When a redundancy process has taken place in any organisation, it’s likely that all employees will be affected by it, regardless of whether the redundancy situation impacted them directly or not. Typically, greater attention is placed upon managing employees who are selected for redundancy however, it’s often the case that less focus is placed upon those who remain within the organisation.
In order to ensure the workforce remains motivated, it’s important for organisations to understand that even individuals whose roles are not at risk of redundancy, or individuals who are at risk but “survive”, can still be affected by the process. This is sometimes referred to as “survivor syndrome” and can have significant implications for any business.
Understanding Survivor Syndrome
Individuals impacted by survivor syndrome are likely to be less effective at work and this can lead to personal changes such as lower commitment, lack of motivation, lower productivity, increased stress levels and increased absence. It can also lead to individuals seeking work elsewhere which in turn, can lead to a significant loss of skills and/or knowledge from the organisation.
Moreover, those employees who survive a redundancy process are likely to have stronger feelings if they believe the organisation has been ineffective in managing the redundancy process. For example, this may happen if they feel their colleagues have not been treated with respect, or the selection criteria has been applied unfairly. It can also lead to feelings of resentment if the survivors feel that their job has changed and this has led to an increased workload as a result.
In order for organisations to reduce the impact of survivor syndrome, managers must ensure that redundancy processes are managed correctly and survivors receive adequate support. For example, managers should involve the remaining employees in the company’s future plans, acknowledge their feelings, offer practical support to cope with reorganisation and changes in workload and offering outplacement support to redundant employees.
In addition to offering support, managers need to ensure the redundancy process itself is managed and communicated effectively to ensure employees feel they have been treated fairly, it’s often how an employee feels they have been treated, rather than the outcome, that leads to their acceptance of change.
How to communicate effectively during a redundancy process
While organisations have a legal duty to consult with staff, it’s important to remember when communicating with employees regarding change, there are measures that can be taken to ensure communication is effective, such as:
- ensuring openness and honesty
- early communication
- encourage employees to participate in the process
- be consistent with the provision of information
- use a fair and objective selection process
- ensuring senior managers are accessible
Managers must accept that everyone’s reaction to change will vary greatly, therefore it’s important to communicate regularly with employees during a change or redundancy exercise, regardless of the legal requirements for consultation, gathering both negative and positive feedback from employees and giving them a voice is likely to lead to wider acceptance of the changes.
Kubler Ross’ Model of Change
The Kubler Ross model of change, or ‘the change curve’, illustrates the emotions individuals experience when faced with change and this can be applied in a business context. Whilst the model originally referred to how individuals cope with grief, it’s easy to see how the 5 stages referred to in this model, shock, denial, anger, depression and acceptance, can also be applied to a redundancy process. This is a useful tool for managers because it can aid in the understanding of what stage an individual is at and how the approach to communicating with them should be tailored for each stage.
Three steps to ensure employees stay motivated after redundancies
Change, in its nature, is likely to cause uncertainty and in circumstances where employees have been regularly subjected to change, this is also likely to invoke cynicism. There are steps to take to reduce the impact of this when managing the redundancy process but also for the remaining employees. For organisations to retain a suitably skilled and motivated workforce after a redundancy process they should:
1. Involve employees at all stages in the consultation from an early stage
When their views are taken into consideration, employees are more likely to feel they have been involved in the decision-making process and therefore more likely to accept the changes.
2. Ask employees for their views and opinions on the future of the company.
This is likely to increase the level of trust and transparency between the organisation and the employees.
3. Recognise the impact on remaining employees.
Recognise the remaining employee’s workload or role may have significantly changed and offer practical support such as additional training or reallocation of work.
If you’d like support with a redundancy process, or would like advice from our HR consultants, contact us.
