How To Ensure a Rapid and Effective Recovery From Layoffs

Lattice’s 2024 State of People Strategy Report found that the wide majority of HR leaders believe it takes up to a year for employee morale and productivity to bounce back after a layoff. In contrast, C-suite teams mostly expect a full recovery within three months.

Most HR leaders surveyed agreed that their C-suite does not provide enough support for addressing low morale (59%), training managers on how to talk about layoffs (62%), or redefining roles (63%). Lattice wrote in the study, “Without support from the C-suite during such a turbulent time, people teams are even less empowered to reach their goals and drive the kind of impact that could help keep the business afloat.”

Employees recognize that layoffs are often unavoidable in an economic downturn or when business conditions demand a shift in strategy, but how they are handled can not only help revive the morale of the remaining workers who often have to take on extra tasks but also the company’s reputation and hiring ability going forward.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Paul A. Argenti, professor of corporate communication at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, recommended that managers be as transparent as possible with employees about business conditions so no one is surprised when layoffs are announced.

Amii Barnard-Bahn, a partner at Kaplan & Walker and the CEO of Barnard-Bahn Coaching & Consulting, said exiting employees should be thanked and shown compassion, and remaining employees should be shown a “compelling” path forward and have an opportunity to ask questions. She said, “Healing takes time, patience, and persistent effort. Think of every conversation as an opportunity to re-recruit those who stay.”

Employees will be looking for clarity about their role and whether more layoffs are potentially coming.

Stacey Berk, founder and managing consultant at Expand HR Consulting in Maryland, told SHRM, “The CEO can start managing the aftermath of these changes immediately with a strong all-staff communication followed by various staff meetings, depending on how widely dispersed employees are by location after the layoffs have taken place.”

Aaron Rubens, co-founder and CEO of Kudoboard Inc., a workplace appreciation platform, wrote in a column for HRMorning that beyond worries over their job and their employer’s viability, remaining employees are frequently plagued by survivor’s guilt about keeping their jobs while their colleagues and friends lost theirs. The guilt keeps them disengaged at work.

Rubens stated, “When employers are very clear with the remaining staff about why they were selected to keep their jobs, it can help corporate survivors feel less guilt. This is particularly true if managers pair this with authentic workplace recognition for accomplishments and provide opportunities for peer recognition and communication in the wake of layoffs.”