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Fire to Inspire posted on Thursday, 08 January 2009

When employers are forced to do more with less, the way they manage talent has never been more important.

We’ve all been there at one time or another in our careers. In response to a challenging economy, organizations go through the budget, slash programs, eliminate services, and reduce headcount. We might have been the one doing the “trimming” or we may have been the one who was trimmed, nevertheless, it is never a pleasant experience. From the employee’s standpoint, it often appears that the RIF (Reduction in Force) is done with little forethought and absent of critical information. It is common to hear grumblings that decisions are made “in a vacuum” and varying opinions on how ‘out of touch’ management has become. One thing is for certain, there is no way to please everyone when we’re tightening our belts, but there are things senior management can do to make it as comfortable as possible.

1. Come down from the Ivory Tower. When times are tough, most of us want to run and hide and avoid interactions as much as possible. However this is when management should be MORE, not less, visible. When Louis Gerstner assumed the reins at IBM in the 90’s, he realized that his natural management style would not motivate or rally a discouraged workforce. More comfortable with negotiating deals and analyzing spreadsheets, Gerstner rose to the occasion and proved to be an inspirational public speaker, providing reassurance and gaining confidence in the organization’s direction.

2. As much as possible, involve your managers and supervisors in the decisions. Face it, you are somewhat removed from the day to day operations by nature of the position you hold. Rather than issuing sweeping decrees to reduce headcount by 20%, allow them to make suggestions on how to reach the desired bottom line number. They are, after all, the ones tasked with achieving the organizational goals and have devised plans for doing so. They will be in the best position to advise you on what cuts will be manageable and which ones run the risk of sinking the ship.

3. Tell them, tell them again, and then tell them again and again!Management often thinks that they are great at communicating, but that is not the case for all circumstances. Studies have shown that it can take up to seven forms of communication for the message to sink in. When communicating that budget cuts and cost reductions are on the way, don’t rely on your email blast to the employees to properly convey the message you want to send. Use every avenue available: intranets, email, newsletter and voicemails. The more difficult the message, the more you’ll need to add the personal touch. Senior management loves the Town Hall Meeting when they’re delivering good news, but you need to use the same format when delivering bad news.

4. Fire to Inspire. When workforce reduction is unavoidable, make as informed a decision as possible. If your organization does performance evaluations you have some important data available. Removing your poor performers is the first benefit of the Fire to Inspire tactic and allows you to achieve your financial goal while ensuring you don’t inadvertently eliminate key talent. Involving your managers and supervisors will ensure you don’t lay off single points of failure. A local company went through a painful downsizing five months ago, without soliciting input from the department managers. Two months later, when mission critical management reports failed to be produced, they realized they had laid off the only person who knew the system and methods that produced those reports. Needless to say, the furloughed employee was not very willing to help their former bosses out.

The second benefit of Firing to Inspire is the impact on the remaining workforce. The employees know what resources are critical to the day-to-day mission and they also know where the dead wood is, that is the employees that do little more than show up. When organizations are running as lean as possible, it’s crucial that we retain peak performers and make informed, strategic staff reductions. In one of my transition workshops, an attendee lamented the impact his elimination was having on his former co-workers. The decisions, he opined, had strictly been based on salary levels. They had cut the most expensive, highly paid, but largely indispensable employees. The result led to a decrease in productivity, morale and confidence in the strategic decision-making ability of senior management.

These are challenging economic times, no doubt, but we’ve been here before and we will recover. The actions senior managers take today, however, will have ongoing ramifications in the years to come. Be sure to make cautious, thoughtful and informed decisions in order to inspire confidence and gain commitment from your most valuable resources – your employees.

Pattie Vargas, co-founder of the San Diego-based career transition services organization NextWork™, and CPO with CUSTOMatrix™, Inc, utilizes her vast experience in the executive/management/team development industry to help individuals identify their personal strengths to gain clarity on how to achieve career fulfillment and effective results. She is the author of Extreme Project Manager Makeover, practical tips for managers. Join NextWork on January 31st at their Career Transition Symposium: New Year, New Career! For more information, call (760) 420-8444 or visit www.nextworkservices.com.

Posted by Pattie Vargas