Downsizing

Challenges occur within a company when they are subjected to layoffs and downsizing. Especially those employees that are losing their jobs, it can be challenging and a stressful task for any supervisor or manager. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor in May 2013 confirmed that the national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent. With a rise in unemployment within the United States, it is vital to plan and implement when conducting a dismissal meeting for an effective termination of employees.

When individuals are searching for employment, they may certainly be interested in the compensation of the position, but something equally important to some job seekers are the benefits and total compensation package that employers may offer. An employee facing separation from employment or one of the other qualifying events must consider that it is not just their salary that they are losing, it may be their health care benefits for themselves and their family. Lawmakers saw the need to establish an incentive for employers to provide continued health care coverage after certain events that led to a loss of health coverage. Thus, Title X of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (henceforth, COBRA) enables qualified

can result in several benefits for the company and its employees, but also generate negative

The layoffs are at the heart of the problem affecting the hospital. From the CEO’s perspective, the layoffs are a response to decreased revenues where the facility has to reduce its expenses to stay in operation. In the case of the operations director, the layoffs are a cost-cutting measure and an appropriate response to reduced activity in the hospital. However, the employees are likely to interpret the situation as a lack of proper management or concern for their welfare (Sobieralski & Nordstrom, 2012).

When considering downsizing, one of the most vital questions to consider is whether downsizing will improve organizational efficiency, productivity, and performance. If so, Stonewall must then consider what practices of downsizing to implement – workforce reduction, work redesign, or systematic change (Belcourt & McBey, p. 263). If reducing the size of the workforce, things to consider are whether cuts will be either targeted or across the board, and whether the cuts will be carried out all at once or staged over a period of time. Although, downsizing strives to improve

Swatridge realizes the company is not being as efficient as they could be and downsizing is a strategy to keep costs down. Employees throughout the company are aware of this possibility and are constantly concerned about their job security. The uneasiness about not knowing whether layoffs are coming or not has younger employees worried about losing their jobs, older employees wanting to take early retirement, and skilled employees thinking about switching jobs. With the threat of downsizing looming throughout the company, employees are worried about job security, especially ones who have no other skills and would be hard for them to find a new job. There is a lack of communication between managers and workers which is affecting employee morale.

Analysis – Issue 2: How should Lay’m-Off account for the restructuring costs of relocation and staff training costs?

Employees will be able to cope with layoffs as the management has provided prior necessary information such as sharing of market data and competitive information. All information should be made available to the workers instead of the management, acting as if all things are ok. Offer information as it is instead of sparing the staffs the bad news. Most employees want the bad news first rather than explaining to them issues about competition, market forces, or the financial environment (Rothaermel, 2015). The organization should not delegate the pain in the human resource office; instead, all managers should be mandated to handle the situation as most employees are loyal to their managers first then the company. The managers will be able to deliver the information in person. This will create a sense of respect to the

I believe the practices described in the case would lead to success for these companies because through positive organizational relationships the companies are able to come together improve as a whole. When implementing new practices within a company challenges are likely to arise, but through togetherness and improvements, these practices can lead to success. It’s truly about the approach, awareness, and involvement of these practices that produces better value for the business.

After the merger, the large company initially consisted of nine total geographically separated locations; therefore, to scale back, management decided to close the San Jose plant and move the majority of employees to San Francisco location. In order to facilitate the closing, the San Jose division manager, Karen Howell decided to let go roughly 20% of the employees. Consequentially, she determined to let go 20% from each department by using the

· Prevent confirmation bias. · Prevent loss aversion. · Accept that management decisions can be assertive or not. Avoid punishment for bad decisions.

Severance pay was provided to those employees not matched to vacant positions. In other words, if the company offered an employee a comparable position (even one involving a transfer) and the employee refused the new job, no severance benefits were paid. Relocation packages were provided in the case of job transfers. Finally, the organization offered outplacement services to displaced workers.

The reenergizing employees after a downsizing case study, explains the potential effects of downsizing a company, on both employees and the manager. Andrea Zuckerman is the editor in chief of Blaze and the person who must relay the message to the entire company. It is made clear throughout the case that Andrea does not agree with this downsizing and feels that it is wrong. However, due to the newspaper industry dwindling away and many people now reading the news from a mobile device, it must be done. Andrea’s biggest conflict is figuring out how to properly explain this downsizing to employees, as this is no easy task. The “new normal” that will be implemented consists of merging the five areas of reporting into either two or three. As said, explaining this situation to employees in a reasonable and understanding manner will be a complex task.

These require that employee have a clear understanding about how their jobs will change and how they will be rewarded. For example, an employee who doesn't cooperate with the change effort of the company, the employee will still doing the same job and do not have an incensement in their pay.

     Many steps can be taken to ease the transition of the employees after downsizing occurs. For the employees who were let go from the company, reasonable severance packages should be offered to help the person until a new job is found (Roger & ME, Micheal