I was interviewed this week for “HR Wire” magazine about what to do to help employees through a downsizing. At the end of the interview, the writer told me that I was the only person she had interviewed who had talked about the importance of dealing with people’s FEELIINGS. She said that every other “expert” had simply talked about systems, processes, and the business aspects of returning to productivity.
I shared with her that several years ago Mike Stewart, a colleague and friend, and I developed a wonderful program called “FEELING your Way Through Change – Understanding and Managing Transitions in Life and Work” to deal with this very issue, and it has been highly successful in helping individuals and organizations work through many different kinds of changes in a much more healthy way, accounting for both the business and the human sides of change. (This program can be a keynote, half day or full day program.)
These are some of the things I shared with her in the interview, based on our program:
Management must allow for a time of healing and help employees deal with their feelings. After a downsizing or any major change, employees are going to experience feelings of fear, guilt, anger, stress, and sometimes even envy for those who no longer have to face functioning in such an environment. Managers, as well as employees, need to deal with their feelings, and they can become role models if they are willing to show their vulnerability and willingness to talk with employees about their fears, concerns, and hopes for a new beginning.
Understanding what is happening in the change process is vital. There is a wonderful Chinese proverb that says, “The beginning of wisdom is understanding.” I have a firm belief that the more simple we can make things today, the better people will be able to understand and apply them in their stress-filled, busy lives. Mike and I created a very simple visual model of change that has made a huge difference to my audiences in truly realizing what happens when a change occurs. It begins with “What Was” struck by a lightning bolt of “Change”, either “Forced” or “Chosen”; then comes a terrible time we call the “Struggle” which is where dealing with feelings becomes so important; and finally, one can reach the heart-shaped “New Beginning.” What most experts in the field of change do not acknowledge, however, is what we exemplify in this model by a hand reaching out from the Struggle and Holding On to the past. Until this hand LETS GO, a person will never reach the New Beginning, just like when we play on the monkey bars. We can never move forward unless we let go of the hand that is holding onto the past. Once employees have an awareness of this model and they can see where they are in the process, it becomes the beginning of the healing and the choice to move forward.
The Control Inventory© –One of the pieces Mike and I created that has helped many organizations is a worksheet that allows anyone to look at change and to see clearly: 1. What has changed and what has not changed? 2. What do I have control over and what can I not control? 3. What do I have to let go of and what am I taking with me? This process encourages them to see the reality of what is happening and to deal with their feelings, yet to also help them see that things are not as hopeless as they thought and they CAN reach that new beginning.
Honest, open and frequent communication is vital in order to rebuild trust. After any major change, the only way to return to full productivity is to rebuild trust with employees. They need to be told honestly the reasons for the change and what will be happening next, and they need to be told over and over. Research has shown that most people can handle bad news. What they cannot handle is not knowing. Another important fact is that people need to hear something six times before they internalize it, and when our emotions are involved, it takes even longer! Holding regular weekly open meetings, focus groups, and other communication vehicles to allow employees to freely ask questions and express their feelings can lead to a new sense of purpose and mission.
Doing something symbolic to signify an ending and a new beginning is healthy. I often suggest to my clients who are going through change that having a ceremony of some kind to signify an ENDING and then to focus on a NEW BEGIINNING will allow employees to “let go” of the past in a symbolic way. This could be a funeral for the old way of doing things, the old name if there is a merger, or even for the teams as they were in the past. One client made a wooden coffin and each employee pounded in a nail. Another took memorabilia from the old company and buried it in a Time Capsule. Others have asked employees to write their feelings, attach them to a balloon, and then let the balloons go in a symbolic ceremony. Whatever creative ways you can find to help with the letting go process will help employees deal with those feelings of loss and then move on. (One note: Always end these ceremonies with something uplifting or fun and FOOD!)
Find ways for employees to have fun again and to encourage renewed teambuilding. Employees need new hope, and one of the best ways to do this is to plan events that create joy and teambuilding. They can be as simple as a nerf baseball game in the parking lot, a pot luck where everyone brings the food they hate the most, or a contest with matching employees with their baby pictures. Working together on a project for a charity also is a hope-building and teambuilding experience. It is important for them to take the focus off their losses and help them to realize that there are still good things about their work and lives and that no matter how much change is going on, they can still make a difference.
For more information on this program, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/programs
