As redundancies start taking place, business leaders need to understand that a failure to focus on the culture left behind will be detrimental to staff performance - and the ultimate survival of the organisation.
When organisations cut staff, they tend to place a lot of emphasis on those leaving, but to ensure the people left behind remain productive, it is essential for leaders to focus on culture and prioritise ways to inspire and motivate remaining staff.
Many organisations going through the redundancy process don't have the types of corporate culture that support the employees left behind. Organisations with aggressive, blame-ridden cultures, where employees and managers are competitive and power driven, are most likely to suffer from a drop in performance post-redundancies.
But this doesn't mean that culture shouldn't be a focus for them. In fact, it's more crucial than ever that the culture is managed appropriately, otherwise there is a very real risk of performance levels significantly dropping.
The key reasons that leaders must focus on culture post redundancies are:
- The rise of employee fear and shock as they suddenly realise the situation at hand
- The general effect of losing a colleague and friend - which could be likened to grief
Until redundancies take place, many employees may not have fully appreciated the local effects of the economic crisis. This realisation, paired with the general grieving for a lost colleague and friend, can make for a very volatile workplace where motivation is lost, fear takes over and the quality of work goes downhill.
In the post-redundancy aftermath, employees are searching for motivation, inspiration and the assurance that they are valued by their bosses. Despite corporate mythology, fear is not an effective motivator.
There are a number of simple rules that managers should follow to ensure that the aftermath is dealt with appropriately and future redundancies avoided.
8 tips for maintaining a supportive post-redundancy culture:
- Be honest about the situation
- Be accessible - open door policy is a must, walk the corridors. Employees need to voice their concerns and feelings in order to deal with them
- Be empathetic - acknowledge the loss and how people might be feeling
- Focus on the big picture, purpose and remind people about core values
- Keep language positive and action driven
- Reset goals and share them amongst the organisation - maintain a long-term focus
- Make sure the focus is on ‘working together' - this will ensure motivation levels are maintained
- Show that you are responding effectively to the current situation - staff will be more forgiving if they know redundancies were the last resort