Many organizations say they are proactive, but are really reactive. For many, the impact of a mass loss of talent will not become a reality until they start to feel the sting from high turnover.

Now is the time to reengage employees, target talent, revise succession plans, and create or revamp career progression plans for every employee. At this juncture, communication is pivotal to organizational success and the retention of talented employees.

Employees are told just where the company stands financially and future expectations in the current economic storm. We’re pretty open about it and even took a survey to let the employees weigh in on things such as ways to cut dollars-per-man-hour and overhead. Having the employees as part of the decision making process for cutting costs means that they are already buying in to the plan before we start it. We asked our employees to help cut overhead and needless spending now so we can have our bonuses – not to mention our jobs – at the end of the year.

Our employees ARE our company and because they KNOW that, they’re confident that any cost cutting measures we do now will lead to more opportunities for growth later; for them personally and for the company as a whole. A word of caution for others who attempt this practice: MEAN WHAT YOU SAY. If the employees jump through the hoops, cut back and work harder to save the company money, the company had better make good on the promises. Failure to do so could lead to defection, disconnection or worse; the disgruntled employee.

Employees who feel they are an integral part of the company, not just another drone, are less likely to abandon ship when the seas get a little rough. There will always be the transient employees who seem to appear, do fine but change careers often, not specifically for money but because they’re searching for something they cannot find in their current career. Even perfect fitting shoes can wear out or go out of style … we can’t just give up wearing shoes.

Honesty is still the best policy for any company who wants to keep good employees.

Organizations have many things they can do from including employees in challenges to solve problems, to job sculpting their roles to reenergize employees, to developing low cost rewards for great performance. When things get tough, organizations need to step up and be tougher. Employees want and need organizations to lose the doom and gloom and find the opportunities – and include the employees in the process.

To me, this is today’s manager’s role. Step up and pull it together, or the good ones will leave.

I agree that employees need honest, open communication. So when managers treat the entire group with the same repor, it becomes obvious that your hard work, long hours and dedication is going unnoticed.

I wouldn’t say that management is focusing on negatives — what I can say is that they are not rocking the boat, since their retirement is in around 6 months.

At times I feel like I am throwing myself at management just to stay in the loop. All I really want is to know what’s going on and learn . I agree that Managers should involve employees in some of the decision making about cost-cutting measures, that is an area that is hush-hush around here.
Three of the good things we have is continued education and training has not been cut, we get to have a flexible schedule and no sign of layoffs.
I am counting my lucky stars right now, but that doesn’t keep me from feeling unfullfilled. :-l

Here are my five:
1. You constantly told them they were lucky to have a job and made them feel desperate and not in control of their lives. You constantly reminded them of the number of out of work employees and how tough their situations are. Remind them they have no control and that they are lucky to be working and your employees will leave you.
2. You added more work to each role because some roles were eliminated. Instead of being fair about the workload with changes to compensation, time off or a promise to make things right in a better economy, you took advantage of the situation and forced the extra work on your staff (and reminded them they were lucky to have the job). Not only does this overwork your employees, but it interrupts the critical work/life balance needed to allow employees to feel successful both at work and at home. Make the workload unfair without any attempt to balance it and your employees will leave you.
3. You told your employees how things were going to be instead of presenting the tough situations and asking for their input to solve them. Employees were excluded from difficult news, or given difficult news with little time to react or respond. Successful organizations are based on open, honest and timely communication with employees; not only does this keep them informed and aware, it sets them up to participate in the challenges and opportunities of the organization. Keep them in the dark and refuse to allow for discussion and your employees will leave you.
4. You became more focused on results at the expense of the rapport and relationships you had with your people. Employees require constant contact; they require a real relationship with their managers. Managers who spend time away from their people disconnect from their people. Make your employees feel like a cog or a disposable part of the process and they will leave you.
5. You became so aware of the down times that you forgot to celebrate and make some “up times.” All employees know how critical the workplace and economy had become; it is everywhere in the news. Organizations that did nothing but worry, fret and disconnect, missed an opportunity to show their employees the best opportunities in any economy happen when the outlook is optimistic. Optimism is a choice. Organizations that find ways to be upbeat about things worth celebrating create higher performing and engaging workplaces. They weather the challenges better, becoming more successful for their approach. Make your workplace dismal and a downer and your people will leave you.

Great managers always value their employees and find ways to help them feel important even in tough times.

Secondly, my personal believe is that all processes and systems must be documented via a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and in that way at least some of the major issues will not be effected too badly if any key personnel leaves. I find that many organisations do not insist on the creation of the SOP for all processes and they are caught with their pants down when a key personnel threatens to leave or actually leave the organisation. Sometimes the key personnel just threatens to obtain higher perks and salaries. Organisations, in my personal opinion, must not regards anyone as indispensable. What happens if a key personnel dies? Are alternatives in place? What about succession planning and execution?

The foregoing is my personal views ; views of a HR person from a developing nation.

Thank you and kind regards.

Balachandran Nair
Malaysia

First, I am not a Bush fan. Second, the current state of the economy is mostly due to those in Congress during Clinton’s term that pushed for giving loans to people who could not afford them. You can thank Frank for most of it. Now he wants to bail out those in foreclosure, which is simply doing the same thing all over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1M1T2Y314
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahtuNt3AKCg

Third, The huge bail outs are both Bush and Obama. However, Obama has taken that even further and has us in such debt, that we will not see ourselves out of it in our lifetime I fear.

Honestly, this is about the current topic and how premature this topic is. Jobs coming back? Can we at least stop losing jobs before we talk about a come back.