Downsizing Process, Research Paper Example

Reenergizing Employees of ‘The Blaze’ after a Downsizing process

In any society, it is very important that any judgement or decision made be fair to all those involved. Bies(2001) says, ‘The people involved in decision making in any place of work must weigh all the possible solutions before landing on one.’ Procedural justice for instance dictates that the decisions made should be fair to all, the rules it is based on should be applied across the board and that the decision should be based on facts. This makes the people over which the decisions are made to acknowledge that the decision arrived at is for their own good and therefore the rules set are very well explained to them. They should also be left feeling that their rights as employees and as people have been taking into consideration.  On the other hand, distributive justice looks at how the resources are distributed, for example the distribution of salaries, bonuses and other remunerations. Is the salary earned proportional to the kind of work done? (Bies, 2001).

The Blaze is faced with a crisis after the downsizing. The employees feel insecureand de-motivated and there is need for restructuring the company to fit into the current market. Therefore, for the morning briefing, I would advice Andrea to employ the theory of informational justice, that is, she must comprehensively explain the procedures and the reasons why corporate took over and why the downsizing was done.All the other questions should be answered in Andrea’s afternoon briefing. Bearing in mind that the downsizing was done in a manner that was not well explained, the explanations she will give, as long as they are based on facts, will enable the other employees understand why it had to be done. In the process they will understand that were it not done that way, perhaps their jobs would also be in jeopardy. There are enough obvious reasons supporting the action which was taken. She must explain everything in the morning briefing as she prepares them for the afternoon briefing which will only be well comprehended once all the employees have all the facts of the status quo of the company(Bies, 2001).

It has been proven that monetary incentives have a positive effect on the effort and task performance of most employees. Infact money leads to the employees putting in more effort than they would if there were no monetary incentives. This is supported by the arousal theory which suggests that effort and performance increases as arousal increases but decreases when arousal goes above moderate. The cognitive evaluation however says that monetary incentives decrease the effort and performance (Deci, Betley, Kahle, Abrams, and Porac, 1981). Andrea has a group of unsatisfied and threatened workers. She however has some money at her disposal to use and remedy the situation. She must therefore come up with a plan of either giving them some bonus to boost their faith and retain them in the workforce or use that money to support the changes which have cropped up, like raising the pay of the employees who will have to undertake additional tasks. However, Some employees have already been complaining about too much work even before these changes are brought in. Faced with the two situations, she must apply the theory of justice to ensure that everybody feel that a fair judgement has been made. On the other hand distributive justice must prevail so that everybody earns what is proportional to his or her work. These two options come with a lot of ethical dilemma for example assigning more work without extra pay is not ethically right. Those with more work deserve better pay. On the other hand giving more pay to other workers and leaving others will appear to be demeaning to the less paid workers. She should therefore consider the probable options and enumerate their consequences before arriving at a decision (Corey & Hynes, 1998).

I would advise her therefore, to look at the qualifications of each of these employees, assign them work load based on their qualifications and experience and eventually pay them as per the work load without affecting the pay of others. Giving them a retention bonus will lead to complains especially from those assigned more work and this will demotivate them further.

For the employees at the Blaze to cope up with the new strategies proposed by Andrea, they must be highly motivated. This is because they are faced with seriousuncertainty of the new structures to be put in place and the fact that the life of the organization is slowly coming to an end. Unless they work with dedication and zeal through being motivated, these undesired ends will come true (Deci et al., 1981).

Andrea must therefore come up with motivational strategies, some of which I want to suggest to her. First of all, based on the theory of needs, especially Maslow’s theory, she will have to create an environment that allows the employees to meet their basic deficiency needs and also give them room for growth. She should assure them of their job security. She should also try and understand each of the employees’ need; there are those with high need for achievement, those with high need for power and those with high need for affiliation (Mc Clelland’s concept of achievement of needs). This will help her during the restructuring process. Rewards should be given fairly to those employees whose output is fair and this gives them motivation to work harder (theory of equity). She can as well put into practice Herzberg’s theory of motivation by applying simple principles like giving some employees complete authority or freedom which makes them feel responsible and recognized, or making her periodical reports available to the employees rather than her bosses(Arnold, Copper and Robertson, 1998). This makes them feel recognized hence giving them motivation.She must also give them psychological empowerment by allowing them to have some freedom of choice and action in their areas of work. This will boost their job satisfaction level, thereby increasing their productivity (Carless, 2004).

Generally she should work to try and meet the employee’s needs, build their self esteem and make them feel important in the company. This will give them the motivation they desire to take the company to the next level. It has been proven that personal satisfaction and professional responsibility dictates a person’s psychological well being and therefore improves job performance and commitment (Arnold, Copper & Robertson, 1998).

Finally, Andrea should allow the employees to put forth their opinions, suggestions, grievances and approvals to her. This is because the employees always feel part of the organisation if they are allowed to participate in making some decisions, especially those affecting them directly (Robbins, 2005).

Ifall the facts about the company’s situation had been explained and opinion sought from the employees before the downsizing, perhaps there wouldn’t be trouble trying to bring in the structural changes she intends to bring. This type of participatory management gives a sense of ownership to the employees while raising their self esteem and giving them some sense of fulfilment. Such employees are always receptive to change and therefore give room for the growth of the company. However, this may make employees feel that they are the decision makers and hence waste a lot of time formulating suggestions instead of doing their actual work. As indicated by Robbins (2005), the role of the employer must also remain clear; this means that not all the opinions poised by the employees must be taken into account, otherwise the respect between the employer and employee will cease.

Considering these factors, I would suggest that Andrea allow the employees to give suggestions, but she must come up with the ultimate decisions. Some decisions and changes also do not need consultation with the employees.

References

Arnold, J., Cooper, C. L., & Robertson, I. T. (1998). Work psychology: Understanding human behavior in the workplace (3rd Ed.). Person Education:Harlow, England

Bies, R. J. (2001). Interactional (in) justice: The sacred and the profane. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizationaljustice.New Lexington Press.Lexington, MA:

Carless, S. A. (2004). Does psychological empowerment mediate the relationship between psychological climate and job satisfaction? Journal of Business and Psychology, 18(4), 405-406.

Corey, G., Corey, M, & Haynes, R. (1998). Student workbook for Ethics in Action. Pacific 1

Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Deci, E. L., Betley, G., Kahle, J., Abrams, L., & Porac, J. (1981). When trying to win: competition and intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 79–83.

Robbins, S.P. (2005). Essentials of OrganizationalBehavior. (8th Ed). Prentice Hall,Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.