5 ways to motivate employees after layoffs

Source – indiatimes.com

The last few months have seen a spate of layoffs across organisations ­ a situation that’s difficult not just for those who have been let go, but also for the survivors. Sreeradha D Basu gets experts to weigh in on how companies can keep employees motivated:

1. Reveal the truth to your staff
Though reality is often tough to hear, it is better to be honest with your employees during a layoff. “Communicate with employees the rationale for layoffs and the positive outcomes that will come out of such unfortunate events,“ says Randeep Singh Sisodia, vice president ­ HR at Laureate Education India. It is important to reinforce the point that layoffs are the last resort to save the organisation from existential risks and hence is being undertaken for the benefit of the overall workforce and organisation.

2. Engage with employees
Sisodia suggests engaging with those whose jobs are saved to reinforce the organisation’s commitment to their growth and development. “This is very essential to stop the flight of goodtop performers.Immediately post the exercise, launch some big bang employeerelated as well as business initiatives to showcase organisation’s commitment to its employees and business success,“ says Sisodia. Vikalp Jain, president of technical and business course provider Acadgild says it is important to focus on what the future holds as this will motivate employees to look forward to something positive.

3. Reskill your workforce
It is important to create an ecosystem for skill development.“Empower your employees to reskill themselves in accordance with the latest technologies. Motivate them to undertake courses on big data development, machine learning, front-end development, devops and android development, which focus on important and industry-relevant aspects,“ says Jain.

4. Teach them to work with less
Teach employees how to manage with less and navigate such a situation. Remove or postpone work that is low on priority or can be delayed. “Layoffs can make workload a huge concern and the employees can get overwhelmed with the entire situation. Sit down with them and see how work can be reallocated and spread more evenly across people. This will help reduce anxiety among employees and balance the workload too,“ says Jain.

5. Help employees laid off 

Be fair with laid-off employees, show compassion and help them in out-placement as well as personal coaching and guidance. “Treating exiting employees fairly and with compassion sends a very positive and reassuring messsage to existing employees,“ says Laureate Education’s Sisodia.