Dealing with Tough Times at Work–Part III

In Part I, employee financial anxiety concerns were considered.  In Part II, employee pain concerns were considered. Finally, employer-pride concerns should be considered.  Instead of going along with what other employers are doing, give some thought to what you should do, given your culture, your values, your reputation, and your long-term view.

Loaning employees–To mitigate or eliminate layoffs, some employers have provided alternatives.  For example, Texas Instruments loaned excess human resources employees to its vendors for as song as eight months, with the vendors agreeing to pick-up the tab for the loaned employees until Texas Instruments was ready to take the employees back.

Severance packages–More commonly, employers have used severance packages to mitigate the pain of layoffs.  Charles Schwab found a way to be more creative than usual by giving a bonus of $7,500 to every laid-off employee who found a job within 18 months, and a fund was established to provide educational benefits for as much as $20,000 over two years to laid-off employees.

Reducing executive compensation–During an economic downturn, employers would do well to remember the aphorism “misery loves company.”  Although the reduction of executive compensation will cause some pain of its own, it can be a quick fix to minimize regular employee pain.  Foregoing bonuses or stock option awards can be powerful symbols to regular employees whose morale drops even further when executive pay that sounds like lottery winnings are publicized during an economic downturn.  An economic downturn should also be a catalyst for reviewing the question of whether company executives are overpaid anyway.

You will think of other ways to deal with our present tough times at work.  If you implement some of the things you think of or read about, your employees will hang in there with you.  It’s important that they know you’re thinking–you’re trying.  You might even ask them for their own ideas.