“Every morning he is so excited to get to work.” said Kathryn Li, talking about her husband, Jiasun Li, a hardworking engineer and my colleague at Siebel Systems. She continued, “But today he is different, he is scared to get out of bed”. I thought to myself, “Why would anybody not be scared with all the layoffs rumors floating around?” while I was picking him up from his home. That Friday, the worst nightmare of Jiasun had come to be true. He was one of the 3200 employees who got laid off.
When Jiasun got that job right after Graduate School, he was exhilarated. His motivations were simple. He wanted to work for a company which assembled the greatest minds in the Hi-Tech industry. Money was never a part of his quest. Jiasun always said,
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The employees who were intrinsically motivated with the autonomy of a startup culture, who liked the challenges of new technologies and who had a sense of accomplishment whenever they achieved major milestones were getting extrinsically motivated by the reward of keeping their jobs in the new organization. Their performance took a hit and some employees even started to think if the new organization was the right fit for them. In my opinion, employees want to know the direction of the firm and if they are a part of firm’s vision. The morale of the employees would not have taken a hit if the new management had taken steps to understand the corporate culture of the smaller organization and arranged for a town hall meeting to actively solicit feedback and made the employees understand the reasons behind the layoffs.
Management has to create policies for reduction in force keeping in mind if the layoffs are absolutely necessary. Oracle Corporation rewarded few executives with bonuses for the merger while creating job losses for many which did not sit well with the larger work force. In my opinion, an organization has to make sure to frame policies in the best interest of the employees by reducing gains of few and securing the jobs of many. Also in the absolute necessity of layoffs, each employee’s situation in the sensitive matters of health and immigration has to be considered. Giving an option of voluntary retirement is also a great option in such circumstances. Had
The employees once felt over managed and under directed, they may have felt more empowerment after the layers of management decreased. The company that had been built on trust and Motorola was good to their employees and maintained a good working relationship with them and now were treating them different and they probably felt fear. The company treated each employee with respect and dignity and maintained open atmosphere and communication. They continued to offer opportunities for training and development. The employees had always felt a sense of security working for Motorola (Jick & Peiperl, 2011) so feel sure they must have felt some resistance and fear of what was happening (American National Business Hall of Fame,
Layoffs are not always the best solution for a decline in company profits. A business must resolve the conflict that exists between their responsibility to meet economic targets and the ethical responsibility of non-maleficence. Furthermore, it must be determined if the layoffs would even maximize stakeholder welfare from a utilitarian perspective (Arce & Xin Li, 2011).
The effect of mismanaged LAYOFFs on the remaining workforce and the effects, lack of management preparation, the human condition, and lack of mitigation strategies. We think that the problem with this article is that not enough managers or HR personal, know how to let a person go from their employment effectively. They sometimes don't realize the impact that it has on the other employees morals. Also, that sometimes companies don't take a closer look to make sure downsizing will be the answer to cutting costs like they think that it will. Every HR or manager should be let go in their lifetime so
In this simulation exercise I will be discussing about the companies starting layoffs. The situation below will be highlighting the perspective of employees who are working in an environment where people are being focused to leave their jobs for company’s benefit. Company’s inability to afford the employees, start of new venture or change in management can be the reason behind layoff.
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
All businesses at one time or another will have to deal with employee layoffs due to a re-organization or changes in the economy. Employee layoffs can have a damaging impact to the remaining employee and management staff. There are several solutions that can be done to alleviate the negative impact and the recommendation is to provide managers with the proper training on how to properly handle a layoff so there is a more positive impact on the remaining staff. Proper training prepares managers for
That moment, thirteen years ago, was the moment that changed everything. I was young, at only 22 years old, and filled with excitement for the new job that began only one week prior. The typical first day jitters were beginning to settle, though I still felt new and quite anxious. My desire to fit in, make new friends, and to impress my peers radiated through me. I was on a mission to excel in my new role. Little did I know, when I began that day, my naive self would be in for a rude awakening. I would soon be discriminated against.
Opposition from Unions in different subsidiaries against the layoff could cause serious problems like high severance package and possible strikes
The author of this report is asked to answer to five major questions as it relates to layoffs at companies including how they affect people and how they should be handled from a procedural and logical standpoint. In order, the author will suggest three ways a manager can cope with executing and undergoing a layoff, will list a step-by-step process for conducting the dismissal meeting, will determine the compensation that will be provided to the departing employees, will show a chart showing the disbursement schedule and structure for the aforementioned severance payouts and finally predict three ways in which the layoffs will affect the remaining employees and the company itself going forward.
Need, in order to succeed, of a reduction of the labor force, which potentially can cause reputational damage and lower employee morale for the new company.
Many companies look to salaries and benefits as the first places to cut back when looking to make changes that involve cost-saving. When this happens, it is inevitable that some employees will leave the company to seek employment elsewhere. The employees that remain, whether they stay voluntarily or because they could not find employment elsewhere, are often resentful. Motivation decreases, taking job performance along with it. Employees lose their company loyalty and may even become angry enough to purposefully sabotage the company.
A critical factor to the success of any company is its ability to attract top talent while retaining those already working within the company. Losing employees can have a significant impact on a company’s morale, productivity and overall profit.
If it has to be a mass layoff, then this needs to be categorised by employee job title, the time the employee had been with the organisation and the salary structure the employees fall under. These will indicate the type of package, if any, that each person will receive as part of the downsizing. Once this is considered and decision had been made, a plan needs to be formulated and time of downsizing needs to be determined. Secondly, addressing the staff about the downsizing is also very important as it should not come as a surprise to employees. This helps to iron out any concerns or questions that employees may have in regards to the downsizing. Usually the employees will be in a state of shock when they hear the news so if they are in a state not to ask questions, the management should offer information such
Downsizing has become a significant idea in today's economy and maintaining the trust of employees when something like this takes place has also become very serious business (Brockner, Konovsky, Cooper-Schneider, Folger, Martin, & Bies, 1994). The question is not whether a company should downsize their employees but how to do the downsizing properly so that as few employees as possible are injured (Brockner, Konovsky, Cooper-Schneider, Folger, Martin, & Bies, 1994). There are several ways that companies can downsize that will help retain much of the loyalty of the workers that remain (Brockner, Konovsky, Cooper-Schneider, Folger, Martin,
The downsizing of a company can affect employees before, during and after it occurs. Employees usually know of a possible downsizing, care of the almighty grapevine, months before it is supposed to happen. Thus, employees may become paranoid and self-absorbed, and their top priority is their own career rather than the bottom line of their employer. This causes them to be unfocused and prevents them from performing their jobs efficiently. Many workers would also be perfectly willing to stab their peers in the back in hopes of keeping their job. Usually when a downsizing is complete, the company is at an all-time low. This is due to the fact that in almost every merger, acquisition or downsize, employees are faced with uncertainty about their jobs before and after the restructure. After a large percentage of downsizes, ten percent of the remaining workforce will easily adapt to the change, while another ten percent will never adapt. Workers who survive the downsize often have feelings of anger, fear or distrust. Further internal problems result from employees who survive with the company, but cannot adapt to their new settings and expectations, and eventually quit their job.