonely place.  What do you do when you’ve gotten the thirteenth voice mail instead of talking to a person or the third no?  Do you walk to the kitchen to grab something cool to drink and you look twice at the beer but realize, it’s only 10:00 in the morning?  Nice.  So you’re unemployed and a drinker. That won’t help but it sure would feel good.  Then you realize (again) that you’re still responsible for the safety and welfare of your family and oh yeah and responsible for you.  Uh huh!  It’s no small a task to stay fearless in the face of rejection.  But who wants to hear about the rough side?  Not my ____ .  Fill in the blank with wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, parents, or even my friends.  They can’t stand to see me suffering.  They want it over as badly as I do.   In fact they are going through their own version of this situation.  What do I do?
Does this sound familiar?  When I was “impacted by layoffs” from an offshoot of Disney, I learned a lot about life transition.  Great uh-huh?  Who is up for another life lesson?  Wait we’re in the middle of it.  There is no turning back once you’re laid off you’re going through the process and it’s brutally honest, painful and scary.   What do you do with that?  It’s not all bad but the intensity of these feelings cannot to be ignored.  They can be stuffed but they don’t go away.  You can manage these on your own or you can join a group of people in the same situation as you to discuss the really really of managing the tough emotion of being unemployed or should we call it between employment gigs?

What these calls are:

• Varying topics addressing challenging aspects of the full time job of seeking employment
• Productive way to acknowledge the frustration and release  the feelings
• A safe place to put a voice to the fear without creating a bigger problem at home
• Support through ideation and brainstorming

What these calls are not:

• Tactical approach to the job search
• A bitch fest
• Endless blathering on about the woes of the world

Preview session Thursday  April 9th at 10 am PDT.  Send an email to info@sage4change.com for the phone number a bridge for this complimentary call!  Join us for a real conversation.

Are meltdowns allowed? Even for senior staff or a business owner?

Here we are almost at the end of March.  Didn’t we think things were all shiny and new in 2009?  Things were going to be different this year.  Guess what the first quarter is over. Oh…yeah… my heart sank when I said that in fact the pit of my stomach is teaming with activity.  Running my own business requires more core strength than I first thought.   The truth is that no one really faces how many hours go into growing the business.  No one clearly outlines for you the number of hours you’ll spend thinking about what you could or should being doing.  No one tells you that you’re doing it right.  And unfortunately no one tells you that you’re doing it wrong.  If you just knew you could be productive because you move from the worry to action.  Right?  I guess not hearing an answer to that means I am right.  It’s no different really for leaders and senior executives in corporations.  Leaders are in positions where they are expected to carry the weight of the organization, not show stress, not have tantrums and certainly not ever be fearful.  What if?

What if leaders showed their fear?  What if entrepreneurs really knew the challenges of the lonesome road to creating a new business?  What if senior executives knew that the next step on the ladder was even more isolating than the previous step?  Would they take that risk?  Would they be less inclined to start that business?  Would they decline the corner office?  I say we all knew!  We intellectually knew this wasn’t the easy path.  Not everyone is cut out to get to the top.
Not everyone is cut out for building your own business.  Just like not everyone is fully prepped when they leave college to get that senior level position they think they’ve just prepared to hold. Achievers go where they intellectually know it’s hard but figure some way they’ll get through.  Feeling every hour of the path to success is vastly different.  The path is up and down.

What do you do with those moments when think your stomach will bring up lunch or that your knees won’t hold you?  What do you do?  You’re alone in your office and it’s quiet.  You’re in the car on the way to a challenging meeting?  On a plane when no one is tugging at you as distraction what do you do?

Stop! Where is the feeling?  First take a deep breath sending that oxygen into that area.  Acknowledge those feelings are real because until you do they won’t go away.

Drop! Drop the resistance.  It’s there.  It’s information. It’s your body giving you information that the situation is intense and it requires additional strength.  It’s also way to let you know that your body is holding that intensity

Roll! Roll through the feelings.  Understand those feelings are simply information.  If you acknowledge them the intensity may grow at first but they will diminish.  This is the way your body releases that tension.  Hold on and it grows…roll through it, look at it and release it, it goes away.

It’s going to happen.  Have a strategy to roll through it.  The intensity might diminish if you put a planned release valve in place.  Next time you’re on the verge of a meltdown.  Where do you feel it?  Your stomach aches.  Or your shoulders are practically up against your ears.  Try something new; STOP DROP and ROLL!

Love My Sunday!

It’s Sunday night…do you know where your heart lies? I mean career wise? Sitting here enjoying my Sunday afternoon I am reminded of a time back in my career when I didn’t love what I do. Around 2:30 on Sunday afternoons I started to get a stomach ache. I had to lie down. Really I didn’t think that it was more than just pushing too hard during the weekend and may have stayed out a little too late on Saturday night. Imagine my surprise when my a friend suggested there might be a correlation between Sunday afternoon stomach ache and Monday morning road rage on the drive into work and maybe that I was not suited for that job. What?

