The Well-Being of Those You Keep
This Baldrige Criteria question is especially significant in the current economy: How do you manage your workforce to minimize the impact of workforce reductions?
A team of academic researchers embedded in Boeing studied the impact of layoffs from 1996 to 2006. One of its key findings was that those who were laid off were often happier than those left behind, with average depression scores nearly twice as great for those who stayed with Boeing.
In “When the Laid-Off Are Better Off” (BusinessWeek, November 2, 2009), Michelle Conlin describes the impact of layoffs on those Boeing employees who kept their jobs:
- They had to hustle to prove, audition, and reposition themselves with every round of cuts and every new manager.
- They felt guilt at avoiding each layoff and unrelenting stress that the next round would get them.
- Their pride in building planes eroded as more manufacturing was outsourced.
- They obsessed about losing institutional knowledge.
- Managers who had fired people suffered deep, pervasive grief.
If your organization has laid people off or is planning layoffs, tending to the concerns and well-being of employees who remain will help minimize the impact of the reductions.
Help our community grow 
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
