Beyond the Backlash
INSIGHTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF INCLUSION, RECRUITMENT, RESEARCH, AND GEN Z
If you’re tired of being told what you can’t do with inclusion,Beyond the Backlash is your playbook. Every issue brings sharp, practical strategies that help you stay informed, stay ready, and stay ahead.
VOLUME 3: Ignore Employee Morale at Your Own Peril
Ignore Employee Morale at Your Own Peril
By Lynn Freshour, Research Director, Insight Squad
Everyone is finally admitting what we all already knew: we’re in a recession. And like cavities are paired with fillings, so too are recessions often paired with layoffs.
Organizations are cutting staff everywhere you look. Amazon, UPS, Paramount, and Intel are recent high-profile examples. But if you look beyond the Fortune 500 you’ll find the same story unfolding in nearly every industry at every company size. And even if they haven’t happened at your organization yet, chances are they’re a possibility being discussed.
But the conversation about getting leaner often misses a critical point: What about the people who remain?
Layoffs gut employee morale. We all know this, but most people don’t know that the impacts are quantifiable. And when morale tanks, employee engagement is usually close behind. Brad Bird, an Oscar-winning director with Pixar, perhaps put it best when he said, “If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value.”
Studies bear out this philosophy. 71% of layoff survivors report declining work motivation in the wake of a layoff, and productivity among employees can drop nearly 20%. If layoffs are a recipe for cost-savings, they’re also a recipe for bad organizational outcomes.
Morale is intrinsically related to workplace culture, and it’s a problem that can’t be solved with in-office pizza parties or “thank you” emails. Meaningful cultural work is essential. Organizations with highly engaged employees report 23% higher profitability. And employees who feel recognized by their employers are on average 21% more productive.
Even more telling, 26% of them feel that a culture that recognizes their efforts helps reduce the impact of understaffing. With lean teams everywhere, that particular benefit is impossible to ignore.
If layoffs are a necessity, positive culture becomes the octane in the gas tank that keeps companies going during tough times. And if you need help getting your workplace culture to the best place it can be, GVC sister company Insight Squad stands ready to help.