Strategies organizations and employees can use to rebuild trust after mass layoffs.
Having to lay off a large number of your employees isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t easy to then tell your remaining employees there will be no promotions or bonuses this year. This is one of the more difficult aspects of leadership: making tough decisions for the greater good of the organization as a whole. You may feel like you and the other members of the leadership team have been clear about why you made these decisions, but what you say to your employees and what your employees hear may be two completely different things.
Employees right now don’t feel secure in their jobs, which creates distrust and dissatisfaction at work. One big reason is a number of organizations, many of which promised, “This will be our only round of layoffs,” are now having another round of layoffs. It makes it tough for employees to focus on their day-to-day tasks when they’re on edge, wondering when the next bomb will drop.
Even if leaders had no idea they would be doing another round of layoffs when they announced the first round of layoffs, it’s critical to the psychological health of your employees to address the underlying impact of breaking that initial trust. Leadership may be thinking the remaining employees who still have their jobs would be thrilled to survive the layoffs and are happy to have a job, but that doesn’t mean they feel happy and secure as they try to focus on their jobs.
The mistake many leaders make is assuming their employees are on the same page. Leaders and managers have been “in the know” for weeks, maybe months, about the layoffs. They knew it was coming, and they’ve been mentally preparing for it, but the employees just learned this information, and they need time to process. Many times leadership announces layoffs and then expects employees to simply go right back to work like nothing has happened. This sends the message to employees that their thoughts and feelings don’t matter.
The Harvard Business Review article, “Layoffs That Don’t Break Your Company,” written by Sandra J Sucher and Shalene Gupta, cited two studies that show how survivors are negatively affected by layoffs. The first is a 2002 study by Magnus Sverke and Johnny Hellgren of Stockholm University and Katharina Näswall of the University of Canterbury which found that after a layoff, survivors experienced a 41% decline in job satisfaction, a 36% decline in organizational commitment and a 20% decline in job performance.
The second study was conducted by Charlie Trevor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Anthony Nyberg of the University of South Carolina. They found that downsizing a workforce by 1% leads to a 31% increase in voluntary turnover the next year. As you can see, there is a domino effect. First, the layoffs, which then lead to distrust, which leads to apathy, which leads to a lack of engagement, which makes employees feel like they don’t have any control over their careers and goals to work towards. Once someone doesn’t feel like they have anything to work towards at a company, they start thinking about other opportunities outside of the organization.
What Can Organizations Do To Rebuild Trust?
Be Transparent (As Much As You Can)
Obviously, you can’t share absolutely everything with your employees about why certain people were let go, but simply saying, “We cut your bonuses to save your jobs, so you should be grateful,” doesn’t actually make your employees feel grateful. It actually does the opposite because you’re taking something away that shows the company's appreciation for their hard work.
Leadership needs to create the feeling of, “We’re all in this together.” This means that leadership needs to show how they’re making the same kinds of sacrifices that employees are making. If bonuses are being cut across the board, talk about that. Share how losing some of your key team members have impacted you and your team. Pull back the curtain and get vulnerable.
Generation Z is just entering the workforce, and they value transparency as well as equity. If you want to attract and retain young talent, you have to be willing to be more transparent about how and why decisions are made, and you have to be mindful that young people are not going to want to be a part of an organization that cuts bonuses for their employees, but not leadership.
Be Empathetic
Empathy is a superpower for leaders and one of the most important skills you can learn. Empathy is being able to see a situation from another person’s point of view, and this can help you better understand other people’s motivations and desires while also helping you understand how someone is feeling. Take a step back for a moment and put yourself in your employee’s shoes to imagine how they’re feeling.
Really take the time to think about the level of anxiety and stress your employees have been under these past couple of months. They finally feel like they’ve got a handle on things, and then it was announced that there are no bonuses and no promotions this year. Imagine if you were someone who had been working really hard for several years with the expectation that this year you would be promoted, and you got this news; how would you feel? You would feel pretty angry and disillusioned.
Talk About It
While talking about mental health isn’t as taboo as it once was, there is still a stigma around talking about your feelings and admitting out loud that you’re struggling. Talking about how you feel out loud is a very powerful thing, and simply having other people acknowledge your struggles, your pain, and your fears can make you feel less alone and more hopeful about the future.
Organizations spend a lot of time and money training leaders and managers on a variety of topics, but they aren’t trained to identify the signs and symptoms of stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. Because leaders and managers aren’t trained in these areas, these types of issues get ignored until employees end up quitting the organization or they take a mental health leave.
If you want to rebuild trust with your employees, get talking. Learn how to ask effective questions, learn how to identify common mental health issues, and train your staff on these things as well. Start to create a culture of “we talk about our feelings,” and you’ll be amazed at how it changes the dynamics of your organization.
If You’re An Employee, What Can You Do?
Utilize All The Resources Available
Organizations have so many resources available to their employees, but most employees either don’t know about them and/or don’t utilize them. This is the ideal time to take advantage of everything your company has to offer you. Block off at least an hour and go on your company’s portal or schedule some time to talk to your HR business partner.
Think about how you best learn and what kind of help you need right now. Many organizations provide free subscriptions to meditation apps like Headspace and Calm, which are great resources if you’re struggling with anxiety and stress. There are also several employee-sponsored mental health organizations like Lyra, Modern Health, and Ginger that provide individual therapy and coaching to employees.
Focus On What’s Working
If you're an employee and you just learned your company is having another round of layoffs, or there will be no promotions and bonuses, you may be feeling like you have very little control over your career right now. You’re frustrated and angry, and you may feel like walking right out the door. Before you make a rash decision, take a breath and focus on what’s working right now.
Think about the day-to-day tasks of your job and ask yourself if you still enjoy those tasks. Do you feel like you’re growing and learning? Do you feel like there is room for growth at the company? Are you gaining transferable skills you can take with you to another job? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then it sounds like you’re in the right place for you right now. You may be feeling frustrated by the leaders, but if you feel like you’re still growing in your role, then look at the big picture and focus on the things you have control over.
Take It Day By Day
During times of struggle, it’s best to take things day by day. Each morning before you go to work or before you log on for the day, close your eyes and set an intention for the day. Setting an intention helps you quiet all of that noise around you so you can focus on the present moment. You don’t have to worry about how you’re going to feel tomorrow or the next day. This is only about today. You want your intentions to always be positive, and they need to be focused on how you want to feel in the present moment.
Think about what’s important to you, the reasons why you go to work every day - even if it’s only to be able to have a place to eat and sleep - that’s important. Think about how you want to feel that day, think about what’s working for you, and set an intention for the day. Setting an intention helps you get clear on what you’re going to focus on that day. For example, “My intention today is to remain focused and engaged in every meeting.”
Our world is increasingly noisy between social media and the internet and the various methods of communication. Even though you may be feeling frustrated with how the company is handling the layoffs, if you start disengaging, it’s only going to make things worse for you. Your resentment and anger will fester until you leave or you’re let go. If you’re going to leave, you want to leave on your terms. This means you need to manage your feelings day by day.
Whether you’re a leader who’s trying to better understand your teammates or an employee who’s feeling frustrated and burned during the mass layoffs, there are always things you can do to improve your situation. Start by looking inward at ways you can improve yourself, your outlook, and the ways you’re communicating with others at work. Then, when you’ve shifted your mindset, you’ll be better equipped to look for the resources available to you. You don’t have to do this alone, but you do have to have the awareness to take the steps you need to move forward.
