{"id":25532,"date":"2022-08-04T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intoo.com\/us\/?p=25532"},"modified":"2023-12-15T11:49:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T19:49:20","slug":"how-to-support-remaining-employees-after-layoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intoo.com\/us\/blog\/how-to-support-remaining-employees-after-layoff\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Support Remaining Employees After a Layoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Layoffs can create fear and doubt among employees, lower morale, and reduce their trust in you as an employer. You may wonder how to <\/span>support remaining employees after a layoff<\/span><\/a> and keep them engaged. How can you motivate your workforce and <\/span>maintain loyalty<\/span><\/a> after their colleagues depart your organization? Read on for five tips that can help you strengthen your team.<\/span><\/p>\n

5 Tips: How to Support Remaining Employees After a Layoff<\/span><\/h2>\n

Be transparent in your communications<\/span><\/h3>\n

Oftentimes, the stress and anxiety that befall remaining employees after a layoff comes from uncertainty around the reasons for why the layoffs happened and how those who departed were selected. To mitigate those negative effects, <\/span>clearly and sensitively communicate why the layoffs had to take place<\/span><\/a>, how employees were selected for layoffs, and what your organization is doing to move forward in order to be solvent, productive, and profitable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remaining employees may also feel survivors’ guilt (also known as layoff survivor sickness and workplace survivor syndrome) and concern for the welfare of their former colleagues. You can help alleviate those feelings by explaining the benefits you offered those who were laid off in order to ease their transition out of the company, such as severance pay, continuing healthcare benefits, and <\/span>outplacement<\/span><\/a> to assist them in finding new employment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offer career development opportunities<\/span><\/h3>\n

Those who are left behind after a layoff may worry that they will <\/span>lack career opportunities<\/span><\/a> with your organization going forward. The best way to respond to those concerns is to offer opportunities for career growth. Even while making cuts to maintain profitability, there are cost-effective solutions to help your team with <\/span>career development<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can increase engagement within your workforce by giving them a path for growth with career coaching, upskilling and reskilling courses, mentorships, and transparency around available opportunities within your organization. Providing ways to employees to increase their knowledge, skills, and experience with you can not only motivate them but also help them better respond and adapt to future challenges and changes within the company. Expanding the diversity of knowledge within your organization will also help create an agile workforce that will ensure you rebound faster after any future disruptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ASurvey employees to understand their concerns and priorities<\/span><\/h3>\n

While it\u2019s a reasonable expectation that employees will be worried about their job security and the future of the company after layoffs, they likely have additional concerns that are more specific to their roles or departments. <\/span>Surveys<\/span><\/a> are a way to not only uncover what your employees are thinking about, but also to show that you are listening and care about their opinions and interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

As with the layoff communications, be transparent when presenting the survey to your workforce to explain why it\u2019s being offered and how the responses will be used. It\u2019s then important that you share the results with employees and take steps to respond to their concerns and needs, whether that means making improvements and\/or changes or holding meetings with them to find solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check in with employees to address and prevent burnout<\/span><\/h3>\n

The elimination of roles at a company can add to remaining employees\u2019 responsibilities and workloads and create <\/span>burnout<\/span><\/a>. Since you want to be able to retain your existing workforce, it\u2019s important to frequently check in with them at the organizational, departmental, and individual level. Immediately following a layoff will be an adjustment period, where those affected may require time to adapt to new responsibilities and\/or learn new skills and\/or processes. It\u2019s important to <\/span>support remaining employees<\/span><\/a> through these challenges by asking them what they need to be successful during the transition and providing them tools, such as training and mentorship, or flexibility around work schedules.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Managers may end up with additional direct reports and will also need support, whether that means redistribution of some of their responsibilities, or help with prioritizing projects in order to achieve goals without exhausting themselves and their resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AFacilitate workshops to help leaders and teams effectively manage change<\/span><\/h3>\n

Demonstrate that you, as an employer, understand the challenges your remaining employees are facing and that you wish to smooth the transition as much as possible. As an example, you can support an agile workforce by providing resilience workshops for both managers and team members. Such workshops can offer strategies to strengthen one\u2019s personal resilience, as well as that within a team, so that those within a department can <\/span>work together to overcome any adversities presented by change<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes employees may not realize that they have the tools within themselves to persist after a layoff or other unexpected event. Offering a chance to learn about themselves and resilience resources can help them trust in their abilities and also value you as a caring employer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Takeaway<\/span><\/h2>\n

Layoffs will always create some challenges for a company after they occur. However, by implementing support strategies for your remaining employees, such as the ones listed above, you can mitigate the negative impacts and help your workforce move forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/span><\/h2>\n