What are you doing to build morale in a recession?

Eurasian Eagle Owl
Originally uploaded by eschipul

Question: What are you doing to build morale in a recession? People are worried!

Answer: Not much really. I no longer view it as management's job to entertain the troops.

Or to put it another way; whatever will be will be.

Whether the issue is the price of gas, the price of food, the electric bill, the war, the recession, the unemployed, the lack of health care, the broken government run by the boomers to be paid off by the millenials who haven't figure it out yet, the devaluation of our currency, well, there are just plenty of reasons to be in a craptastic mood as an American right now.

I've done this dance before. 2001 was crap even before 9-11 and it went down from there. And we were told to "go shopping" while we figured out who attacked us. (Rant: This time buy a smaller car. Carpool. Move closer to work (gasp!). Get a roommate. Save money. Meet the neighbors. Organize card nights to save money from restaurants and have a better time and get the kids playing in the streets again. Think.)

As a company we had an mini-exodus of employees in 2001 and went from 12 employees all the way down to 6 at our lowest point. As a leader I blamed myself for this. No longer. Maintaining employee morale and a sense of determination is far beyond the ability of one leader. Particularly given the inputs of so many outside of work.

We had another period of exodus at the firm about 18 months ago when it seemed everyone I knew outside of work, family and friends, was sick or dying or dead. I learned from this as a CEO you will receive no sympathy. Why people don't expect a leader to recover stronger than before is beyond me, and of course was the outcome. And on the plus side you get rid of the disloyal and non-visionaries so it isn't all bad.

Which leads us to now. The great craptastic economic 2008 election year. At our company we have lost four or five very good very capable people in the last two months. As a firm with 26 employees that is quite a lot. A variety of reasons. My take on it is mainly people see the cheese moving. They want to move with the cheese. They just aren't sure which way so they jump. This is beyond my scope of control. I wish them the best.

From a business perspective this does not diminish a 10 year old brand, or a 7 year old brand, or our software-as-a-service recurring revenue model. Interestingly enough, in the short term, employee departures actually increase profits. Weird, huh? It wasn't like that in 2001, but it is now given we learned our lesson.

Tim O'Brien, APR, in the latest PR Tactics has an article titled "Substance over style: The myth of managing employee morale during tough economic times." A few quotes from Tim's article:

The first question is not whether senior management can maintain employee morale, but whether it's management's responsibility to do so. It seems a forgone conclusion today that if employee attitudes take a turn for the worse, management is accountable. Reverting back to an obsolete paternalistic corporate model
....
Let employees know that if they put someone else in control of their morale, they're giving someone else too much power over their lives and careers.
...
During tough times, the best message to send employees company wide is that the organization's focus is on the business.
...
In strong organizations, nothing improves employee attitudes like achievement and its commensurate rewards.

So, has the wave crested with our organization or will we lose a few more? Maybe. It's not that it isn't a significant expense. It's not that I don't care.

It just isn't a leader's job to arrange ice cream socials to help people realize THEY are in charge of their own attitudes. If you feel you must go, go. If you stay, as a business man I will do my damndest to make sure you are rewarded first financially, secondarily with a challenging position at a high growth company, and third we have a pretty good time at work despite my tough talk.

If this is your first time leading an organization through a difficult period, just keep your eye on the business. If they leave? Meh. Innovate and stay focused on your clients and the bottom line and the rest will work out.

Comments

[Laban Johnson]

I love the "meh" :)

Change isn't going anywhere.

If only every business had a Dianna Troy, of sorts to help us through it (then I'll be Will Riker). Or a Judzia Dax the one with the spots... mrarwww... She got with Worf, so i KNOW I'd have a shot, even on my worse hair day. But that doesn't matter if the Enterprise or DS9 is blown to bits because someone failed to raise the shields in fear of draining the dilithium crystals (thanks goodness for deuterium). :)

Sorry to "alienate" any non trekkies, and for that horrible pun. :)

But what good is a business if it cannot meet the changing demands of its clientèle base which it has worked so hard to develop to thereby provide for the security of its employees and owners, the principle reason most people start a business!?

To quote Michael Gerber in The E Myth Revisited "The world, moving as it does, will not tolerate a stationary object."

In the end, as in the very beginning, back here in the alpha quadrant what matters most and always are the basic, fundamental accountabilities of your business in face of the changing times and shifting solar winds. A business built to last is built around the power of change. Change is the engine which makes the business whir!

Change creates all opportunities, and successful business types know this.
In fact, I will assert that from a leadership perspective it is reckless and irresponsible NOT to embrace change, for the business leader who fails to embrace change fails his business, and in doing so, fails all those whose security and success depend upon it.

We've looked at change moreso from the receiving end, but perhaps we should focus on the sending end instead. It certainly does not hurt the bottom line to be the business which is creating the waves, not just riding them ;)

Live Long and Prosper - through change!

Laban

[inkoluv]

It's time to let the strong prevail and move the next men up. It is the employees who believe in Schipul, Ed Schipul and our mission who will step up and move during this awesome time of change. Embrace it. Thanks for giving me something to believe in.

[Longstation]

My suggestion for those "whose cheese has been moved" is to be unemotional in your strategy. Deal with facts. Just like Spock says, "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end."

If the math doesn't work... look for another alternative.

It is also a good time to review the pieces and see what advantages "you" can take by seeing others move haphazardly.

[Dan Keeney, APR]

Considering that the average American worker will change jobs 8 to 10 times during their careers (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which actually seems VERY low to me), it seems reasonable to EXPECT to accept resignations from five or six people per year in a 26-person company. Assuming your employee ranks stay the same size or grow, you'll probably have more than six leave next year and still more the year after that. If you look around, you can expect that all but a handful of your current employees will still be with you at the end of 2011.

That's the reality and it has very little to do with you or your company or the recession or your compensation or how fun it is to work there or your bowling parties or your Hot Wheel races down the parking garage. It's about the individuals and their lives and aspirations and fears. In my work, I've had two distinct careers and have had 10 different jobs (not counting working at Jack in the Box and painting houses and washing dishes in H.S. and college). I never made a move for any other reason than it felt right and every move built upon a bigger story that I didn't understand as it was happening.

Focus on fully leveraging the time you have with the people who work with you rather than on prolonging that time. Help them to help you make the company the best it can be. The cheese has moved for management, which requires us to streamline the ramp up process for new employees, get them productive and profitable in days rather than months, and start preparing their replacements as soon as they have proven themselves to be worth keeping.

[Dan Meza]

What is the motivation for leaving a company during a recession? Is it money? Is it security? What do you think the motivation has been for the employees that have left in the past two months? Not rhetorical I'm interested in knowing lol.

I agree its not a leaders job to manage personal attitudes. I do believe they should maintain morale.

I like the last paragraph of your post and its true. The bottom line is whats important and measures should always be in place that in the event someone leaves, the business doesn't skip a beat.

I think in Schipul's situation there are two things happening.

1. You make people rockstars and they move on.

2. Not everyone is rockstar material and they drop.

Simple :)

[Pat]

You expound how you are no longer responsible for employee's morale, but you are building morale...rewarding them finacially, challenging work and a fun place to work. That's building morale. Yes, employees leave because they have different needs. Though a strong working environment keeps them longer. The only other ingredient to building morale is to treat each person with respect for what they bring to the table.