Handling Layoffs and Caring for Survivors

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Handling Layoffs and Caring for Survivors

• Mary Fran San Soucie
• HR Coordinator
• maryfran_at_montana.edu

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First of all, Taking care of HR when HR is taking
care of Everyone Else

• From CUPA-HR Association Leadership Program
• Allison M. Vaillancourt, Ph.D.
• University of Arizona

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Question of the Day

• How are HR Professionals like Superman?

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Answer

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vB13flQZQaIkfeature
  player_detailpaget31s

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The college revoked all our benefits, cancelled
our retirement program and laid off half the
workforce. So were having Funny Hat Day to boost
morale.
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Oh What a Year this Has Been

• Early retirement incentives
• Voluntary separation programs
• Swine flu contingency plans (mostly done, but
  whats next?)
• Should we base furlough days on salary level or
• employment type?
• Furloughs for FACULTY? Are you out of your
  mind?
• Really, anyone who makes over 100K should have
• their salary cut. Its a no brainer.
• Press inquiries about we can justify paying our
• people such outrageous salaries at a time like
  this.

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But there was More. MUCH more

• Listening to employees rant about how it is your
  fault that their retirement plan took a dive.
• Listening to employees rant.
• Renegotiating faculty workloads/instituting
  unionized faculty
• No, we dont have a hiring freeze. This is a
  hiring pause.
• Reorganizations
• Skyrocketing demand for EAP services
• Listening to employees rant.
• Well all cut our salaries by 5 if we can keep
  Susan.
• Layoffs and contract non-renewals
• HARVARD is laying off people? Harvard???
• Doing more with less
• Listening to employees rant.

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When I hear the phrase, do more with less, I

• a) Start to clench my jaw
• b) Must resist the urge to roll my eyes
• c) Want to run into traffic

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What color is your state?
SOURCE Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area
Unemployment Statistics
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A Workforce Management- sponsored study of HR
professionals reported the following results
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Have you suffered from Sleeplessness as a Result
of Layoffs?
As a result of the ongoing nature of todays
massive workforce reductions, the majority of
these HR managers say they are experiencing
sleeplessness, increased anxiety and depression,
while a few are using substances to cope,
according to the survey.        
Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
2009
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Almost half of HR managers who have conducted
layoffs in the past 18 months say their stress
over the layoffs has affected their job
performance, according to the survey.
Thirty-five percent of respondents have
considered or seriously considered changing
careers, according to the survey. In interviews,
they cite burnout and low morale as reasons that
they are thinking about leaving. An additional
3 percent have already begun the process of
changing careers or jobs.
Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
2009
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A 2006 study conducted by Leon Grunberg, a
sociologist at the University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, Washington, followed 410 managers over 10
years and found that those involved with layoffs
were more prone to sleep problems, ulcers,
headaches and heart trouble up to three years
after the layoffs
Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
2009
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My nickname is now Angel of Death.

• Anonymous survey respondent
• Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
  2009

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They used to greet me, but now theytypically
put their head down and pretendIm not there, to
avoid eye contact forfear that they might be
next.

• Anonymous survey respondent
• Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
  2009

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How stressed, anxious or Depressed Have You Been
Feeling as a Result of Having to Conduct Layoffs?

• 73 percent of respondents say they are somewhat
  stressed, depressed or anxious as a result of
  having to conduct layoffs
• 11 percent say they are extremely so.
• 50 percent have experienced some sleeplessness
• 17 percent say they have experienced frequent to
  extreme sleeplessness.
• Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
  2009

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For the first time in my professional
life,Im not as passionate about my job stay
in bed longer in the morning,procrastinate more
at work. My headisnt in the game.

• Anonymous Survey respondent
• Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
  2009

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The worst part of my commute is that I end up at
work.

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Do You Think the Stress, Anxiety orDepression
Youve Experienced HasAffected Your Job
Performance?

• 48 indicate a slight to severe effect on Job
  Performance
• 52 indicate no effect
• Workforce Management Survey, published June 22,
  2009

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How are YOU doing?
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What are you doing to take care of yourself?
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Question Who understands what youre going
through?

• Answer
• LOOK AROUND.

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Question While youre standing by
yourinstitutions and your employees, who
isstanding by you?

• Answer
• LOOK AROUND

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• What makes it hard to work in HR, especially
  lately?
• How have the last 10months affected you
  personally?
• How have the last 10 months affected you
  professionally?

