Bouncing back: considerations for individuals and leaders

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We all have been going through an uncertain period. However, it is not over yet, this is an excellent time to stop, self-reflect, and learn from the situation. Living through this uncertain period gives us a chance to understand how we naturally behave under extraordinary circumstances, what we can do to become more resilient, and how leaders can help their team bounce back from a challenging time.

As someone whose industry is impacted by the pandemic, I've received plenty of advice on how to get through it: "stop watching the news," "focus on what you can control," "practice self-care," and even "indulge yourself." Although implied with good intent, considering the severity of the situation, I felt that something was missing. It wasn't until recently, when I came across a March episode of Savvy Psychologist Podcast from Dr. Jade Wu, that I found answers I was looking for.

Dr. Jade Wu shared tips on how to bounce back from adversity. Some of these tips sounded familiar, like allow yourself to feel lousy, practice self-care, and relax. However, she also calls out three additional recommendations that I felt were missing in corporate messaging:

• Find a meaning, a North Star. Start doing something today to move towards it.
• Trust that you control your faith—Dr. Wu's advice: "Act. Do. Take decisive action."

• Channel your "anxious energy" towards your goal.

Today a month into my new career, now being part of the thriving tech sector, and reflecting on the past year of my journey, I realize that I naturally followed the above advice. I set myself a goal to transition into a role that would advantageously position me for the future. It allowed me to feel in control of my own destiny instead of passively waiting on the layoff announcement. My "anxious energy" was beneficial while managing two roles and looking for a job simultaneously.

According to Harvard Business Review, often after a round of layoffs, those who survive get demoralized and quit. That brings us to our original question:  how can leaders help their team transition through a challenging time? In my January blog, we talked about the importance of an organization having a meaningful purpose that is bigger than them. This higher purpose touches on two of the above factors: it brings meaning to employees and lets employees channel their "anxious energy" towards a meaningful goal. This goal helps employees weather through difficult times and makes a company more robust towards adversities. It is organizational leaders' responsibility to define a meaningful purpose for their employees and unite them around it. What can this purpose be? A great example of reinventing a company's purpose is a French multinational insurance firm, Axa S.A. Axa CEO Thomas Buberl shifted the purpose from being a claim payment institution to empowering customers to live a better life through the reduction of risks. If an insurance company can find a social purpose, your company can find it too.

Finally, nothing makes employees feel that they've lost control more than layoffs. Another Harvard Business Review article shares the research which states that "bad layoffs and layoffs for the wrong reasons rarely help senior leaders accomplish their goals." There must be a better way. In her study, Sandra J. Sucher shares several alternatives to the standard layoffs for situations when companies are facing an uncertain future long term:

• AT&T developed a seven-year program to retrain 100,000 of its 240,000 employees by 2020 as they identified that these jobs would no longer be relevant.

• In 2013, instead of closing its plant in Roanne, France, Michelin agreed to create a new line of premium tires there using an improved industrial process. They reduced the headcount through natural attrition and creatively approached their shift schedule that allowed avoiding layoffs.

• Even when layoffs are inevitable, there is a better way to do it. In 2011 Nokia leaders were on a quest to avoid another mistake with layoffs while undergoing restructuring. They developed Nokia's Bridge program as a result. The program outlined five paths employees could choose from. They ranged from finding another job at Nokia to pitching to win a grant to start a business. This program helped employees to regain control over what they can do next.

In the examples above, companies were able to improve their productivity or, at the very least, maintain it as opposed to a 20% decline in job performance due to low morale after layoffs. If you are a leader in a company which is going through a difficult time, thinking of people first can help your employees to rebound and your company to thrive. With so much thought and effort put into employees’ well-being by some companies, where does it leave companies that do not follow this path? Are we allowed to ask ourselves if they are putting their employees first as they say they do?

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or leave a comment below.

—Olga Minikh, PMP

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