Mass layoffs have become a daily news occurrence. According to Forbes, more than 81,000 employees lost their jobs in major U.S. layoffs last January alone including major cuts at Amazon, Google, Salesforce and Microsoft.
The picture it’s similar in Europe and is expected to continue in the coming months. According to Reuters tech is not the only industry that will be affected. Auto, travel, retail food, bank and finance also expect to have layoff in the short future.
In this scenario, companies around the world feel the pressure to maintain motivated employees and generate a good working environment.
Management Strategies for Layoff Survival
Layoffs can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line, as well as the morale and productivity of its employees. The negativity of the situation can impact employees performance and focus. In this context, more and more companies are taking action to manage layoff in a better way.
Communication is essential:
First of all, it’s important to make sure that everyone knows that layoffs are part of a hard decision to make and provide as much information as possible. It’s important to explain the decision-making process and the criteria used to determine which employees will be laid off.
In this sense, Miguel Angel Cruz, Head of AMC at MBI Talent Group, recommended:
“Companies must spread peace of mind and give people certainty through communication”. And he explained: “To do this, companies must communicate what the company’s situation is, what the strategy will be like in this context, what is expected of their employees to contribute to growth and what is expected of their employees to be promoted or, even, keep their job”.
Make people feel valuate
The reasons and the magnitude of the massive layoffs can be multiple. However, that doesn’t mean that people can be left out. It is necessary to handle this situation in the best possible way.
Some alternatives can be to give employees as much notice as possible before layoffs take effect. This allows employees to prepare, plan and find new employment. Also, you can offer resources such as job search assistance and outplacement services to help employees who have been laid offs find new jobs.
“Outplacement programs emerge as an opportunity for companies and as a tool for people”, explained Ángela Pardo, Director & Principal AMC at MBI Talent Group.
The director also detailed that when a company invests in a relocation program for the people it lays off, it is indirectly investing in:
1) Their organizational culture by demonstrating with a concrete action that they implement a culture of social responsibility.
2) Their work environment, while the beneficiaries will share this information with the company’s current collaborators, thus contributing to improve their perception of the work environment.
3) Their employer brand: retirees and beneficiaries of the outplacement program will speak positively of the company on social networks and by word of mouth, despite having been laid off, positioning the company’s reputation as a good employer.
Support the survivals, layoff strategies:
Moving forward, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the existing skill sets within the team and identify any potential gaps that may have arisen due to the layoff. This moment is an opportunity to collectively bring new skills and create new group dynamics.
It’s also important to provide support for team members to help them adjust to the changes. This can include training, mentoring, or access to professional development opportunities.
In this way, they will additionally reinforce the collaborator’s certainty of wanting to remain in the organization by ensuring that each of them is clear about how their work contributes to a greater good, to a higher meaning that must be linked to their own values and mission of life.
Only with this realized, it’s possible to think about goals, prioritize tasks and focus on productivity.
In MBI Talent Group, we can help you with management strategies for layoff survival. Do you want more information? Write to us in the comments and we will get in touch with you.
