How to Nurture Existing Employees After Layoffs in the Company

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Microfinance Jobs
Advice, Article May 21, 2022 0

Layoffs often come unexpectedly. But as they leave an everlasting effect on the employees who no longer have a job at the company, the existing employees face a different impact.

But why do layoffs happen in the first place? Reasons vary, for example, during the COVID19 pandemic, a lot of companies had to let go of 50% of their workforce. Rather than focusing on circumstances that are often out of one’s control, MicrofinanceJobs.net is here to discuss what can be done to minimise the aftermath of said circumstances.

Following the same lines, we bring you all 5 main ways that can help employers nurture their remaining workforce after layoffs in their organisations. These are:

Be considerate and emphatic

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? You’ll be surprised to know how uncommon this expected commonality is.

When an employee witnesses a layoff in their company, it’s highly important to not only address them as an employee but also as a friend, a coworker, or a confidant, among others; for when you approach them in relation to those who no longer work in the company, do you start to understand what they (remaining employees) might be going through?

Do your best to understand their struggles and be considerate of their needs. Host one-on-one meetings with your employees and be candid and empathetic. Don’t just play the role of an employer but someone who truly cares about the well being of the remaining people who continue to work at the company. It’s important to address the elephant in the room but it’s also important to connect the fact that work and life are interconnected, and when one part of it faces turbulence, it also affects the other.

Know what you are talking about, and listen.

Be transparent and communicate clearly

You can only be considerate and empathetic when you dare to address difficult topics such as layoffs. Transparency does a lot more than one realises. It makes the other person feel welcomed and included and heard on matters that matter to them. The first point goes well along with this point, for your consideration to reach your employees, you must learn how to communicate on uncomfortable topics that might be easy to avoid but are difficult to highlight.

We recommend that you schedule frequent breaks and dialogues with your employees that focus on layoffs only. Be inclusive and give your employees the space to be open and candid to you as well. You need to nurture your employees by making sure they don’t lose their confidence in you. So rather than communicating for the sake of it, do your research and even conduct workshops around the topic so your employees feel more certain than uncertain about their upcoming time in the company.

The aftermath of layoffs is filled with questions, and creating the time and safe space for your employees to process their emotions is sometimes all that is needed.

Make an effort to be transparent. Share the whys and hows.

It all counts.

Provide Purpose

When facing a crisis, a good strategy to bring employees together and eradicate a lack of fulfilment is to insert a sense of purpose into their work life. After a layoff, setting goals and giving meaningful feedback with purposeful work seems to give motivation to remaining employees.

As employees deal with seeing their coworkers being let go and process their feelings, a sense of accomplishment in their work-life helps them deal with the overall situation in a better way. Reminding employees of their job and their importance is a great way to build trust and confidence in them that might have taken a blow during the layoffs. When an employee sees a set goal ahead of them, they realise why they chose the job they are at in the first place.

Including incentives and organising frequent healthy competitions in the company could also be another way to help your employees as they go through these unfortunate circumstances.

While understanding that employees might also be facing personal issues along with added work issues in the form of layoffs, it’s imperative to recognise your role and work towards minimising work stress by introducing clarity in their work-life along with several reforms in line with the required productivity from the employees. DO NOT expect your employees to overwork themselves since other employees were let go.

Prioritise your employees when they need you and see the difference.

Focus on Survivor Guilt

“Why have I ‘survived’ a layoff when my co-workers did not?”

“Why was I kept on?”

These are some questions that employees ponder upon during and after layoffs. This could decrease their motivation to stay at the job, with them ultimately leaving the job as well. Employers must recognise the signs of individual survivor guilt and address it separately while giving the right motivation and certainty to employees.

Answer their questions and try to clear their worries. Host sessions with workplace therapists where the entire team gets the space to face and process their survivor guilt. Don’t make them feel like they are alone in this crisis.

Survivor Guilt often eats away at people during the aftermath of the layoffs and decreases their morale not only as an employee but also as a person. Understand how this personally affects them as well, and study the right steps to be taken to make sure that the impact does not stay for life.

Give them the job security they need, while allowing them the means to be in contact with their ex-coworkers. Address changes effectively and help in re-building your employees’ morale, from scratch, if needed.

“What Next?” Take Inputs and Feedback

Rather than strictly laying out a future for your employees, have an open discussion with them as to how they see their future at the organisation/company. Refer to their suggestions in future decisions. Do not ignore them.

Post a layoff, they will be as insecure as uncertain and vulnerable about their jobs. So what can you as an employer do? Include them in meetings about company decisions that directly affect them. Take feedback from them; provide them with the right tools to be heard, for their voices to not get ignored.

As employers start to understand their employees’ perceptions through these discussions and feedback, do they start nurturing them and their needs – creating a healthy environment rather than a toxic one. Especially after layoffs, it’s the responsibility of none other than employers to make sure their employees do not reach the verge of giving up.

Identify the future opportunities AND risks that lay ahead of your employees and discuss the same with them. Be open to ideas and suggestions, and sustain a healthy workplace for your employees to stay in for a long time.

We, at MicrofinanceJobs.net, hope we could be of some help to you all! Employers, do you think you could receive some required insight? Employees, do you think we missed something? Include your points by using the space in the comments below! Let us know what you think!

(Insights taken from sources 1 and 2.)

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