Downsizing: A “Moment of Truth” for Your Organization’s Employment Brand
Downsizing was a new event in the 80’s, became standard practice in the 90’s and today has taken on an entirely new dimension. Downsizing, when it must be done, has to be viewed in the light of employee retention and recruitment. Imagine, using restructuring as an engagement process!
Beyond the moral and social responsibility to treat people with dignity and respect, it makes good business sense to effectively manage the human impact of downsizing. Whether you are downsizing for economic or strategic reasons, people remember how you treated them and talk about it. If they perceive their experience as unnecessarily negative or unfair, they will share it with friends, family and colleagues. In the age of the internet and social networking, the harm to your employment brand can be swift and far-reaching, and can haunt you when you are ready recruit new talent.
There are also the perceptions of your remaining employees to consider. If they believe you have not been fair or respectful to departing employees, they will look for other job opportunities once conditions improve. Those most likely to depart are the individuals with the most options – your top talent.
Discover how to manage downsizing so it will have a positive long-term impact on your organization’s employment brand. Employers of choice understand the value of looking at HR from a marketing perspective. They think about employment with an organization as a product like any other with a unique set of features, benefits and a specific target market –the top talent in the industry. Leading organizations strive to develop and communicate a strong employee value proposition that resonates with the type of employees they wish to recruit and retain.
Review some of the best practices in downsizing that help not only at the time of the downsizing but serve to mitigate the potentially negative impacts on your organization’s employment brand. Learn how employment brand is shaped, how downsizing can impact employment brand and engage in a dialogue about creating a ‘moment of truth’ that serves to enhance your organization’s employment brand and position you for the return of the war for talent.
Click here to download Mark Surrette and Anna Stuart's presentation from this IPM event on October 27th in Halifax, Nova Scotia.