Motivation

LAYOFFS & DOWNSIZING BALL, ELLEN, JOVY, KEVIN, LAWRENCE, LOIS, RAYMOND, SAMUEL, SING

BACKGROUND 

Financial Tsunami 2008

Unemployment

Layoffs worldwide  Unemployment rate: › U.S : 9.8%(Sep 09) › 6.2 %(Sep 08)

› U.K 7.9% (Jun-Aug 09) › 5.8% (Jun-Aug 08) › 

H.K: 5.3% (Jul-Sep 09) › 4.1 % (Oct- Dec 08) › ›

Affected sectors: banking & finance, automobiles, technology, media…

HSBC 

Sep 08- Apr 09: laying off staff…

  Worldwide:

6100 or more- closed US consumer lending business…

  HK

:650 or more- mostly from private banking sector



Remaining employees

What do you need?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Introduced

in 1943 by

Maslow Human Motivation" )

Abraham ("A Theory of



Suggested

that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs

 

• Physiological Needs : most basic needs that are vital to survival

• Security Needs : needs for safety and security

• Social Needs : needs for belonging, love and affection

• Esteem Needs : the desire to be accepted and valued by others

• Self-actualizing Needs : the full realization of one's potential

Negative Effects

Negative effects of layoffs To

the remaining employees



Reduced working performance Lowered organizational commitment Lower morale Lower job security Increased workloads Lower job advancement opportunity 

 

Application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Physiological

needs

lower quality of life reduced spending 



Safety less

motivation to work loss of job security Search for new job  



Application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Social loss

of sense of belonging poor relationship with the senior staffs 

Esteem less

motivation to work



Self-actualization poor

 

prospect

Survivor Syndrome Morale

↓

 Commitment

↓



Motivation↓  Engagement

↓

 Lack 

of trust and loyalty

Productivity of employee↓ 

Those negative mental effect will finally turn out a decrease in labour productivity



Apart

from the pressure caused by anxiety, the huge workload will also lead a super workload



Great increase in workload 

According to the findings of a CareerBuilder survey (www.careerbuilder.com) of more than 4,400 workers released at the end of May

Responsibility taken ↑

47%

Workload doubled

37%

Burned out

30%

SHORT TERM Measures

In short term  Address

Feeling

  Motivating   Remove 

puzzle

Managers’ attitude  Be

empathetic & positive  Be honest about the realities › Any uncertainty in future ?  Be

understanding of your employer and employees

  

thoughtful ness

Address survivors’ feeling  Give

people time to grieve

› Let them talk and voice their concerns ›  Values

the remaining employees



 Note

the needs of the laid-off employees



 Not 

convey anger and frustration no puzzles

 Reassurance

of security

  Restore

trust

  Recognizing

loss 

people are experience a

Motivating Re-emphasize the vision and mission  Managers should be visible & accessible  Provide frequent, truthful & direct communication  Re-emphasize the necessity for the downsizing  motivation

motivation

Insight Clarify new roles and responsibilities  Empathetic leadership  Develop a fair system to re-distribute work  A calm, focused approach to a new way of working insight 

 Allow

them to have time and space to deal with the anger, loss and denial

  Let

them have a break

LONG TERM Measures

Motivation  Reasonable

rewards

  High

involvement

  Sense   

of ownership



Welfare

  Flexibility   Support   Developing 

Communication 

Providing employees with clear indications of what is expected of them so that





Confer with employees regularly to discuss performance and strategies and routinely ask employees what the can be done to make the company a better place to work so that

Restructuring the company  Simplify

the flow of information

  Simplify

the corporate structure unnecessary jobs altogether.

  Provide

them training in order to help them to adopt the changes in the working environment

 

Communication 

Providing employees with clear indications of what is expected of them.

 

Confer with employees regularly to discuss performance and strategies

• Sense of ownership: Provide employees with a sense of ownership in their work and the work environment •

• Support: Emphasize that you are there to help them and be a productive part of the team. 

CONCLUSION

Negative impact 

Insecurity

 

More workload

 

Less loyalty and motivation(Survivor Syndrome)

   

Worse working performance

Short-term solutions 

Demonstrate empathy

 

Be positive

 

Tell the truth

 

Be understanding



Motivate

  Be



insightful

Long term solution 

Communicate

 

Establish long-term incentives

 

Restructure the company

Reference List

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm (U.S. Mass Layoffs Summary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk1009.pdf (Labour Market Statistics, Office for National Statistics, UK)  http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/time (NY Times layoffs) http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/google-plans-to-la (google layoffs) 

       



• http://www.hketousa.gov.hk/usa/press/2009/oct09/1019 (HK Economics & Trade Office: unemployment- 09) http://www.hketousa.gov.hk/usa/press/2009/jan09/012009_2.h (HK Economic & Trade Office: unemployment -08) • http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr200 (HSBC layoffs, Business Week 09) http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp? pp_cat=30&art_id=81159&sid=23548600&con_type=1&d _str=20090422&sear_year=2009 (HSBC layoffs, the Standard 09)

http://www.talentmgt.com/industry_news/2008/Novemb

Thank you!