How to cope after an office downsizing
Danielle is overworked and stressed out. She writes: “Our organization went through a downsizing about six months ago. I thought I was fortunate because I kept my job. I’m not so sure now. My workload and hours have increased, but I’m less productive. I really used to enjoy my job. What should I do?”
Like most survivors of downsizings, she suffers from “Downsizing Syndrome” (DS). It occurs when companies don’t have a plan for survivors that goes beyond “don’t worry about the mules, just load the wagon” thinking.
Eventually, turnover increases and the remaining survivors end up with more work, more stress and lower productivity. Unlike the “Survivor” TV show, you
Jim Pawlak don’t want to be the last one on that workplace island.
What you should do depends upon how open your manager is to making changes in how workload is managed. There’s only one way to find out. You have to ask. But don’t start with “I’m overworked.” When you’re assigned a new task or project, ask: “How does this fit in with the other priorities you’ve assigned to me?” If your manager takes the time to go through your workload to reset the priorities, then you know that he/she may be open to a broader discussion about workload management.
If you get an “I want it all” type of response, it’s unlikely that your manager really understands the issues of DS. As a survivor receiving that type of response, I’d vote myself off the island and begin looking for another job.
Assuming the manager does reprioritize your workload, the next step is to focus on working smarter. You can open up the discussion with: “With fewer people and the workload we have, I believe it would be a good idea to see what’s redundant or not useful to our processes. While this would take time in the short run and we’d have to shift some workload priorities to accomplish it, it would pay off in long-term productivity for all of us. I’m willing to lead the effort.” If the manager doesn’t buy into that, vote yourself off the island.
If buy in occurs, you’re going to have to spend some time reorganizing how work is done in your area. That means you’ll have to sell the other survivors on process reengineering, too. If they won’t buy into the long-term benefit, vote yourself off the island because you’re in the minority when it comes to finding a solution.
I got a phone call from Theo — a young job hunter with whom, at the request of a professor-friend, I spoke with a few months ago. He came from Poland three years ago with dreams of a career in corporate training. In August 2017, he received an MBA in organizational training and development.
Theo told me that he had accepted an offer as a sales trainee for a computer software company and thanked me for my advice. After hanging up, I thought: “I wonder why he thanked me for advice he didn’t take?”
Everything in our conversation revolved around his passion for corporate training. I provided him with senior HR contacts in four global firms that I thought could capitalize on his fluency in six European languages. I suggested that, in addition to his résumé, he should include a copy of a PowerPoint slide written in each of the six languages. This would easily distinguish him from his competition.
As I pondered Theo’s choice of software sales over his training dream, I emailed the HR folks whose names I had given to Theo. Not one of the four had received a call or résumé from him.
Theo didn’t pursue contacts that might have turned his dream into reality. Apparently, he just wanted a job, any job. If you make Theo’s mistake, you’ll be playing “Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda” down the road; it’s a game you already lost.