People Management
Filling in the blanks
How to manage layoff survivors
By Paul R. Harvey
Smart Business Tampa Bay | April 2009
Anthony Van De Wall, PHR
HR manager
Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance
When layoffs occur, those who
remain on the job often are labeled
the “lucky ones.” But when the dust settles most job-cut survivors actually
may be feeling anything but lucky. Often
they may be experiencing guilt, anxiety
and mistrust. Left unchecked, the lingering
short- and long-term effects of layoffs,
mergers and acquisitions lead quickly to
additional turnover of core employees.
That’s why managers charged with
reassembling and refocusing these remaining players have to act fast.
“It’s easy to focus on the latest unemployment numbers, but there are people left
behind who are greatly affected, as well,”
says Anthony Van De Wall, human
resources manager, Tampa Bay WorkForce
Alliance. “There will always be anxiety
when you’re talking about job cuts, but
armed with information, people will function and rise to the occasion.”
Smart Business asked Van De Wall about
layoff survivor guilt, crucial first steps and
methods to build a culture better prepared
to withstand corporate change.
Why do layoff survivors often exhibit a negative set of emotions?
Employees who survive layoffs often are
waiting for the other shoe to drop; they are
afraid they may be affected by further cuts.
And survivors may be torn between their
loyalties. They have a sense of loyalty to
the company, but they also have loyalty to
their departed colleagues. The survivors
may begin to question their own commitment and contribution to the company,
thinking, ‘Why should I continue to contribute to this organization or commit to it
on the level that I have, when they’re not
beholden to me and I might be the very
next person to go?’
How should managers first approach layoff
survivors when their colleagues are gone?
There’s a saying, ‘In the absence of information, we fill in the blanks.’ Left to our own
devices, we rarely fill them in with good
things. There is no such thing as overcommunicating in this situation. The sense of
trust that employees may feel has been shattered. You can regain this trust by communicating what you can as quickly as you can.
When employees begin to feel that their
employer is making the right decisions for
the right reasons and sharing that information with them, it’s easier to come to grips
and understand some of the hard decisions
being made. It’s a good idea to have some
sort of barometer as to how people are
thinking. Focus groups, surveys and town
meetings are forums that allow people to
express their ideas, their anxieties and possible solutions. And when you get this data,
you need to communicate it back to them.
What are some lingering effects of layoffs,
and when do they manifest?
Changes can play out in the days, weeks,
months and sometimes even years that follow a layoff and there’s going to be implications for all parties involved. Initially,
there’s the guilt that some employees feel
because they survived the layoff and someone they worked with for many years did
not. There’s also the reality of the day-today increased workload and possible trust
issues when people find themselves working in the midst of a new team, or mistrust
among people who have worked together
before but worry about whether a colleague is going to try to outshine or outperform them for survival.
What practices can mitigate the stress of a
survivor’s perceived or real increased workload?
The managers have to step up to the plate
to bring focus back to the workplace and
get everyone back on the same page,
involved with problem solving, solutions,
collaboration, helping with prioritizing and
redirecting the assignments of the department and the group overall. You should
communicate to the employees the opportunities that exist to identify efficiencies,
redundancy and innovation, while maximizing resources. Those are positive
thoughts and processes, so people likely
will be more focused on their function and
responsibilities, not on what they’ve lost,
and you’ll be able to stay on track. This may
be a great opportunity to identify hidden
talents within your quiet leaders.
How can companies better manage their culture to minimize the impact of job cuts?
Strong leadership is the best tool for
building a culture that can support and survive downsizing. Strong leaders communicate, early and often. You should always be
in control of the message from the top
down, making certain everyone is on the
same page. If you’re on top of that by getting the information out early and upfront
and in a straightforward manner, you’re
going to cut down on the rumor mill, and
you’re going to cut down on the anxiety
levels that are there.
The best investment to be made is the
investment in building employee and customer loyalty. How do you do that? You
need to develop humane and sensitive managers who are effective communicators
and leaders. Remember, you’re not managing departments; you’re managing people
who make up those departments, and with
people comes emotions and feelings.
ANTHONY VAN DE WALL, PHR, is HR manager with Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance. Reach him at vandewalla@workforcetampa.com
or (813) 740-4680.
