What to do when you’re left behind after restructuring
Every day we are hearing of more layoffs happening at organizations. Although it can be somewhat expected due to economic factors, you never think it’s going to happen to you, and before you know it, you’re the one walking out the door with a sad cardboard box! More often these days, you’re receiving this news over a video call and cut adrift from your virtual colleagues and workplace.
Losing a job is never a pleasant experience. As I’ve spoken about and written about previously, this is change that happens to us. We don’t have control over it, and don’t want it, but because sometimes these things happen. We encounter various emotional states along the way, eventually moving on and hopefully, finding our way to new opportunities.
But what if you’re the one left behind?
I hate to break it to you, but in all your change management training, and leadership workshops, this is not a topic that is covered.
You see, the challenge with the existing change methods is that they only deal with one type of change. Change that is planned and implemented from the perspective of the sponsor, change manager and leadership.
Nothing in the current playbooks helps people cope with unplanned change. Or, as I like to say, “change that happens TO you”.
The people who remain in the organisation post-restructuring have also experienced a huge change. They have also had a change happen to them creating a whole lot of uncertainty in their lives too!
It can be very difficult to predict the outcomes of restructuring especially on the people. In the worst-case scenario, it catapults the organization into a period of volatility and high turnover, due to decreased morale, loss of trust and a fractured culture. The layoffs that happened at Twitter are a good example, employees found out that they were let go when they could no longer access their email, without anyone telling them. Obviously, this is “worst practice” and the environment that it creates for people left behind is one of mistrust, misanthropy high turnover, organizational chaos and eroding revenues.
In the best-case scenario, you could have a few months of adjustment before returning to a new stability.
If conversations with staff have been handled well, and the termination process done with professionalism and empathy, you can still expect those returning to have various responses to this change, for example:
A loss of productivity immediately after the change.
A diversity of emotional responses from remaining staff, fear, anger, disengagement, stress, sadness, etc.
Reactions to changing roles or work requirements for the people who remain.
A period of adjustment before returning to new stability
Change leaders have additional considerations as they return to the team after big changes. My advice for leaders
Expect emotional responses from your team. Listen, be a sounding board, and keep your own emotions to yourself. Don’t expect people to go through a “grief process”, “the 5-stges” or quickly recover. Everyone handles this type of change differently.
Encourage the team members to connect with those who have left, and with the team members who remain. This isn’t the time for a team building event though! Enable and encourage this to happen without you.
Revisit the team structure and processes as a group. People leaving a team will inevitably influence the work of those who remain. Re-align priorities and redistribute work. Identify training needs and help people acquire the skills they need to keep the work happening.
You can expect some relationships with your staff to change. People may become withdrawn and protective, and you will need to invest time in rebuilding trust.
Communicate often and ensure that you’re visible to the team.
Adopt a positive and forward-looking mindset when rebuilding the team towards productivity.
Have you experienced restructuring? If so, what would you add to this list?
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