Each month, “The Balance Sheet” provides questions and answers from experts on a topic that’s important to you as a manager. Please feel free to share this information with other colleagues who also manage people.
Q. How can I support employees who remain after downsizing? Many relationships were lost, and grief and anger exist. Will this situation eventually right itself? Perhaps I should make myself scarce because I represent management, the target of their anger.
A. Do not make yourself scarce. You have the ability to influence employee attitudes and improve morale by what you say, do and don’t do. If employees are angry and upset, you will ratchet up their feelings of resentment by avoiding them. Likewise, coping with your stress by hiding out will also backfire. Healing will take time, but remember that you and your employees want the same thing -- a happier workplace. With that in mind, get closer to your employees by accepting in the short run their view of themselves as survivors. As a manager, you take center stage after downsizing, and employees are waiting and watching to see if you demonstrate compassion and understanding. This is crucial to their recovery. Employees can then move to the next stage of adaptation and acceptance of change. Never declare that employees should “get over it.” Discuss with BJC EAP how to encourage activities that rebuild the feeling of commitment workers have toward the organization.
Q. My fellow managers and I are seeing an increasing number of employees having family problems at home. I am worried about layoffs, possibly next year, and the impact they could have on already stressed employees. BJC EAP is great, but is there anything more that managers can do?
A. Meet with BJC EAP and discuss the issues that are affecting your employees. The EAP consultant will listen and offer suggestions that are appropriate for your role in supporting employees. Unfortunately, you can’t address the problems employees face at home, but that does not mean you can’t make a significant impact. Employees always feel better about work when they are respected and valued as individuals, and you can energize them by reducing monotony. These factors are key to improved morale. Examples can range from something as simple as holding a staff meeting outside on a nice day to giving employees ownership of their work by leaving some of the decisions regarding assignments up to them. Don’t hesitate to meet with employees individually to field questions about what would bring positivity to the workplace and relieve stress generally. You’ll discover that employees often have the best and most implementable ideas for how you can support them.
Q. Is there any new research about exercise and stress to help employees who are survivors of a layoff? Some of my employees have recently formed an exercise support group, and I am encouraged with their improved morale.
A. Research associated with stress, the recession, layoffs and their effects are continually released. In March 2010, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center announced their findings from a study of 2,800 employees who were survivors of layoffs. The report showed that chronic stress is strongly associated with an increase in being overweight or obese. Healthy dieting did virtually nothing to help change these conditions. Instead, the key to reducing weight -- directly attributable to stress -- was exercise. The results of this study strongly suggest that chronic stress, especially for sedentary workers, contributes to weight gain and that exercise is an essential part of an effective stress-reduction program.