Blog Post: An open letter to employers...

It's been a rough year, employers are under pressure to lower costs to accommodate an unknown future, and layoffs are rampant.

This isn’t a newsflash, but what may be getting lost is the ripple effect from the individual to the family outward that will have a long lasting effect on our society.  We just stepped backward.

Companies may have no choice but to lay off hundreds, but the way it is done now is so wholesale, so casual that is like if it is Tuesday, ABC Co. is laying off 300 employees again.   I do believe that companies want to do the best for their departing employees, but sometimes the “bigger picture” thinking of saving the company diminishes individual contributions.  Someone who lived and breathed the company is left to feel discarded and useless; hurriedly ushered out the door.  When companies treat people as numbers on a spreadsheet, we just stepped backward.  Competition requires innovation, and companies need to identify and develop talent to reach their potential.

From an employee perspective, the first layoff can be devastating and a continuous cycle of layoffs erodes competence and progression, depleting motivation.  We end up losing the best of us and instead build a society of little expectations and mediocrity.  We just stepped backward. 

Instead, I’d like to propose a new way of doing business.  Really it is not new, just not done very often.

Companies…Include your employees.  They are vested in the success of your company, and often have innovative ideas how to make money or improve processes.  Develop your employees.  Learn the talents and aspirations and give them opportunities to grow.  It builds loyalty, trust and creativity.  In times of financial difficulty, include them in the problem solving.  I heard about a hospital that told all the employees of the financial situation and they came up with solutions that saved everyone’s job.  Everyone sacrificed for the shared goal.  It works, and if it can work in a hospital it can work in any company.

Let’s get back on track.  If I can assist your organization with employee development, management coaching, training, conflict resolution or outplacement services, please contact me at Suearth@yahoo.com

Sue Arth is founder of Sea of Change, a consulting service serving both organizations and individuals in transition.