Organizational Perspectives on the Economy
Whether you get your information from old media or new, it is hard to escape the daily onslaught of bad economic news. Large numbers of people are feeling the direct impact—seeing retirements evaporate, seeing home values sink while foreclosure signs sprout in neighbors’ yards, or being told it is time to pack up the desk and escorted to the door. For others the sense of uncertainty is pervasive, and can be paralyzing.
On the professional side, those working in disciplines represented on Organizational Perspectives are in the center of the maelstrom. Difficult choices must be made under pressure, raising questions that can’t be easily answered such as:
Human Resources and Management:
- Is it better to lay people off or reduce hours across the workforce? Should the organization rely more on temporary contractors to gain more flexibility—if so, at what loss of intellectual capital?
- Are some approaches for reducing the workforce preferable to others—in terms of consequences for the people being laid off as well as those left behind?
Organizational/Industrial Psychology:
- When key players are laid off, how can morale be maintained with the remaining workers?
- What are the effects of job uncertainty on worker commitment, motivation and productivity?
Training and Performance Improvement:
- If industries, as well as organizations are changing, what new skills will workers need in order to succeed?
- How can workers who have worked in certain ways, in certain jobs for years be successfully re-trained for new types of work?
- How can workers whose retirement savings have gone be prepared to work for longer than anticipated—in a workforce that requires new skills and mindsets?
What questions are you encountering—or experiencing? What creative ideas or approaches do you suggest? Please post your thoughts and comments!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 7:32 am and is filed under Current Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:53 am
As a Thanksgiving gesture, my company laid off 1,300 people. I should feel fortunate that I still have a job, but the 50 hour weeks have turned into 80+ hour weeks. There are less employees to do the same amount of work and the crunch of project deadlines.
The great motivation for those still employed is that another 1,700 will be laid off during the first quarter, with “great regret”, as stated in the memo that was sent to all employees. This is a large private organization (family owned), with no stockholders/market to please.
Makes you wonder who is in the better position; those that received lay-off packages and can spend holiday time with their families or those burning themselves out, not able to enjoy the holiday season with anyone for a payoff that includes the elimination of bonuses, the reduction in merit increases and only to be laid off months later, after the needed work is completed?
December 17th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I work in municipal government and we have laid people off, but I am concerned that the civil service and unions will prevent our organization from being able to deal with the economy and changes in the environments. We are one of those organizations who do not change, and the reasons for stagnation are alway rooted in regulations.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Faculty who teach courses in finance in institutions around the country reflect on the current financial circumstances in this Aspen Institute Center for Business Education report. What do you think? How should recent developments influence the way we teach business?
http://www.aspencbe.org/documents/E-newsletter/December%2008/Closer%20Look%20-%20Finance%20-%20Financial%20Crisis.pdf
January 11th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Here is an interesting new blog from the NY Times: Fear Factor in the Workplace (http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/fear-factor-in-the-workplace/?8ty&emc=ty).
The question “What is the toll on individual workers and on the economy as a whole?”is explored from the perspectives of readers and commentators:
Mitchell Lee Marks, business professor
Ed Park, novelist
Tom Geoghegan, labor lawyer
Jean Twenge, psychology professor
Myra S. White, psychologist
Rebecca Johnson, human resources consultant
January 14th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I found this at Forbes.com: “According to a Hay Group survey of nearly 250 U.S. companies, 23% of employers say they have either made changes or are making changes to their high-performer retention program. “It’s not just about pay to boost morale,” Stark said. “People leave bad managers, not necessarily bad companies.” (http://www.forbes.com/careers/2008/10/16/tough-times-management-lead-careers-cx_mk_1016bosses.html)
I believe this is at the heart of sustainable growth, and weathering the economic storm. As far as HR strategy goes the best advise will be A) Cherish your star players B) train for better psychological ownership at all levels. There is a new book called the OWNERSHIP SPIRIT, by Dennis Deaton, it couldn’t come at a more appropriate time!