After The Layoff
by Miki Saxon
Layoffs are so common these days that there’s little left to say about them, but what about after?
Whether you are a team leader, a CEO or something in-between, you need to deal not just with the casualties, but with the survivors—many of whom are walking wounded.
Morale and productivity go hand in hand and both usually go south when layoffs happen and all those empty desks are a constant reminder of the friends and colleagues lost in the storm.
Even if those laid off didn’t always pull their weight or weren’t that well-liked, the layoff erases all the bad leaving only positive memories uppermost in the minds of those still there.
Shortsighted as it is, many large companies are more concerned with subletting empty space than with the effect of empty offices and shifting employees to further cut costs. The more forward thinking ones bring in professionals to help with space reorganization—but the money spent on that can backfire if employees see it as money that could have gone to keeping jobs.
The problem is even more critical for smaller businesses where the loss of one or two people often creates a hole as big as hundreds do in a larger organization.
What to do?
Follow the lead of the designers in the article without spending the bucks.
- Don’t leave the spaces, whether offices or cubicles, empty. If you do, they become a constant reminder of friends who are gone.
- Reusing the spaces, equipment, furniture or stuff is fine, but not on a first come, first serve basis. Assign it based on real need, not seniority, and don’t play favorites.
- To use the space in the most productive way bring your people together and brainstorm ideas.
- Changes, such as a lounge or brainstorming area, can be done without expensive goodies.
- Use imagination instead of money in changing/redecorating the company and reinventing extra spaces.
- There is amazing art to be had in thrift stores and garage sales and you may have employees who love that kind of shopping.
Finally, this kind of creativity is fun and exciting; it not only saves money, but unites people in a common goal.
Like the alchemists of old, you can’t really turn a layoff into a positive event, but you can, with effort, keep it from being a black hole and convert it to an opportunity to move forward.
Image credit: Jake Sutton on flickr