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What has made working in HR particularlychallengi
ng during the last 10 months?
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So How do We get Through it? Managing Through
Crisis or Change Foster adaptation Honor the
past but create excitement about the future
Distinguish between the essential and the
expendable Build leadership capacity
Distribute power and decision making Embrace
disequilibrium Depersonalize conflict
Create a culture of courageous conversations Take
care of yourself Find sanctuaries Treat
yourself like you are in training Be more than
your job Reach out to confidants R. Heifetz
et al. Leadership in a Permanent
Crisis. Harvard Business Review. July-Aug 2009
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Personal Strategies for Managing Change

• Acknowledge our reactions to change
• Acknowledge our comfort with change
• Clarify factors prompting resistance to change
• Employ strategies to increase our resilience to
  change.
• Take charge of change and adversity and use it as
  an opportunity to transform ourselves

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Advice from A Dog Whisperer

• Take total personal responsibility. Playing the
  victim in any area of life leads to abdication
  and powerlessness. You create reality. Your
  reality is the perfect, exact mirror of your
  thoughts and what you consistently focus on.
• Be fully conscious of your focus. Eight percent
  of our self-talk is negative! Stop what you are
  doing often and check in with yourself. Change
  your focus if need be.
• Learn how to generate feelings of appreciation,
  gratitude, ecstasy, joy and happiness at will.
  These are very powerful states and have
  corresponding effects on your DNA, the subatomic
  field, and--therefore--your reality. Regularly
  bring to mind memories or people or circumstances
  that induce those particular feelings. Hold the
  feelings, then focus on what you want to
  experience.
• Get out of the way and allow the Universe to move
  the chess pieces around ... Often, we set
  intentions in motion, then with our doubts we
  sabotage the process. Remember doubts create
  reality, too--if not exactly the reality we want!
• This is an exciting time to be present on Earth,
  a time long-prophesied and - anticipated. The
  power is truly within you as to how you
  experience this moment's potential. Choose
  wisely! Every thought you think, every emotion
  you feel is creating your reality. Right here,
  right now.

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What makes people Successful, Especially in Times
of Change?

• 1) They are easy to be around
• 2) They act like survivors
• 3) They are well-connected and tuned in to their
  environment
• 4) They are prepared
• 5) They have valuable talents and are constantly
  acquiring more
• 6) They partner up
• 7) They diversify
• 8) They demonstrate flexibility
• 9) They reassess their priorities

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• Remember not getting what you want is sometimes a
  wonderful stroke of luck.
• --Dali Lama

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Rules of Engagement
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Rules of Engagement

• When employees are engaged, there is 26 higher
  productivity, lower turnover, and organizations
  are more likely to attract top candidates.
• Watson Wyatt, Driving Business Results Through
  Continuous Engagement, 2008/2009

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Rules of Engagement

• Stay Positive Your team is looking to you for
  hope, support and confidence. For your success,
  and the morale of your team, it is important that
  you keep a positive vision and remain upbeat by
  using strategies like these
• Choose your words carefully. Use positive
  language.
• Learn something new. Teach someone else.
• Set new professional goals . . . for the week,
  month and year.
• Spend time with positive people.
• Show support for senior leaderships strategic
  goals and direction.
• Forbid whining and gossip.
• Do something you love each day.
• Be grateful for what you have!

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Rules of Engagement

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
• During these troubled times, communicate more,
  not less.
• Employees are hungry for information, even when
  the news is not good.
• Plus, if you dont keep employees updated, they
  will keep themselves updated, with gossip, which
  is always richer than reality.

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Rules of Engagement

• Set New Goals
• Today its business as unusual.
• There is a tendency to just hunker down and wait
  out the recession, hoping for mere survival.
• NO!!! Its demoralizing.
• Nows the time to set clearly defined goals,
  identify measurements of success and then hold
  people accountable for accomplishing the goals.
• Get your employees involved in setting new goals.
  Give people a reason to come to work.
• Having clearly defined goals and measures of
  success helps people believe in the importance of
  their team and the work they do individually to
  contribute to the team/companys success.
• Get enthused and be a role model of commitment to
  successfully achieving the goals.

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Rules of Engagement

• Hold People Accountable
• Its hard for employees on the team to be fully
  engaged when they feel they are carrying a
  slacker.
• Coach the employee who isnt pulling his/her fair
  share.
• If the coaching isnt effective, help move that
  employee on/out so they can strategically
  undermine the success of one of your competitors.
  
• Working short-handed is much better than being
  held hostage by an under-performing employee.
• Effectively dealing with performance issues
  raises team morale and clearly shows that you are
  serious about your expectations.

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Rules of Engagement

• Recognize Success Find Reasons to Celebrate
• Look for opportunities to celebrate team success,
  even small successes.
• Ask your team for their ideas about how to
  celebrate.
• Go beyond the typical great job and find out
  what motivates that particular employee.

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Rules of Engagement

• Ensure Everyone Learns and Grows
• So many things have changed in the business world
  where we now reside.
• In this new environment, there is an opportunity
  to unlearn some old, less effective behaviors and
  learn new ones.
• When people are learning and contributing, they
  feel positive and motivated, knowing that they
  are making a contribution.
• Expect learning and recognize employees who
  demonstrate growth

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Being a leader today is tough. Putting these six
tips into practice will help you not only
survive, but thrive in these trying times. You
will be leading a motivated, engaged workforce
and will have positioned yourself for success.