Your company has successfully downsized with dignity. Now what?
You followed all the proper steps of firing someone the right way, but tensions are still high around the office. Often times, leaders tend to initially focus more attention on those who are leaving.
The most important people in a layoff are forgotten: the survivors.
What Is The Impact of Layoff Survivors?
Layoff survivors are responsible for keeping your company afloat during a very stressful time. The survivors are often expected to do more work with fewer resources.
In addition to the extra stressed caused by increased work flow, employees have to deal with survivor’s guilt (a symptom of layoff-survivor sickness).
The underlying cause of layoff-survivor sickness is a pervasive sense of personal violation. The feelings and emotions often include:
Layoff survivor sickness can greatly impact personal and organization performance, crippling a company at the precise time the company needs to rely on its workforce to rebuild a new business.
The intense stress felt by layoff-survivors can last four to six months, resulting in increased absenteeism and higher turnover. At some companies, the more people laid off, the higher rates of quitting they sustained. And that is not good.
That is exactly why companies need to pay attention to their layoff survivors.
What Can The Company Do To Help Layoff Survivors?
The best way to maintain employees in order to avoid a large turnover after is to implement practices that give employees a sense that the company is just and fair. Practices that foster “job attachment” include:
Having these policies in order before a large turnover will help layoff survivors cope. Now, if you are in the middle of a layoff or just finished one, there are steps you can take to help the layoff survivors in that moment.
Layoffs are tough for everyone in the company. The employees let go are not the only victims. If the company ignores the layoff survivors, they are setting themselves up for failure. Follow our steps to help your layoff survivors cope with the change so that your company can maintain (or even increase) productivity.
At Integrity HR, our professionals are trained to handle a crisis such as layoffs. If your company is going through a rough time and needs our assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always ready and willing to help!
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