Re-Energizing Employees After a Downsize

Angeliki Manias & Michael Staib

Blaze, small college-town newspaper needs to downsize. Ostensibly fired its highest-salaried employees. Corporate hired outside consultants to notify those dismissed. Chief editor Andrea Zuckerman to brief employees about downsizing

agenda.

Factual Summary:

How to Approach the Situation?

Informational Justice—reflects a perceived fairness of correspondence between authorities and correspondents.

2 Rules: 1) Justification Rule—explain decision-making procedures and outcomes in a

comprehensive manner;2) Truthfulness Rule—requires the highest of honesty and candor in communications

Honest and Informative

OR

Guarded Approach?

Preference for transparency, timeliness, and effectiveness.

People tend to prefer clear & well-reasoned information.

1) Tell the truth 2)Share the entire situation 3) Treat them as you would like to be treated 4) Focus on the future 5) Identify what is positive now 6) Teach them how to work with less 7) Share the workload

Colleagues can be motivated by the following:

5 characteristics used to measure job satisfaction—V.I.S.A.F.

1) Variety—degree to which job diversely incorporates versatile skills & talents among various responsibilities. (2) Identity—visible sense of achievement employees derive from finishing a whole, identifiable project.(3) Significance—perceived substantial impact the job exerts on others, often with national/global implications. (4) Autonomy—degree to which job permits independent work with individual discretion.(5) Feedback—direct information from the job about employee performance.

Job Characteristics Theory

1) Shift from MANDATING to MOTIVATING. Hiring outside “wastes company resources” Replacing proven experience with unfamiliar sources—recipe for disaster.

2) Incentivize Economic efficiency & Cost-reduction Initiatives. Consider Amazon, Jeff Bezos—“Door Desk Award System.” Similarly, Blaze might embolden brand with “Top Torch of the Month”

Innovative AlternativesRe-Prioritizing Focus to Plausibly Improve Job Satisfaction

Potential

BIG FIVE TAXONOMYConscientious—Ambitious, hardworking;

Agreeable—sympathetic;Neuroticism—Emotionally insecure;

Openness—Intellectual inquisitiveness;Extraversion—socially assertive.

C.A.N.O.E

BIG FIVE AT BLAZE

LOWER WORK-CAPACITY (NE/I) HIGHER WORK-CAPACITY (COAE/I)

Likely less Conscientious; Likely more Conscientious (C); Likely less Open; Likely more Open (O); Possibly more Neurotic (N); Possibly less Neurotic; Possibly Less Agreeable; Likely more Agreeable (A);

Extraversion/Introversion—perhaps more neutral, though may depend on staff position—e.g., reporter, photographer, artist, editor.

Task Performance—employee behaviors that transform company resources into output.

Affective Commitment—a sense of emotional attachment to company that motivates employee’s prolonged membership with company.

Evidence suggests satisfied employees generally exude greater diligence fulfilling duties as plausibly inferred from “positive emotional” associations with work—conducive to improved “creativity, problem-solving, decision-making, and task persistence.”

JOB SATISFACTION & TASK PERFORMANCE

Issue: Whether to invest in short-term retention bonuses, permanent raises, or restructuring Blaze such that compensation reflects job structure, particularly for staffers with an extended workload?

Short-term retention bonuses—non-salary bonuses to encourage employee retention. Restructuring—process of changing company structure.

Monochromatic to Multifaceted. Multiple fronts with “more than one hammer.” All of the above feasible. Texas Commerce Bank example.

Bottom Line Problem Solving Involve employees in problem solving to curtail costs.

COMPENSATION BUDGET—RESTRUCTURING

1) QUESTIONABLE SUSTAINABILITY.

2) INVETERATE INSTITUTIONAL BELIEFS

DIFFICULTIES OF IMPLEMENTATION:

Issue: (1)How much voice & input to staffers?(2)Advantages & Disadvantages(3)How to Mitigate Dangers?

Equity Theory—postulates that employees purportedly create a mental ledger of outcomes received from job inputs.

“ T H E N E W N O R M A L ”

Pay; Seniority Benefits; Fringe Benefits; Status Symbols; Satisfying Supervision; Workplace Perks; Intrinsic Rewards (Enjoyment, Interest,

Accomplishment, Knowledge Gain, Skill Development, etc.)

EQUITY THEORY MENTAL LEDGER:

Effort; Performance Skills & Abilities; Education; Experience; Training; Seniority

OUTCOMES (REWARDS) INPUTS (CONTRIBUTIONS/INVESTMENTS)

(1) Listening on Multiple Fronts to Shared Employee Interests

noting repeated trends/patterns among the staff—e.g., focus groups, efficiency award system—”Top Torch of The Month.” (2) Simulating a Quaint Setting

“charming” local coffee shop ambiance that mixes traditional physical with modern digital print;

(3) Small Town Appeal—May psychologically empower staff, perhaps accentuating the significance

of purposefully preserving traditional community—a dying breed in contemporary society.

COMMON NUCLEUS OF INTERESTS

Inputs largely demand a strong staff with up-to-date tacit knowledge, the following learning systems may be incorporated within the company:

1) Rotational programs 2) Peer-to-peer collaboration networks 3) Social media certification program, which engages

employees in digital dialogue with consumers to build customer value.

INPUTS—TRAINING PROGRAMS:

1) Undisciplined Flexibility—Risk of Division

2) Possible Solution—Mitigate Danger By Aligning Common Interests.

DANGERS OF INPUTS:

FROM MONOCHROMATIC “MANDATING” TO MULTIFACETED MOTIVATING. Revitalizing purpose/ significance among Blaze demands the following potential considerations: 1) Reinforce value — facilitating psychological empowerment 2) Re-energizing employees through personal involvement

Inspiring positive work-related associations may strengthen: 1) Affective Commitment 2) Citizenship 3) Company Morale 4) Job Satisfaction 5) Positive Task Performance

CONCLUSION

1) Booz&Co., “Energizing Employees in Recessionary Times—Try Motivating, Not Mandating,” 2008,

2)Engaged Employees Drive The Bottom Line, ISR-Towers Perrin, July 2006; 3) Frederick Herzberg, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard

Business Review, September-October 1987, p. 112-113. 4) Jason A. Colquitt, Jeffery A. LePine, Michael J. Wesson, “Organizational Behavior—

Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace,” 4th Edition, 2015, p. 114, 243 5) Booz&Co., “Energizing Employees in Recessionary Times—Try Motivating, Not

Mandating,” 2008 6) Real Change Leaders, Jon Katzenbach and the RCL team; 7) Frederick Herzberg, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard

Business Review, September-October 1987, p. 112-113. 8) Jennifer Rooney, “In Dell Social Media Journey, Lessons For Marketers About The Power

Of Listening” p. 3, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/09/25/in-dell-social-media-journey-lessons-for-marketers-about-the-power-of-listening/2/.

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