Overcoming layoff survivor sickness

"They can't seem to snap back. The merger is over, the layoffs are behind us. We've streamlined the work flow, but productivity is actually lower than before we started. Am I missing something?"

These were-the introductory words of the general manager of a recently merged division of a process engineering organization, and he was missing something. It was the reality of layoff survivor sickness.

Irrevocable paradigm shift

- In slightly more than 10 years the paradigm that connects people to organizations has changed from people as long-term assets to be nurtured and developed over their careers to people as short-term costs to be managed and, hopefully, reduced. Harsh as it may initially seem, this new paradigm is reality in most organizations, and neither individuals nor organizations can afford to ignore it and hope it will go away.

- The underlying cause of layoff survivor sickness is a pervasive sense of personal violation. In the old paradigm, organizations found ways to tie employees' sense of purpose and relevance to the company through tenure-based benefit plans, compensation systems that rewarded longevity and not contribution, status symbols that emphasized time with the organization, and social connections such as employee clubs and athletic teams. They caused employees to put all of their social and emotional eggs in the organizational basket, and then they dropped the basket.

- These organizations were not evil or manipulative; tying employees in over the long haul was a central premise of the old paradigm. The problem is the old strategy does not work in the new reality. A question I often ask is, "If who you are is where you work, what is at threat if your job is at threat?" The answer is a lot more than a paycheck.

- Survivors of mergers, reengineering efforts, and other events that lead to downsizing experience powerful and often disabling survivor feelings. Research shows that employees who have bought into the old paradigm and find themselves in the new reality experience feelings of guilt, anxiety, depression, fear, and anger. They are risk averse and emotionally drained, and they operate with reduced productivity. Organizations that have reductions on Friday and expect increased productivity on Monday are always surprised. Unfortunately, layoff survivor symptoms are long term and often don't go away without external intervention and help.

by http://findarticles.com