How to help those who keep their jobs following redundancies

Often those who remain in an organisation after their colleagues have been laid off experience feelings that can be compared to bereavement. This can have a huge impact on motivation, staff morale and stress levels, which in turn affects productivity and customer service.

Unless the change process is handled appropriately, reduced organisational effectiveness may result. Well planned and supported change processes will counter these consequences.

Staff that have kept their jobs often have feelings of resentment that they have to take on the workload of those who left. This can lead to an increase in stress levels. They also fear that if they fail to keep up with their increased workloads that they may be made redundant also.

Redundancies can lead to a loss of loyalty and trust in an organisation from remaining staff and leave them seeking the first opportunity to leave as they have lost faith in their bosses.

It is important for managers to ensure that staff who survive keep motivated as the company tries to move forward.

Some tips for doing this include –

• Give staff an opportunity to vent, this includes getting them to voice their hopes and fears for the future and acknowledge their worries. It helps to identify practical steps to help them achieve their goals. One of the most common complaints from staff in this situation is that they don’t feel they have been listened to
  
• Keep the lines of communication open throughout the redundancy process. This should help to alleviate some of their fears and reduce workplace gossip
  
• Train managers to look for signs of stress within their staff
  
• Monitor absenteeism and take action promptly if needed
  
• Retrain employees who will be taking on new roles
  
• It is helpful if those who remain in their jobs see that the staff who were made redundant are looked after. Give staff an opportunity to say goodbye, let them know that you appreciate the people leaving and recognise their achievements
  
• Identify one person to act as a change agent to work with staff and other supervisors during the implementation period. Throughout the process it is important that senior management in the organisation are available and present to talk to staff
  
• Staff reductions and restructure present a difficult task for all involved. It can be helpful to use symbols to mark key dates and successful transitions. For example, the creation of a change agent role mark the commencement of the process and the elimination of the same role would mark completion

Tips for boosting staff engagement/happiness

A good way to boost your staff’s engagement or happiness at work is to get an understanding of how your staff feel about their jobs by asking some simple questions, for example, “would you recommend working here to your friends and family? Why or why not? Do you feel valued as an employee?” The responses will give you an indication of the area’s that may need improvement.

Listen to your employees, talk about their issues and make adjustments to address them. Ask them about ideas and suggestions to improve the company.

Be creative when trying to engage your staff. Team building activities promote closeness with employees and can be fun and drive results at the same time. By encouraging employees to work together and help each other you get a closer, more cohesive team.

Recognize the signs of low morale, these include:

• A rise in absenteeism
• Customer service complaints
• Increased conflict between staff members

It can be beneficial to do an exit interview with people leaving the company, they tend to be more honest than those who are still on the job.

To be happy at work most employees benefit from feeling as if they have a meaningful role within the company.

Give staff a clear explanation as to why their job responsibilities are important to the team.
It is also not productive to have your employees stressed from having to large a workload.

Reward staff who work hard and behave ethically at work. These do not need to be financial or material rewards, simple acknowledgement of a job well done can go a long way towards job satisfaction. One of the most neglected acts done by bosses or business owners is the failure to acknowledge the job well done by employees. Positive feedback can motivate staff and make them feel like a valuable member of the company.

Do not tolerate any gossiping, bullying or politics within the workplace .Encourage everyone to support each other and by doing that support the team.

Provide a space where people want to work. Staff will feel more eager to come to work if their work environment is clean and comfortable and provides all the tools they need to do their job efficiently.

Happy workers make a happy workplace. By boosting your workers morale and keeping them loyal to the company you will enjoy increased productivity and profits for years to come.