“Who Else Wants a PLAN for Tomorrow?”

Motivating Employees through a Weak Economy (Part II)

by Lois Moncrief

OK – we’re in the “great recession” according to a lot of bright minds. So how do we survive this and how do we plan for recovery?

When the economy is weak, everyone is worried. Business owners and managers are worried. Employees are worried. You are worried.

Now is the time for you, the manager, to talk, to inform. If you do not provide information – status, updates, and plans, then rumors will spread like wildfire. Employees can handle the truth a lot better than the silence where their imaginations are all that they have to guide them.

When Times are Tough, It’s Time to Talk

You should always be communicating with your staff. In troubled times, it is even more important to communicate – regularly and frequently with your staff. Your employees need to know the status of the company, what is being done to improve the present and plan for the future of the company. How secure are their jobs? What can they do to help?

The more desperate the times, the more important it is for management to hold frequent, regular meetings to answer questions and address employee concerns. You need to give your employees the latest information and to reassure them that everything is being done to improve the situation.

Regular and frequent (at least weekly) meetings should be scheduled. Employee questions should be answered as truthfully as possible in the areas that can be discussed with employees. Your employees need to hear the truth and be able to trust what you are telling them. They need to trust that you are doing the best you can to address the issues the company faces. You, as the manager, need to dispel the rumors and one way to find out the rumors is to listen to the questions being asked.

Not knowing what is happening can interrupt the ability of the employees to work efficiently. If you want your employees to be motivated in their jobs, keep them informed. They will be more willing to follow your leadership if they trust that you are being up front with them about what is happening to the company.

We’re All in This Together

Allow employees to participate in decisions that affect them. For instance, if it is necessary to downsize, furlough employees, or cut all employees’ pay by a percentage, then you can form a committee of management and employees to look at all the options and make recommendations to be considered by you. You, as the manager, will have a lot more “buy in” to the final decision if employees were able to participate in the decision making process.

The decision will be accepted as more fair and less arbitrary if a management-employee team has looked at all the options and made recommendations to senior management to consider for the final decision.

Copyright (c)   2009    Lois Moncrief    Globebic LLC    All Rights Reserved