According to the AP, recession-battered U.S. employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January 2009, the most since the end of 1974; America’s economy has lost a staggering 3.6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

The cuts have had devastating effects on the suddenly unemployed, but they’ve also had a powerful impact on a less obvious population: the co-workers left behind, the layoff survivors.

Organizations usually focus on laid off employees. Outplacement services, severance packages, and unemployment benefits are designed to smooth the transition of those who get laid off.

Typically ignored in the planning for downsizing are support mechanisms for those employees who stay. The people still standing after a round of layoffs are shouldering heavy, if less obvious,  burdens of their own including an infectious sense of anxiety — and the uncomfortable feeling that they ought to be grateful just to have a job.

Organizational psychologists call it “layoff survivor syndrome,” the collection of emotional, psychological and physical reactions long documented in workers who remain on the job. Being left behind, they say, can sometimes be as distressing as being let go.

As tough as the market has been on those laid off, those who just barely miss the axe are anxious and disengaged, a trend that can hurt productivity and slow workforce recovery after a layoff.

A December 2008 study of 4,172 layoff survivors by the research group Leadership IQ found that nearly 75% said their own productivity declined since watching their colleagues get laid off; nearly 70% said the quality of their company's product or service had dropped.

In a time where high performance is critical, organizations that conduct layoffs may find that the survivors are disenchanted, de-motivated and disengaged - characteristics that can drag down the fiscal health and the competitiveness of the entire company.

The employees who are left after a downsizing, the survivors, find themselves burdened with extra work, fewer resources, higher demands for productivity, an uncertain future, and survivors’ guilt.

At the same time organizations confront the unexpected costs of higher turnover, lower productivity, increased stress-related illness, and workplace hostility.

What should today’s supervisors, managers, and executives know about reengaging the commitment, connection, and competence of the surviving workforce?

How do leaders accelerate workplace recovery and move from organizational transition to triumph?

Through management consulting, executive coaching, and custom delivered learning programs, we can help build the capabilities of your supervisors, managers, and executives to:

• overcome the unintended impacts of layoffs, downsizings, and other major transitions on employee morale, team productivity, and organizational effectiveness;
• use the transition as an opportunity to build the desired new corporate culture;
• reengage the surviving workforce and align their performance with organizational objectives; and
• understand the conceptual and practical process of workplace recovery after organizational transition.

After the uncertainty of mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, or downsizings, it is imperative that leaders focus on rebuilding employee confidence in the viability of the organization and reengaging the commitment, competence, and connection of the surviving workforce.

Make no mistake about it; the aftermath of layoffs is messy. It’s difficult, emotion-filled work. But unwavering, authentic, leaders can heal their organizations more quickly, accelerating workplace recovery, by equipping employees to do more with less in their attempts to meet and exceed customer needs.

When you are ready to begin your journey from organizational transition to organizational triumph, contact us.