Downsizing refers to the act of eliminating jobs and positions in an organization. Companies engage in downsizing in a bid to minimize costs of labor, attain competitive advantage and maximize profitability among other benefits. Even so, downsizing that normally leads to layoffs has far reaching psychological impacts on employees who survive the exercise (Pepper, Messinger, Weinberg & Campbell, 2013) . The survivors are likely to experience stress related illnesses such as ulcers and heart diseases because they keep imagining they are next. In addition, the survivors undergo stress, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. As a manager in a company handling the situation, one is likely to have concerns in managing the workforce going forward. In the same vein, the human resource has to step in order to support the managers in this effort as outlined in the following discussion.
Firstly, for the manager handling the layoff situation, numerous concerns emanating from the exercise such as uncertainty, confusion, fear of unknown, anxiety, and insecurity is likely to be seen among the survivors. To manage the workforce going forward, the first action would be to communicate the reasons for the layoff and highlighting the actions that one took to avoid it (Pepper, Messinger, Weinberg & Campbell, 2013). By so doing, the survivors will start looking at the layoff as fair process that was unavoidable. Bringing up the conversation about the job losses is healthy and clears any doubts. The manager is expected to share latest news with the survivors, and give them an assurance of keeping them updated.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The manager is supposed to lead by example, through demonstrating leadership skills that transition employees into a brighter future. Going forward, opportunities have to be created to offer additional training to the survivors who have taken up new roles (Torkelson & Muhonen, 2013). The manager has to motivate them to look out for new ways of improving their skills and push the organization to greater heights. The survivors should be offered career counseling, and especially to the ones seeking future advancement, and encourage them to manage stress by making use of vacation time and flexible schedules of working.
Within the organization, the human resource has to step in aiding the manager to handle the situation going forward. Firstly, the human resource department needs to understand that productivity of the survivors will obviously be affected. Whenever employees are working as a team, irrespective of their perceived contribution or relationship, they feel greatly the loss of their colleague (Sahdev, 2014). For that reason, the remaining needs space and time to deal with the loss and anger feelings. Consequently, the human resource has to step in and assist the manager in acknowledgement of emotions, and in re-building trust (Parzefall, 2016). The department has to aid the manager in showing the survivors that they are valued by the organization. They need to establish platforms for reassuring them they value them, besides stressing on their contribution on the overall functioning of the company.
In overall, downsizing that leads to layoff in an organization often affects the survivors, and the manager and the human resource department have a role to play in reassuring them that all is in place. Communication helps in alleviating anxiety, fear, and in explaining reasons for the layoff. Going forward, the manager has to handle the situation appropriately, to win the confidence of survivors. In the same vein, the human resource management has to step in and assist the manager in restoring confidence, and in reassuring them that they are valued by the organization.
References
Parzefall, M. (2016). A close call: perceptions of alternative HR arrangements to layoffs. Journal of Managerial Psychology. Volume 27, Issue 8.
Pepper, L., Messinger, M., Weinberg, J., & Campbell, R. (2013). Downsizing and health at the United States Department of Energy. American Journal of Industrial Medicine , 44(5), 481-491
Sahdev, K. (2014). Revisiting the survivor syndrome: The role of leadership in implementing downsizing. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology , 13(2), 165-196(32)
Torkelson, E., & Muhonen, T. (2013). Coping strategies and health symptoms among women and men in a downsizing organization. Psychological Reports , 92 (3), 899- 907.
