After seeing the tremendous number of layoffs in January and February, I was struck by the many reports showing the negative impact layoffs have, not just on employees and morale, but on actual company financial performance. Just look at this one example cited recently in Bnet:
The Globe and Mail (access requires subscription) also wrote on “workers worrying about cuts…to almost everything that makes them feel valued and enables them to do their jobs with a degree of satisfaction and a measure of accomplishment.” This article made three excellent observations:
Reduce stress and increase performance by telling people you appreciate them and their efforts.
Reduce cynicism and increase loyalty by fostering a company culture employees want to be a part of, contribute to and help ensure stays around
Communicate clearly the needs of your company (your strategic objectives) and, more importantly, show employees how their individual, specific efforts and tasks help the company achieve those objectives. Do so in the most positive way possible – with strategic recognition. Let them be a visible, knowledgeable part of your efforts to retain your competitive advantage and market share.
Too often people worry about getting people out the door as fast as they can and spend little time with those left. This is very dangerous and creates huge morale issues. People think am I next ?