Refocusing the Team after Job Loss

  Job loss is a very devastating for the terminated employee. Without a job, the source of income is cut which could result to loss of support for the preferred lifestyle or even simple support to basic necessities.

This could even demoralize the terminated employee because it could give the terminated employee a signal that he or she is incompetent and could not provide enough productivity to be paid. Getting back on track or looking for another job is also difficult since termination from the previous company would look bad in someone’s resume.

But job loss is equally devastating for the company as well as its retained employees. When a company is forced to terminate some of its employees, they are giving out a sign that they are no longer stable or earning enough to pay for the salary of its employees. This will give a bad impression to investors who are constantly seeking signs or assurance that everything is going well. If the company is publicly listed, their price per share drops when reports of job losses happen.

Aside from the bad impression a company would have to face when they are forced with job loss, the employees will also be affected. Job security will be questioned which could easily lower the morale of its employees. The result of this would be lower productivity which could also result to further job losses because of lower company output.

Leadership Required in Handling Job Loss

This vicious cycle should never put the company down. Companies still opt for job loss because they know they can still survive and prevent the trend from further bringing their company down. That’s where their leaders such as the managers and supervisors do their part. Instead of being part of job insecurity problem, they should be part of the solution wherein they can help the employees refocus on a specific task.

The managers and supervisors are always seen as representative of the upper management which means any indication that the company is not faring well from its leaders could easily resonate on its employees.

The following are the essential tasks that leaders should implement as soon as job losses in the company have been experienced:

Easing Fear – at this point, employees are concerned about their jobs. They have seen their co-workers lose their jobs because of the company’s financial struggles and they do not see any reason why they should not be concerned for their jobs as well. As a leader, it is your responsibility to assure your employees that job cuts is already finished and those that remain could be assured of job security. Of course, this has to be the true. If you think further job losses looms, the best way a leader could do in this situation is to be honest about it and ensure the individuals to support is available no matter what happens.

Refocusing Goals – One way to ensure your employees security from job losses is to ensure productivity. Slumping and fearing for their jobs will do nothing and could just further the reality of being terminated. As a leader, you should rally your employees to improve productivity. However, this is not just a hollow statement wherein you send an e-mail to your employees telling them about the situation. Meet everyone for renewing your strengths and weaknesses so that you can re-establish goals as a team.

It is never the Same Situation

Saying “business as usual” after a significant job loss is never good – with the number of employees reduced to bare essentials, it is never a regular business scenario. Always remember that employees are humans and that they will be affected emotionally and intellectually every time they see changes. You might even be affected by the changes but you don’t just know it yet.

For that reason, it is important to refocus and re-evaluate your situation whenever there are significant changes in your department or in the company. Certain weakness will certainly be realized since manpower has been reduced but along with the weaknesses, certain strengths will come out.

As a leader, you should find solutions to your weakness by harnessing what you can do as a group today. It’s a difficult task because of the job loss but if everyone just does their assigned task, further job losses could be averted.