When people find themselves in a changing environment, their primary concern is “what will happen to me either at home or in my job at work?” High performers, when they are feeling unsure, generally take action to seek a better position in an environment which they perceive as more stable. Lower performers may be more fatalistic in their response and may find themselves immobilized by the threat of change. In our work with companies downsizing or reorganizing, without intervention by leadership, the top performers are the first volunteers to leave, while the less successful individuals will remain and enable the company to make the decisions for them.
If you are planning changes within your company to respond to the downturn in the economy, have a plan and execute the plan, while communicating clearly “what this means for you” as you go along. If you need to lay people off, identify the positions or people who will be laid off and do the layoff all at once. Laying people off over a longer period of time is sure to cause mass panic and exit, with your high performers leading the charge out the door.
If you plan to weather the storm, let people know this strategy as well and what specifically you will be doing that could impact people’s efforts or work. Is it budget cutbacks? Is it resource allocation? Is it refocusing sales in new markets or using new selling strategies? Communicate these plans to keep people apprised and report on how these strategies are working at regular intervals so that there are no surprises later on.
The next thing you need to do is to find out how people are feeling and what their concerns are. Respond with honesty. Listening with concern, offering some reassurance if you can do so honestly, and communicating clear expectations on what people should be working on can help people get focused on the business, rather than the change.
If people are concerned about some aspect of their life at work, such as their 401K plans, consider providing more information about that issue. At ECI, we will be conducting a 401K investor meeting in the next few weeks and have added some new funds to our plan to enable people to weather the storm that is occurring in the stock market. Giving people more options within their 401K contributions can help people feel more in control of the change, as can having experts come in to give advice and counsel on how to get through the volatile marketplace.
Lastly, I think it is important to let people know that their efforts and contributions are valued. This is a good time to let people know how much you appreciate their work and to offer some positive feedback on their individual accomplishments. While we should be providing feedback at regular intervals, this is an especially important time to reinforce good performance and valued activities to enable people to understnad that their efforts are appreciated by the organization.
Filed under: New Perspectives | Tagged: Keeping High Performers, Planning for Downsizing
