These days there is great uneasiness in the workplace, people fear layoffs and managers scramble to keep the business afloat. Managers wonder how to keep people motivated and offset their feeling of powerlessness. It is especially difficult when the managers themselves feel that same unease and fear. Reassuring people that more layoffs aren’t planned is helpful but as we all know that doesn’t stop people from fearing the worst.

One area that can really help workers feel valued and more secure is when their supervisor understands that not only are they struggling with job security issues, they are also very often doing their own job with new responsibilities added on because half the department was laid off. Managers can help their employees by working both individually and with the whole department to analyze the workload and establish how to improve efficiencies. Are there things that were done before that are not as important and can now be eliminated? Is there a way to cut out waste and take unnecessary time out of a process? Are reports being generated that no one reads or needs? These are only a few questions a manager can ask to figure out if there are ways to lessen the workload burden on employees.

Another area where the manager can help his or her employees is with setting priorities. Even when all the waste has been cut out of the processes, people may still feeling overloaded and they may need help in determining what their priorities are. Nothing is more disheartening to an employee then to work hard and then at then at the end of the day be told that their performance wasn’t up to par because they weren’t working on the right things. This is a totally avoidable situation. Resetting expectations and making sure that employees know what their priorities are is essential in helping employees feel like they have support and that their supervisor understands some of the issues they are facing.

A manager can’t eliminate all uncertainty and fear but if they concentrate on keeping their employees focused and by offering support they can help employee feel valued. Just ignoring the added workload will make employees feel like they are being taken for granted and at some point they may seek opportunities elsewhere. Acknowledging that there was a change in workload and helping the employee sort through those changes will go a long way to making your employees and your department more efficient even in these uncertain times.