After widespread redundancies, managers everywhere could be excused for thinking that people who’ve kept their jobs would be grateful. Chartered Occupational therapist, Lucy Povah says they are more likely feeling guilty.

Many employees have been singled out as keepers; surely they’ll be celebrating?  Yet it takes no time at all to find morale is down, productivity is falling and results are poor. Survivor guilt is widespread in the UK.  Employees who have kept their jobs silently cheer at first, but relief doesn’t last long.  Friends and colleagues are gone; they don’t understand – or worse, disagree – with the decisions that have been made, perhaps communications were ad-hoc, not to mention the worry that the current round of redundancies might not be enough. ‘It could be you’, to borrow a well-known phrase, might now better reflect the lottery of job security, rather than winning millions.

After the brutal axe of redundancy has been wielded, supporting and developing survivors has to become a priority for every organisation.  Simply said, an organisation’s ongoing effectiveness is largely dependent on the morale of the survivors. There are actions to be taken, starting with communicating and handling redundancies fairly to minimise negative fall-out.

Clumsy efforts are bad for business and the long term reputation of an organisation. Additionally, the remaining demoralised workforce is not likely to display commitment, enthusiasm, or initiative. Following redundancies, many employees will be overworked and worried about their future. Keeping valued staff is therefore a pressing concern for organisations. If employees do not feel secure in their job with current employers, the most marketable (the high flyers and effective performers), will look around to find more stable positions elsewhere as soon as they feel the timing’s right.  

Focusing on the right retention tools is therefore more important than ever.  Offering bonuses and promotions simply isn’t enough to keep employees and to ensure that they are happy and energised within their work. It may seem counter-intuitive that organisations are more concerned with retaining and developing employees in a downward economy, but, when the economy is tight, leaders need to realise that the best and brightest talent can give the organisation a competitive advantage.

This can be done by thinking creatively and using innovation to offer development opportunities for everyone, that won’t cost a huge amount, for example e-learning, self study packs, bite sized training, on-the-job training and job rotation, supported by coaching and/or mentoring. Ensuring this investment in building skills and organisational capability will put organisations in a stronger position as the economy recovers.

It is also important to focus on the positives by considering why people excel, achieve and flourish.  Increasingly, we hear how encouraging employees to use their signature strengths within their roles is achieving heightened levels of performance. This benefits both the business and the individual. Individuals are motivated by tasks that interest them; the organisation gets increased productivity, enhanced employee wellbeing, job satisfaction and commitment.  
Identify individual and team strengths and share these as appropriate.  Look at ways of promoting efficient team working to ensure that people are playing to their strengths whilst being productive.

The key to success, creating a culture of transparency and trust. However, a business will not successfully create an engaged workforce if they do not promote a culture of transparency and trust, with the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2006) stating that 2 main drivers for engagement are to enable employees to feed views upwards and to feel well informed.  Ideally, an organisation would try to create such a culture prior to making redundancies; however, it is always ‘better late then never’ and individuals will respect the honesty in leaders who can admit to making mistakes.
 
Look at ways of using this time of traumatic change to tweak your culture and upskill your managers to develop the necessary personal skills and attitude to operate effectively, now and in the future. Create a ‘door’s always open’ culture – making leaders accessible and visible. Communicate everything, good and bad, to staff regularly. Adopt a collaborative leadership style. Partnership between leaders and employees is paramount. Request staff opinions about the company’s direction, through meetings and focus groups, with senior people present. Seek to understand employees’ concerns at every opportunity, then attempt to allay them as necessary. Draw out the best of an individual’s past to inspire them in the present.
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