Reorganizations, mergers, and acquisitions often provoke an increase of negative feelings like basic insecurity and anxiety, emotions which undermine our rational brain and hence decision making. These reactions can be extremely negative if the change involves downsizing. The negative effect of downsizing is double: on the people leaving and on the survivors.
The employees often feel helpless and powerless, feelings that have a tendency to infiltrate other areas of their lives. This insecurity and stress of the employees can devastate morale, motivation, cooperation, quality, and safety. This makes the company as a whole more vulnerable, less resilient, and less agile.
To avoid these resilience-blocking emotions managers should know very well how to
1. manage turmoil and unpredictability
2. manage change and most of all the emotions it provokes.
3. manage increased stress, with special attention to the survivors of downsizing
These challenges have to be managed at three levels: me, we, they
1. Me:
what can I do to optimally digest the change and manage my stress, independently from others?
2. We:
a. What can I do with the team I lead?
b. What can I do in the team of my leader?
c. What can I do together with my peers?
3. They:
what should the people higher in the organization do, what should the top do to help people function optimally in this turmoil
Big changes provoke emotions. Way too often managers, however, do not dare address emotions, especially the emotions linked to the risk of being fired. They forget or do not fully realize to what extent emotions are the drivers and the brakes of behavior. Too often they react with a “let sleeping wolves lie”. This is a self-defeating approach because sleeping wolves always wake up. If you do not wake them up in a situation you manage, they will wake up at the worst of times and outside of your control.
At the end of the Workshop, managers will be better able
To manage turmoil and unpredictability
To manage change and most of all the emotions it provokes.
To manage increased stress
The process: very interactive around key-subjects
Although the ingredients and constituent parts are well developed, the workshop does not a 100% pre-determined outline, because I want to start where the participants are, and where their main concerns are. The participants co-determine the workshop, based on their own needs, giving them a feeling of control in the workshop itself too. I know left-brained HR directors and training directors are apprehensive about this very flexible approach, therefore I present an outline, which I may not follow if the needs of the group are different. Moreover, in appendix 1 and 2 you find independent assessments of my interventions. I you are not comfortable with this approach, please read the comments of participants and their satisfaction scores.
a. Define your niche of control and conquer the world from there
b. 3 major keys for success: Focus, focus, and focus
d. Develop your compass: know where you want to go
Determine the cornerstones of your happiness
Do your personal scenario planning and check the facts
a. Change is a Process
b. The evolving emotions and how to manage them
c. The keystone of the management relationship
d. How to influence change preparedness
e. Two special cases
How to manage a crisis
How to manage the survivor syndrome after many people were fired
a. How to manage the demand side of the stress balance
b. How to manage (personal) resources side
c. The importance of social support
d. The importance of having an influence that matters