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for most employees the current downturn
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is profoundly unsettling especially when
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it involves cost cutting ownership
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changes layoffs or
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bankruptcy the emotional toll of
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uncertainty grief guilt and anger can
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create major
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distress when people are emotionally
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distracted business can suffer at the
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worst possible time here are five ways
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to support your people minimize declines
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in productivity and build confidence in
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company leadership and the
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future first communicate
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openly biggest thing to do in a downturn
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is Don't Panic your people and the way
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you panic them is by not telling them
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what's going on so the most important
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thing to do is is to tell them where
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things are even if they're bad uh if you
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don't tell them they make up an answer
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and the answer they're going to make up
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is worse than the truth so the most
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important thing is to keep them informed
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as to what you know and if you don't
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know what's going on tell them that how
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your people see you see you as being at
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a point in time particularly around a
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critical decision or a critical
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announcement will go a long way to how
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they respond so thinking through how you
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as a leader convey a clear message
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convey as much as you can Accord with
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the values of the
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organization convey confidence and
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convey your Human
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Side as well as being very clear on what
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the logic of the decision
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is that's a very important thing it's
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also important to think Beyond layoffs
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where possible the biggest mistakes
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companies make when they're thinking
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about staffing needs in a downturn is
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that they Panic now they don't think it
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through carefully somebody at the top of
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the organization makes a decision and
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says we need to cut people so they don't
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think first about alternatives to
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layoffs or alternatives to downsizing
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ways that might keep morale together and
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keep the workforce together the
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advantage of pay cuts is it keeps the
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workforce together uh if you do it the
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right way it can reinforce a shared
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sense of sacrifice that we're sort of in
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this together U there are some downsides
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uh to it a lot of people worry about
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their top talent leaving I think that's
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frankly a misplaced worry at the moment
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some companies for example have used
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rical unpaid or lesser paid uh roles
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where you basically tell people we'd
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like you to go to some do something
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different for six months or so we're
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going to pay you a small stien while you
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go back to school or while you work for
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a nonprofit in the community on our
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behalf we sometimes forget to be human
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during stressful times be sure to listen
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to and support your people as one client
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in financial services mentioned to me
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recently we're dealing with an industry
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where organizations that have been
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around for more than a 100 years are
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literally crumbling around us they can
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lose sight of the needs of their
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employees and in particular fail to
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enroll some people whose support is
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actually quite critical think through in
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a structured
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way who are the people who are critical
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to help the organization manage through
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these turbulent times uh who are the
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real opinion
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leaders and then what do you see their
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level of support and their level of
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understanding as being very often you'll
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find that people who seem extremely
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opposed to what's happening who seem to
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be resistant who seem to be
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uncooperative are doing so because they
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have some very genuine
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concerns they may be concerns for
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themselves but they're just as likely to
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be concerns for their people or concerns
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for the organization about risks which
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have been taken on simply by showing
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those people the appropriate respect of
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listening to them actually changes how
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they feel and changes in a more positive
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way the influence they're likely to have
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on the people who surround them
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productivity can plummet during
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stressful times to keep your
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organization on track set clear
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expectations for each team for each
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individual what is expected during these
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difficult times uh what are the
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objectives which have to be delivered on
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what are the projects which have to be
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seen through the completion but at the
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same time what are the decisions
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that have to be made or have been made
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to respond to these challenges and what
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do those mean for people those
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considerations help remove ambiguity and
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they help set very clear expectations
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for what people need to do key part of
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setting expectations then is driving
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results being very clear what are the
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critical Milestones where are necessary
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lead indicators in place what do we
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ultimately expect to achieve to have the
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means in place to track those without
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being unduly burdensome and to be able
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to intervene where it looks as if things
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are are going off track part of this
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also particularly if there is a
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substantial rebalancing of the
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organizational arrangements and
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objectives may involve a rapid Cascade
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of revised mandates and targets layer by
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layer so that everybody is very clear
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and as much as possible re-enrolled in
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order to go on despite the tough
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times finally don't lose sight of the
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future
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if you've maintained the morale
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motivation and Trust of your employees
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during these challenging times you'll be
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in an incredibly strong position going
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forward
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sh
