There’s been some discussion lately that, as employees start to see signs of economic recovery, they’ll begin to dust off their resumes and start searching for a new opportunity. If you want to read more about this, check out the posts here and here.
(Insert sarcasm here.) Frankly, I’m shocked. The implication that companies have used this near-catastrophic recession to undercut and deflate employee salaries, bully employees into thinking that they’re damn lucky to have a job, withhold training and development, etc. is just beyond my comprehension. Come on Corporate America…you wouldn’t think of doing this stuff, right?! (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) Stand up and tell the world why your employees aren’t going to jump ship at the very first sign of economic prosperity.
(Back to professional tone.) Alright. So maybe one or two businesses have taken advantage. Let’s not completely pick on them.
(Insert skepticism here.) How many employees who are getting ready to look for greener pastures told their companies during the interview process that they were fine with taking a cut in pay? Or a reduction in benefits? Or driving double the distance to work? And, now they’re planning to bail after they convinced some business owner they wouldn’t?
(Resume serious tone.) Something tells me that both employees and employers are a little guilty right now of being less than completely open, honest, and transparent. If companies want to avoid a train wreck in terms of mass exodus, now is the time to engage in some dialogue with employees about what they want in terms of job/pay/benefits and what you as the company can afford. In turn, employees need to be forthright with their managers about their expectations and goals for the future.
It is possible to mitigate the mass turnover that’s being predicted. Organizations and employees can work together and create compromise. Start having some very honest conversations. Do it now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
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Alan says
Loved the article! I agree candid dialog needs to begin right away. That’s an important first step. However, I do believe with some companies – based on the way they’ve handled their downsizings – they have driven the trust levels so low that they cannot be recovered and unfortunately, many valued employees are just waiting for the right moment to jump ship. “Re-recuitment” of these folks needs to begin immediately.
Alan Collins
Author, “Unwritten HR Rules”
http://www.UnwrittenHRRules.com
Dustin Henderson says
There was an easy solution that was missed by most companies. All they had to do was be Honest and Fair.
Be honest about their business and what shape they are in. Share their strategy and when they expect to emerge. Tie clear goals that employees need to hit (along with external markers) in order to return to normalcy. Then set up meetings to review progress at the team and corporate level.
This level of honesty demonstrates a plan (and more importantly intent) to get employees back to where they were.
Here is the hard part – Be Fair! Suspend use of the corporate Jet. Move the CEO’s office to the middle of Cube Land (as to put him closer to the solution). Reduce executive pay by 2X Percent of the largest pay cut. Suspend Stock Options. Remove anything that would present itself as extravagance… In other words – get in the boat with the employees!
Then as the company emerges from the recession – it is stronger, its employees have the same sense of groups of people who weather a significant event together, and the Cs of the company were not the enemy – to be crucified – but the leaders to be appreciated.
It is not budget cuts – it is not reduced pay – it is all about how you do it. The companies that used this time to grow together – will be hiring the employees of companies who did not.
Verity Bissett-Powell says
Is it really surprising that workers feel ready to jump ship? Management is trumping leadership. Instead of guiding others, leaders are spending more time managing tasks, productivity, and the bottom line. These leaders have taken their eye off the ball and have become distracted from thinking about people. When the economy turns around, leaders will pay for their present distraction as their teams seek greener pastures elsewhere. We know from our recent survey of over 1,000 US employees that 55% will be sending out their resumes when the economy improves. So, how to avoid that? I agree that honest conversations are necessary, and need to take place now. Leaders should find out what their team members need to feel valuable and challenged—what development will take them to the next level. Have those conversations with people and then actually try to do something. Give them a reason to stick around.
Verity Bissett-Powell
Development Dimensions International (DDI)
http://blogs.ddiworld.com/
Jessica Miller-Merrell says
Very true, Sharlyn! The companies that fail to take action will begin to feel the heat in the coming months as consumer and business optimism improves. Thank you for also including a link to my post on this topic as well.
http://www.blogging4jobs.com
hr bartender says
Thanks to everyone for contributing to the conversation.
I recently had the opportunity to hear Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large at Fortune, talk about leadership during an economic downturn. One of his points really resonated with me and I don’t feel organizations are spending nearly enough time focusing on it. That is “Everyone is going to remember what companies do right now. Thing about what you want them to remember.”
People might not be happy if you can’t afford to give them more money or increase their benefits. But I believe if it’s done in a sincere way, they will respect you for your honesty.
Anon says
I currently work for a company who straight-up bullied their employees, cut salaries, removed perks, promised promotions, and cut all employee training.
Mid-level managers began fearing for their jobs, and bullied their subordinates, and so-in.
To improve moral they held weekly meetings where it was a big congrats-fest to selected employees and would discuss the great sales pipeline.
The lack of trust in management in the company was low prior to this, and after this, it just plummeted. A certain level of management and higher used it and other avenues to reinforce their importance by attaching their names to every successful project.
Taught me a valuable lesson
hr bartender says
Anon,
While I wrote the post a little bit tongue-in-cheek, your comment only highlights that companies are ignoring their employees during these tough times. I’ve been through recessions before – although not as challenging as this one. And while I’ve had to do layoffs, restructure salaries, and renegotiate benefits, I found that being open and honest with employees made a significant difference. They might have not always liked what I said…but they knew I was being straight with them.
You mentioned an interesting point about the behavior of management. Not only are people experiencing the cuts and reductions, but the back-stabbing and politics that seems to have surfaced. It reminds me of the lesson I’ve learned during this recession – you can really judge the character of a person by the way they act when they have money and then don’t have money.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Most appreciated.
Robert Merrill says
What is surprising to me is how hard it is at most companies to have an honest, open dialogue. At the end of the day, everyone is out for themselves unless your corporate culture requires openness and tranparency from the top down. In most orgs, once people become a manager they suddenly forget how to talk to anyone but other managers, and always guard their words to be sure they don’t accidentally slip some privileged information.
Thankfully, I’m currently with an organization that seems to have its act together in this respect, which contributes strongly to retention, inward mobility and even recruiting.
hr bartender says
Thanks for the comment Robert. I couldn’t agree more.
Hopefully companies are providing communications training for their managers. And creating opportunities for them to become comfortable with delivering difficult messages. That will go a long way in helping morale.