How to help employees during a layoff

The same Institute of Behavioral Science study found that ambiguity and living in a state of uncertainty about one’s job security are seen as factors that could be related to the development of depression and substance abuse disorders in survivors. Minimizing these risk factors by rapidly rebuilding trust and clarifying role expectations can aid in the development of employee resilience.

Clear, empathetic communication is essential for managers to rebuild employee confidence in their abilities, clarify role expectations and refer employees to counselling or psychological services if they show signs of struggling with mental health issues. Developing empathetic and assertive communication skills prior to a reorganization will allow for open communication even in more challenging times. Being able to clearly identify and address mental health issues in the workplace is also a necessary skill for executors.

Margaret Tebbutt, senior consultant of workplace initiatives with the Canadian Mental Health Association, offers mental health awareness training sessions. As a certified trainer with the Mental Health Works program, she agrees that employers have a lot of room for growth in terms of supporting employees before, during and after layoffs.

Tebbutt explains that, prior to restructuring, employees experience a lot of anxiety regarding who may become a victim. She recommends that, before the restructuring, employers provide workshops to highlight the resources that the employer routinely offers, such as the employee assistance program. She stresses the importance of offering regular workshops (such as an ongoing workplace health program) to build employee resilience.

“These types of workshops will hopefully help people to deal with the anxiety before the layoffs and also develop healthy coping skills.”

Tebbutt also focuses on the importance of developing social supports and self-efficacy to develop mental resilience. She says giving employees a sense of control over their lives and building social supports are essential to enhance this resilience.

The Conference Board of Canada’s 2011 report, Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces: Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers, outlines how a mentally healthy workplace holds social activities for staff and is a place where people are “friendly, empathetic, understanding and supportive.” Allowing work time to be designated for social activities allows meaningful relationships among colleagues to develop, which will help them in a reorganization. In the Journal of Vocational Behavior, one 1993 study showed the importance of social supports in the mitigation of stress related to job strain.

Training for supervisors and union leaders to help them recognize their role in referring employees to counselling, for example, becomes an essential skill during restructuring. These individuals—who are often the executors—need to develop empathy skills and the ability to refer employees for help without causing offense.

“Telling employees to simply ‘suck it up’ is not helpful,” Tebbutt adds. Her work is dedicated to promoting managerial training for workplaces across Canada, through the Mental Health Works program, in order to build a better understanding of mental health.

The need for management training is further supported by the Conference Board’s 2011 report cited earlier. According to this report, only 29% of employees believe their managers are knowledgeable about mental health, and only 26% of employees feel their managers are effective at managing mental health issues. Layer this on top of the challenging work relationships during a reorganization, and one can reasonably assume that employee confidence in managers’ abilities with regard to mental health issues would be diminished. That, in turn, reduces the likelihood that employees will seek help from their managers, unless these skills have been developed formally.

Over the past several years, layoffs have become increasingly common across North America. Now is the time for organizations to reflect on how to restructure more effectively.

When planning for organizational change, employers should give careful consideration to how best to support both surviving employees and those remaining in management roles, in order to maintain the overall health of the workforce. Employers that build social supports and encourage the development of stress management, communication and coping skills at all times will likely see better retention and engagement after a round of layoffs. Starting from a healthy workplace—as opposed to trying to rebuild employee morale from scratch—is essential for an organization’s continued success.

Suzanne Jolly is a mental health advocate and workplace health consultant in Vancouver. suzanne.e.jolly@gmail.com

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