Wisdom for
Humanizing Commerce
After Layoffs
Employees who remain after seeing their co-workers terminated need your help. Venting tense feelings, establishing more productive routines and setting goals help people re-engage and can even drive an unexpected resurgence in productivity.
A Critical Time for Long-Term Success
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Employees who remain after layoffs are given the workloads and responsibilities held by former co-workers. These survivors may have issues with remorse or even betrayal. Venting these feelings and asking them to help build a new plan of action sets up the teams to succeed. By acknowledging the contributions of those who have left and those who remain tensions settle and people are more ready to engage.
We suggest you focus on what’s next while being empathetic about the stress of surviving layoffs. You know a layoff has gone well when former employees return to visit. Some companies even host alumni events and online forums to encourage these relationships. After all, there is an ecosystem between employees and companies and your reputation as an employer is publicly debated online.
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Give your remaining workforce a boost. Let them know they matter by setting clear goals and setting them up for success.
After Workforce Reduction
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Phase 1: Rally Your People
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Identify the cultural issues and advantages of your company (Cultural Audit).
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Hold 1-2-1 meetings with team members. Hear their intentions, goals, and how they've been affected.
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Provide a recovery report based on the 1-2-1 discussions and Organizational Culture Audit.
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Hold a team meeting to discuss the layoff, vent their feelings, and release tension.
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Phase 2: Share The Goals
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Create a stakeholder (leadership, customers, suppliers, peers) analysis report.
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Get buy-in from teams and update the report as needed. It's the basis for goal-setting.
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Create a mission and set of goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
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Share the goals with teams and implement incentives based on goals.
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Phase 3: Engage Your People With Job Benchmarking
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Define the roles/accountabilities for your teams. (called Job Benchmarking).
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Work with team members to ensure roles match employee traits.
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Share the plan that defines the projects and feedback system to implement the team’s goals.
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Phase 4: Build A Culture of Coaching Moments
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Create coaching agreements with each employee that contain clear development goals that are motivating while fulfilling the needs of the company.
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Hold up to 3 initial feedback sessions for each person about their plan, tasks, and achieving goals.
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Train managers to use an Agile Performance approach that includes coaching moments.
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Closeout
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Schedule coaching moments to touchbase with employees regarding their progress.
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Track employee progress and adjust coaching moments as needed.
Service Options
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1. We Assist After Layoffs
We consult with stakeholders and use several organizational development tools to help your team engage. The length of this engagement is defined by the number of employees involved with assessments, trainings, and our cultural audit.
Three Easy Ways To Get Started
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Just A Conversation
Schedule your free consult call and tell us about your situation. Together, we'll find a solution.
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See For Yourself
Learn your natural and adapted behaviors and driving motivators with one of our Success Insights assessment and consult. Try it yourself: $90 each.
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