Guilt in Downsizing
February 20th, 2009If you need to downsize in your company, you might be interested in TAB President Jason Zickerman’s recent comments featured in Business Week.
Stopping Survivor Guilt
As a senior manager in an era of massive layoffs, it’s your job to stave off survivor guilt before it lowers the morale and productivity of remaining employees
As an adjunct to the sympathy they feel for laid-off co-workers, employees go through three self-centered stages, says Jason Zickerman, president of the Alternative Board, an executive consulting firm based in Denver.
1. Whew! I made the cut.
2. I have to do all this work.
3. They don’t appreciate me.
“You’ll see changes in personality. Outgoing people now being silent. Work isn’t as good, and absenteeism rises,” he advised. “There’s anxiety and pressure, the beginning of depression in the case of some. For employees, layoffs are not in their control, and whenever someone else is holding the puppet strings, it’s stressful.”
Soon, the business itself can feel the effects of survivor’s guilt on its bottom line. Fortunately, business consultants say, survivor’s guilt is highly responsive to treatment if senior management acts early and often.
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