My job was great. It was a high profile, prestigious job even glamorous by some standards. So what was wrong with me for not being excited to go hit it hard on Monday morning? Why did I start to worry on Sunday? That job wasn’t right for me.How did I know that? Aside from the stomach ache, which as obvious as hindsight can be, I now see clearly that I had a job fit problem. I didn’t realize something that easily be highlighted by a panel of assessments. Today I would simply read the report from my DISC, which you might be familiar in different forms as a behavioral assessment. Of course since that’s one that I did after I changed my career I and the results were not a big shock. They would be what we call validating or in other words “duh!”

My DISC tells me that highly analytical work takes the wind out of my sails. It’s something I can do but does it play to my strengths? No, I am more about creating relationships and connecting with people than following the strict policy and procedures. My high level of independence doesn’t allow for the rigidity of the environment I was in. That in combination with the tendency to rebel against the rules made for a very difficult working life. The job also called for strong negotiation skills. That was fun but I was a relationship builder and not necessarily a tough negotiator. Life can be so clear when looking at it in the past. Or you can enlist the resources available today. I now realize that I wouldn’t do it any differently. Well, maybe I wouldn’t have taken the DISC earlier and changed to a people oriented job sooner.

Love my Sundays!

The courage to blog…is it easier to just keep doing the things I always did?

Short answer is yes. However….
Today is the day! I am going to speak my mind and enter another something in my blog. Uh huh…every day it’s in my calendar to blog. Every day I press the snooze button on my outlook reminder. Then eventually I just dismiss it. Yes, it’s become “what I do” without acknowledging the cost to me. Of course I am responsible for my behavior since I am an adult. That hard part for a coach is that it’s what I tell my clients to do. Working the way into a more satisfying working relationship with peers or a more satisfying career requires greater emotional intelligence. The only way to increase by emotional intelligence is to increase awareness of what I am doing or as I would tell my clients they’re responsible for their own behavior.
I sit down to write and I feel panicked. Why do I feel panicked? I am not happy about this…I am physically feeling resistance to writing. In fact I am light headed and feel like I am about to pass out. Well, maybe not that bad, but certainly enough to distract me from writing. That doesn’t help me write my blog. Or is that the exact point of the physical reaction? Does that keep my away from what I fear might happen if I blog? How do I figure that out? Hmmm the obvious answer is to get a coach. I did that. Here I sit. The reality is that physical reaction is really good information. If I notice it and stop to find out the source I can address the basis and move through it. If I hit the snooze button and ignore the whole process I won’t ever be able to write.
My choice… do I address it or do I press the snooze button?
I choose to write. So now I am going to ask you to go through the process with me. At least I know I won’t be alone with my panic. Hmmm…. Let’s see where do I start? First a deep breath… okay one more… Then I ask myself where do I feel it? Mine is in the heart…beating fast. What is the worst case scenario? I write, and no one reads it? No…that’s not the worst case. The worst case is that someone will thing what I write is stupid. Okay, that’s probably going to happen. Someone will judge this writing. Okay is that it? No, not quite. What else is in there? Still panicked and feeling it in my heart. I’ll ask again, if some ne reads it and thinks it’s stupid, then what? Seriously, then what? I’ll be embarrassed. And then what? I will be more hesitant to write. Uh huh, and then what since you’re at least getting practice writing and no further behind right? Yes, um…well yes. So now how does it fit? Whew even more panic. Now what? Well I have to write as if I won’t print this or I won’t even get to the bottom of the issue. Well, now what? I am writing with / through the fear. Weird but I think that if I write I will die. Now I don’t think what I will write with incite any riotous action. But that was my thought. Somewhere along the way I was judged harshly for my writing, my words or my thoughts. Well, I grew up Catholic so there is that. But could that be it? Where am I now? Am I free to write? NO? How can there be more. What else? What could be worse than dying? Those words being used against me or worse those words being used against someone else. That’s the problem. I wouldn’t want anything I write to hurt someone. I often work with clients who have difficulty with conflict. When (in my case) blogging it’s for sole purpose is sharing the experience to help someone else through a challenging process by sharing. That should make it easier not more difficult. Does that eliminate the fear? Not entirely… I am still responsible for the content but the panic is diminished and well, it’s just a blog…right?

What the world needs now…

…is connection.  People are nervous.  It seems like there are more bizarre new stories.  There are more people driving just a little more aggressively.  And there are more crazy economy stories in the news.   What I also noticed is actually really cool.  People seem to be drawing upon their real resources.    By that I mean people.  People are are spending time with friends using resources that already exist in their homes.  Friends have actually asked me for favors and some favors were for their friends or neighbors.  I am happy to help where I can or connect them with someone in a position to help more.  People in fact are the best available and sustainable resources.  Mother Theresa suggesting that if you want to help make a difference go out and let someone know you’re interested in them and connect with them.  Okay so she was talking about homeless people and it’s a little daunting to give that connection to just anyone.  But why not start at home in our world.  I called a friend today.  She was having a rough day (which I didn’t know) and she picked up the phone because she knew it was me.   That connection was just what she needed to get centered.   She felt better and I felt good, well better than before.  So connect with people you care about and watch what happens.