Employee Relations Critical
During Rough Economic Times
BY MARY LYNN FAYOUMI, CAE, SPHR, GPHR
There’s no doubt this has been a tumultuous year. All of this uncertainty in the
world around us impacts our organizations and our employees. Caution is in
the air and you can feel it in the workplace. In spite of the natural human desire
to quietly ride out the storm, employee
relations is now more critical than ever.
Experience shows that when times are
tough, many managers stay behind closed
doors trying to determine the best course
of action.
Whether they are experiencing decreased
attendance at annual meetings, soft publication sales, losses in their reserve investments or declining membership, leaders
struggle with revising strategic plans,
implementing new tactics and re-forecast-ing operating budgets. Most managers as a
last resort consider making difficult staff
redeployment and/or reduction decisions,
but work diligently to come up with alternate paths to improve the situation.
Employees often are on the other side
of these closed doors imagining the worst.
In the absence of regular communication
about the organization’s health and current plan of action, they may conjure up
some pretty awful scenarios. Let’s face it,
they have frequently witnessed the outcomes of a rough economy first- or at
least second-hand by watching friends
and loved ones unexpectedly lose their
jobs. Not surprisingly, the scene just
described can, and does, drive employee
morale to the basement.
Understanding the behaviors of both
managers and employees is pretty simple.
From the management perspective, there
may not be much good news to report
and the future may look bleak.
The inclination to not worry employees by
keeping the gory details under wraps might
make some sense. However, as the old saying goes, “Inquiring minds want to know.”
GIVE EMPLOYEES THE OPPORTUNITY TO
OFFER SOLUTIONS
If you have a staff of intelligent, engaged
employees whom the organization hopes
to retain through the good times and the
bad, they need information and can
almost always handle it. In fact, employees are usually more resilient and helpful
during challenging times than one might
expect. By keeping lines of communication open and sharing information, managers will find employees who are willing
to offer numerous creative ways to
weather the storm. Just ask them.
Your workforce is smart, well-informed
and invested in your association’s success.
The average employee wants to contribute
and does not expect a manager to have all
the answers. In most organizations, no one
has a crystal ball or can accurately predict
the future. People know what the external
environment is like nowadays and realize
there is bound to be an impact on their
organization and them personally. For example, the increase in the price of gas had a
major effect on a wide range of industries as
well as individuals from every walk of life.
Communication is an essential element
in an organization’s culture whether it is
from the top down, between departments,
between managers and their employees or
among co-workers. Those associations that
communicate well in every direction will
experience increased productivity,
improved morale, less turnover, fewer
absences and more employee engagement.
Being able to sustain open, free-flowing,
direct communication during times of
uncertainty is more an art than a science.
But the return on investment is high.
HONEST FEEDBACK IMPERATIVE
There is no ideal formula or perfect
recipe for employee relations. Because
each organization and every employee is
unique, there are many approaches that
are effective. For all, having a supervisor
who is willing to regularly give them
honest feedback — good or bad — is
imperative. Beyond that, most successful
employers will use a combination of
town hall, all-hands-on-board meetings,
frequent department updates, cross-func-tional team projects, employee-centric
newsletters and e-mails with information
about the organization’s well-being and
current initiatives.
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PERSONAL
CONTACT
Remember, there is no substitute for eye-
to-eye, two-way dialogue. That is the heart
and soul of employee relations. Ten e-
mails and three voice mails a day does not
cut it, even in our technologically advanced
culture. Positive employer-employee rela-
tions are part of the foundation of a strong,
healthy association. Don’t let that founda-
tion erode because of the current eco-
nomic times. Make talking and listening to
employees a priority and the rewards will
be plentiful.
Mary Lynn Fayoumi, CAE, SPHR, GPHR, is president
& CEO of The Management Association of Illinois.
She may be reached at mfayoumi@hrsource.org.
