India has seen a spate of layoffs recently due to various factors--digitalisation, automation, mergers and acquisitions and/or poor company results. Layoffs aren’t like ripping off a Band-Aid, it isn't 'business-as-usual' once the sudden pain passes. The actual effects are far-reaching. Many businesses think that proactive PR efforts can help them emerge unscathed from layoffs, when actually what they need is to focus on the people involved in the equation--affected and continuing employees--to mitigate damage. Let’s take a look at the impact of layoffs and targeted engagement strategies to tackle its ill-effects.
How to support laid-off employees
Laid-off employees are the most affected and how organisations facilitate the exit plays a crucial role in how they respond. If you recall, the Bochum Nokia incident is an example of how wrong things can go if not handled properly. There, a week after the layoff news was conveyed to employees, thousands of protestors gathered and angrily crushed the brand’s phones, while unions advocated boycotting Nokia’s products. The response delivered a big blow to its market share in Germany, leading to a sales loss of nearly €700 million during 2008-2011.
Fast-forward to 2011, the telecom giant faced another retrenching requirement. Only this time, it was better prepared and deployed a targeted exit plan so that employees felt that the exit process was just and unbiased, and it was received in a better way. So how do you manage laid-off employees fair and square?
How to motivate your continuing employees
A culture of fear and uncertainty experienced during layoffs doesn’t do good to employee morale, motivation or productivity.
A research study by BI WORLDWIDE, depicted graphically here, shows how employee happiness, commitment and performance scored among 402 respondents who survived layoffs in workplaces vs. 636 employed in workplaces without layoffs. There is a noticeable drop in employees’ sentiment and performance in workplaces with layoffs even though they survived the crisis; if not mitigated it can do serious damage. So how do you tackle it?
Employee engagement is usually not the foremost priority for organisations during layoffs. To avoid an adverse impact, make it a priority and manage employee sentiment, opinion and morale and help navigate the organisation through these crucial times.
The author is CEO & MD of BI Worldwide India.
The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.
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