Tom,
In response to your request for ideas on how to manage a downsizing with
professional grace and elegance, LO15920:
Doc's right, you need some way to get employees participating in the
effort, and open space with a strong fasciltator is a great way. Other
thoughts:
You might divide your own goals into 1)absolutley required outcomes (and
therefore not on the table for discussion), 2) things you want (where
employees' ideas on how to get there may be very helpful) and 3) your
hopes and dreams. All employees have hopes and dreams (and fears, too).
Sharing these can be a very powerful way for people to decide for
themselves whether they want to be part of this company as it changes or
not.
What a great opportunity for culture change! (High risk, too!) Since you
are newly-acquired by a company that has a theory X culture, be sure they
will let you deliver what you promise. There's nothing worse for the
process than having the rug pulled out from underneath you.
In my experience, attitide is as important as technical skills. It's
critical to keep people who want to help you fix the problems and build
the company. It's equally important that people who do not share that
enthusiasm for whatever reason can leave easily and with dignity. People
will make their own choices as long as you pose the dillema honestly and
strongly. Build in decision points for employees, so they must make both
positive and negative decisions. These will keep your process moving and
give you more certainty.
Give your good technical people some professional challenge to make it
worth their time to stay.
Give people as much information and certainty as you can. If you don't
know something now, see if you can give people a date when you will know.
Make decisions and move on. Uncertainty hurts the process much more than
some imperfect decisions.
Think of it like flood water. You are about the raise the water level.
The pressure will rise and the water's energy will go somewhere. You
can't eliminate the pressure, but you can position the company's raft to
go through the rapids with the best chance of getting through well. Before
you raise it, you want to have banks on your creek so that the water is
more likely to go in a positive direction. Make it most advantageous for
people to act in helpful ways (for themselves and the company). There
will be good times and bad, but the overall goal is to keep as much energy
as possible moving in positive directions. (These images came from other
people, and I apologize for not remembering who to credit.)
This could be one of the most challenging and exciting times in your
professional career. Enjoy the art of leadership!
Janet Winchester-Silbaugh
silbaugh@ccvp.com
At 12:35 AM 11/21/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks for responding. Both my VP and I are relatively new with the
>company, so our handle on these issues is less than it should be and will
>be in a few months. However, my take is that trust, or lack of it, has
>been a major issue for years. Turnover at the executive level has been
>constant since the early '90s. Employees perceive that management has no
>clue or plan . . . and they may be right. Our competitors are wallowing
>in profit, while we're bleeding.
>
>In the past year, we were wholly acquired by a Korean conglomerate.
>Korean organizations (and I have first-hand experience with a Korean
>automotive company) are Theory X if not downright military in structure
>and culture.
>
>Our concern is threefold. First, we don't want to lose high-tech talent
>that will be hard to replace. It's a hot job market right now, and our
>best people can easily find jobs with companies that are paying bonuses.
>Second, we need to get the leaner organization refocused on getting the
>business back on track. And third, the VP and I want to champion culture
>change, and a 30 percent RIF will make this an even bigger challenge.
>
>With all this in mind, any ideas? I've read many of your LO posts with
>great appreciation for your intellect and insights.
>
>Tom Dell
>AST Computer
>Tdell1@aol.com
--Janet Winchester-Silbaugh <silbaugh@ccvp.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>