When the economy is down - so are your employees and their productivity

“Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose.”

- Steve Pavlina

During the negative times - employees may lose sight of their purpose

It is our job to make sure they are looking at the horizon not their feet

People Profits Principle #44

People are the cornerstone to economic development

Have any of the following happened in your company recently?

Had a REDUCTION IN FORCE (RIF) or HIRING FREEZE?
Had a reduction or stagnation of REVENUES?
Customers or vendors that are IN TROUBLE?
Your employees FAMILY MEMBERS affected by any of the above?

All of these will weigh on your employees and affect their productivity

How does it affect your organization and employees?

Do you hear RUMORS - and are they all NEGATIVE?
Do you hear that the next RIF is JUST AROUND THE CORNER?
Do you see a MARKED SLOW DOWN of efforts and productivity?
Do you see and hear people TALKING ALOT about all the negative events?

Sometimes it seems like you can't get them back on track

What can you do?

Identify and COMMUNICATE about any baseless rumors that are out there.
Make sure that all employees know about the GOOD THINGS happening.
INVOLVE as many people as possible in FUTURE PLANNING
Identify the KEY INFLUENCERS and what issues are IMPACTING THEM

Communication and framing the message are keys

People Profits case study: A service company was going through a rough time. Revenues were stagnant, profits were non-existent and the people were demoralized. An Operating Committee was organized with the charge of: "what needed to happen" to make things better. As issues were addressed and new plans were laid the employees saw what was happening, agreed with the plans and started to see the results. When the results started to happen, the employees views changed, turnover declined and engagement/productivity soared.