Toojays Blog

The seemingly never-ending recession and subsequent fear and job insecurity that it brings places immense pressure on managers to maintain focus and motivation, especially when the company is undergoing restructuring or savings drive.

So how do they rebuild confidence and trust within their teams?

It has to be about being transparent and keeping people informed. There's nothing worse than gossip and the internal grapevine for distorting the facts and de-motiving the workforce. 

Managers shouldn't fear telling people how bad it is.

In difficult times its essential to retain your talent, and keep high levels of faith, trust and confidence in order to deliver BAU targets and performance.

Being aware of the emotions that people go through, including the managers themselves is critical to help people move through any transition. The Change Curve model from Kubler Ross can help with this. http://www.toojays.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_default.tpl&product_id=158&category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=62

But there are Three simple steps to help maintain morale during and after any restructuring:

1. Be Transparent

Give staff the truth about the company's current position and future plans - they will respect you for this honesty and it will prevent any unfounded fear and concern among employees.

2. Offer Support and Encouragement

For all staff who have survived a redundancy process ongoing support and encouragement can remove any feelings and emotions of guilt and paranoia.

3. Support staff who are being made redundant

By offerring outplacement services this will prove you are a responsible employer. The remaining staff will appreciate your efforts and even the departing staff will talk about you more favourably ensuring your Brand is not tarnished.

 By following these three steps you are on the way to creating the right atmosphere and culture for continued performance under difficult times.

Many business leaders are facing the need to reduce costs in order to remain competative and to even survive. For many, as a last option this includes redundancy and letting go of staff.

However there is a need to avoid throwing the baby out with the bath water!  Aside to the lost of talent and key skills the costs associated with the process can often get forgotten.

Our free paper on the Cost of Employee Turnover includes a useful calculator to understand and to work out the true costs of losing and recruiting staff.

To access the document click on this link  FREE download Cost of Employee Turnover

There is also a very useful Statutory Redundancy Calculator online that can be used at this link Redundancy Calculator

There is also the need to consider the emotional support for staff as they face such issues and look to make the transition. 

Lee Martin, MD of Toojays comments "We're increasingly seeing the need to maintain staff moral and performance when organisational restructuring takes place and job losses are apparent. We've been involved with Change Management programmes and Outplacement Service support for many organisations."

The Outplacement Support looks to help indiviudals assess their situation, skills and career and specifically guide and assist with CV writing, job seeking, interview skills and self promotion. 

Employers are recognising the benefit of providing these services as it helps to keep the workforce engaged and motivated during difficult times.

For more details on how outplacement services might help you or your organisation contact the Toojays team on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call a representative on 01733 367210