Home | News Archives | Career Guides | Featured Guide Series | Forums | Useful Links | Contact Us
Career Guides Career Corporate Human Resources Training & Development Knowledge Managment Time Management Stress Management Sponsors Ezboard IS Community-Supported Communities. Support us and your communities. In order for communities to thrive and grow, they need the support of their members. and we rely on both the support of our users and the support of advertisers to provide these invaluable services to you. Please help keep this site banner free by clicking here. Affiliates A Premier Provider of Management Consultant & Training Solutions. A Pocket PC Unified Body of Individuals in Singapore.		Managing Employees Morale After Downsizing Mergers, layoffs, reorganizations, and downsizing all take their toll on the employees who survive them. Whatever you call these personnel changes, the result is the same - traumatized workers. You might assume that the people who remain with the company would be grateful to still have their jobs. In fact, they may need some of the same attention, emotional support, and counselling as laid-off employees. After all, many of their friends and co-workers are gone, their workloads have increased, and their status with the company seems more uncertain than ever. Seven Degrees of Separation Anxiety Most people go through seven stages as they deal with changes, by helping employees manage these stages, you can ease the transition process. Stage 1: Losing focus Disorientation brought on by sudden change can make it hard for employees to prioritize, make decisions, and concentrate on work. What to do: Coach employees in basic time management skills: Do only one thing at a time, stick to basics, break complex jobs into smaller tasks, and make to-do lists. Stage 2: Denial Once the initial shock wears off, people cope by acting as if nothing happened. What to do: Avoidance doesn't work. Talk to employees, and help them face the reality of the change. Stage 3: Reality bites Employees feel powerless, question their roles within the organization, and sometimes get depressed. What to do: Ask people who have undergone similar experiences to talk to your employees. It will help them realize that they're not alone and that others have gone through the same ordeal and survived. Stage 4: Letting go In time, most people come to terms with the change and its fallout (e.g., a friend who was let go, a move to less comfortable surroundings, etc.). What to do: Help employees acknowledge their losses, making sure to listen when they do. Afterwards, they can let go and move on. Stage 5: Setting boundaries Once they let go, employees can then get comfortable with the new environment created by the change. What to do: Encourage creativity within the new environment. Celebrate successes. Stage 6: Lessons learned Confidence with the new situation opens employees up to assimilating and using new information. What to do: Encourage the people who have made it to this stage to help along co-workers still struggling through earlier stages. Stage 7: Embracing the future Once employees accept and are comfortable with the new realities, the process is complete. What to do: Celebrate. Congratulate. Give folks credit for successfully riding out the waves of change. But We're Not Changing! Even if no major changes are occurring at your company, work environments always exist in a state of flux. Best to heed these advice for calming the waters in uncertain times: ·Let employees know they matter. Perspective and continuity are important. ·Minimize employee disappointment. When times are tough, don't try to pretend they aren't. Be honest. ·Over communicate. It's easy to believe rumours when things are changing. It's better to communicate honestly and frequently, even when the news is bad. ·Cross-train and work in teams. If someone does leave the company, it helps employees to know that others understand and can take over the work. ·Don't punish cynics. Rail against cynicism and negativity in public. But recognize that cynics have more realistic expectations of the organization and therefore usually whine less than their optimistic counterparts. Managers Matter, Too And if you're a manager, don't get so caught up in helping employees that you forget your own feelings. Managers may very well be struggling with a sense of loss, alienation and insecurity. Managers are employees, too, and they need to deal with their own issues. In the end, what matters most is remembering that we're not computers, not numbers, not "FTE's" -- we're people. And people respond best to the personal touch. Something as simple as just walking up to someone and asking, 'How's it going for you?' can make an important difference. < Back >		Updates HR Professionals Guide Training & Development Guide Manager's Trouble Shooting Guide Series Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Selling Series HR Management Practises Series Featured Communities BIK & Associated A Premier Training & Management Provider in Training & Development Workshops. PPCSG.Org A Web Forum for the Techno Gadgets Trend Followers. Lots of Informative and Guides for your Pocket PC.
Web Rings