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Leaders Need to Become Chief Motivating Officers to Employees Who ‘Survive’ Layoffs
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With workforces throughout the globe starting the year reeling from severe job losses, and many layoff survivors preoccupied with wondering whether they will be next, business leaders – more than ever – need to become Chief Motivating Officers for their companies, according to Suzanne Bates, author of the newly published book, “Motivate Like a CEO: Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act!”
“Business leaders must inspire employees who remain after layoffs to find their own, individual purposes in their work – beyond just keeping their jobs, and earning a paycheck,” said Bates, president and CEO of Bates Communications. “However, before leaders can motivate others, they need to discover their own purposes, and be inspired themselves, so they can communicate their mission to employees in a clear and powerful way, and connect them to the same purpose,” added Bates.
Among the elements that are essential for executives to become Chief Motivating Officers for their organizations, according to “Motivate Like a CEO,” are:
- Formulate a personal vision and purpose for yourself and your organization
- Become passionate about it so you can inspire others and bring them on board
- Share your excitement and clearly communicate it to all employees
- Encourage employees to find their own, individual purposes in performing their jobs
- Help employees see how they can make a difference in their daily work lives
- Work together with employees at all management levels so that organizational and individual goals are complementary and can be readily realized
“To motivate like a CEO is to be driven by your own powerful sense of purpose and passion, and to connect other people to that purpose in a way that inspires them to act,” said Bates, who is an executive coach, speaker, former award-winning television news anchor, and author of “Speak Like a CEO”.
In a typical workplace, only 29 percent of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, while 71 percent are disengaged – either not engaged at all (54 percent) or are actively disengaged (17 percent) – according to the most recent Gallup Management Journal’s Employee Engagement Index.
“Employees’ level of engagement in a workforce that has been downsized most likely is lower,” said Bates. “This raises the necessity for business leaders to find their own purpose – a cutting-edge vision for their organizations that they are passionate about – and then clearly communicate it, ignite the workforce of talent in their organizations around it, and motivate everyone to work together to make it happen.”
Companies that have downsized – particularly those that have eliminated a lot of jobs, closed businesses, and undergone restructurings and reorganizations – may have a different purpose and mission than before. “If so, the new purpose must be forcefully communicated and shared so that it is well-known throughout the organization,” added Bates.
In addition, Chief Motivating Officers need to help others find their own, individual purposes – missions that employees consider personally fulfilling and rewarding, and which will get layoff “survivors” back into their jobs and acting as team members.
“People want to make a difference. They want their leaders to provide a context for their work, and a purpose for their everyday contributions. When employees are engaged in activities that they believe make a difference, it motivates them and stimulates their passion and creativity. So, Chief Motivating Officers must inspire people and enable them to connect with their own sense of purpose,” said Bates
However, helping people determine their own purpose is usually missing in a normal business environment – and occurs even more infrequently in companies that have made significant reductions to their workforces, according to Bates. “There is far too much focus in downsized workforces on short-term goals and objectives that will ‘fix’ the financial numbers. This often comes from the top of the organization down, with not enough regard for how each employee fits into the picture,” said Bates.
“Assisting layoff survivors in finding their own purposes demonstrates interest in their careers, and fosters teamwork at a time when working together is more important in arriving at new solutions,” said Bates.
One of the biggest reasons why executives do not focus more of their time and energy on communicating their purpose, and motivating others to find their own purposes, is because they feel they are too busy. “Business leaders can’t be too busy ‘doing’ to lead,” said Bates. “Employees know what is needed from a leader and will commonly express dissatisfaction when something is missing. As a leader, you must believe in your heart that the people who work with you are truly in it for something bigger than themselves. Then you must be able to communicate in a way that respects their desire to make a difference,” added Bates.
If leaders do not find the time in their schedules to formulate and communicate a big, inspiring message, and connect others to it, they risk failing. “This is especially true in downsized workforces, where a shared purpose, and how each individual employee’s purpose complements the overall mission, is critical for success going forward,” said Bates.
“One of the biggest principles of motivating like a CEO is praise, reward, and recognition. In a typical workplace environment, this usually doesn’t occur often enough – and needs to become a top priority in a post-layoff workplace,” added Bates.
