It’s
pretty safe to say that these days many companies are just trying to
make it. Not that efficiency is by any means a new business practice,
but the goal of doing more with less has become the renewed gospel of
business management. Budget reductions and restructurings in order to cut costs/save money have been sweeping the nation because organizations are trying to keep
shareholders happy, and trying to keep their business afloat.
When
organizations go through down-sizing or layoffs, the employees whose
jobs weren’t lost will most likely see a significant increase in their
work loads. A company simply can’t stop providing it’s products and
services to its customers just because they decide to reduce the number
of people they employ to produce them. Output still has to be produced and productivity still has to continue.
Having said all of that - it's probably intuitive to think that because of the financial concerns
that many companies are facing right now, focusing on qualitative
elements of an organization such as internal communication should be one
of the last things on the minds of leadership. But, I disagree.
Yes,
employees who haven't lost their jobs are probably feeling relieved and
thankful to be working. But, don’t mistake that sentiment for a reason
to minimize the need to maintain a healthy
internal
environment. After all, when the economy and job market do get
better...and they will, you don’t want your employees fleeing elsewhere
because they’re unhappy. Let’s be honest, an employee...especially one
that has options and knows their value, isn’t going to stick around any
longer than they have to if they feel undervalued. Would you?
