What about the workers?
This seems to have been a bad week for jobs… 10,000 at BT, 400 at JCB, reports of 150,000 in the City and that is the tip of the iceberg. All of this has been seen as a cost-cutting exercise in the face of tough economic times. The people leaving will be well looked after no doubt, with generous separation packages that are then put into ‘exceptional items’ in the company’s next financial report.
But, what of those that are left? How do they feel? Often being asked to pick up the work of those that have left, having to operate without the guidance of an experienced middle manager, dealing with customer service complaints caused by lack of resource. Or perhaps they might see it positively, in that there are fewer people in front of them to compete to climb the greasy corporate career pole.
Either way, it is a time when keeping everyone’s eyes focused on the real purpose of business, a phrase coined by the late Peter Drucker: “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.”(see http://800ceoread.com/blog/archives/005424.html).
This means keeping everyone, from the back to the front office, as well as key partners, meshed in a venture to ‘keep and create new customers’. This focus helps those employees who view the current job losses as a threat – as customer success will mean fewer future job cuts – or an opportunity – where better to shine than in building the top line…
Creating this focus is not easy. It demands a consistency of message and approach from top through middle management to the customer front line. It demands simplified decision chains and simplified processes – fewer meetings and more action. It demands a singular communication infrastructure that will galvanise this energy to get results.
So, rather than what about the unemployed, I say what about the workers!
