Is redundancy redunant?

[Bay Jordan]

I am in the throes of writing an article around the premise that there is no place for redundancy (mass layoffs) in the modern economy; even in the light of the current economic downturn.

I would love to know what other members of this group think. Am I barking at the moon. or plain barking mad? Or are there people out there who actually agree with me?

[Maryanna Kontaratos]

I agree with you, Bay.

Many companies are quick to layoff staff as a way to reduce their costs during an economic downturn. Engaged leaders will only consider redundancy an option as a last resort. Job security is an important driver of engagement.

However, there are times when layoffs become a necessity for the company to remain in business. But what's the cost of mass layoffs to the remaining staffers? Employee satisfaction and engagement don't thrive after the axe has fallen, colleagues/friends are gone, jobs are consolidated and workloads increase. So, unhappy employees = not so happy customers = a hit at the bottom line. Redundancy has a ripple effect.

[David Zinger]

Bay:

I hate the term redundancy.

It sounds too close to "dunce" for me. If I am redundant, I may feel like a dunce or an idiot for investing so much time and so much of myself in the organization.

Redundancy both angers and saddens me.

Yes, an organization must be a viable economic entity but once again we are not seeing employees as assets but costs and I believe there are huge costs attached to redundant approaches to individual employees and organizations.

[Bay Jordan]

Thank you both for your feedback.

David, I hate the word too and everything it stands for, but what word would you use instead that conveys the essence of the term in the same way? When mass layoffs occur the common term is redundancy for the people have been made redundant or, literally, surplus to requirements and therefore of no further use!

There is no doubt that the effects are more than just a ripple - they are huge, and I would therefore suggest that if the true scale was known, with its long-term implications, the practice would not be so widely resorted to.It is another example of often ingnorant or incompetent managers and a clear indication that commerce and economics are regarded as two unrelated sciences, which they clearly should not be!

[David Zinger]

Bay,

As you well know it is not just the word it is the whole experience of this. We are talking about organizational disengagement not employee disengagement. My hope is that the individual is able to transform this experience into resiliency and seeing stronger how they are responsible/accountable for themselves. We will not be taken care of, yet hopefully we do not lose our caring for ourselves and others.

You seem to echo the sentiment of Susan Robinson. a member of our network:

Fear may produce a short burst of activity. But employees also look for an escape. Rates of voluntary turnover rise after a layoff. A study by Charlie O. Trevor and Anthony J. Nyberg, published in the April 2008 edition of The Academy of Management Journal, found that a layoff of 0.5% of the workforce was followed by an average 13% voluntary turnover - including some of the companies' top talent.

Employees leaving the company isn't the worst thing. What about employees who stay on the payroll but avoid doing anything more than the minimum, or actively work against company goals - undermining, bad mouthing the company, or instigating conflicts? Those are the kinds of behaviors you can expect from employees who are angry and trying to get even - The backlash from a feeling of powerlessness.

"The Myths and Realities of Downsizing" by Sami M. Abbasi and Dr. Kenneth W. Hollman is the most comprehensive review of the human and financial costs of layoffs that we've seen yet. It gives results from numerous studies that show an increase in disability claims, employee litigation, and even workplace violence following layoffs. These are the very same behaviors that the EAGER assessment predicts - Escape, Avoid, Get Even.

[David Zinger]

One final "note"...This discussion made me think of the video I put on this site: Stand by Me. We could use the sense that our organization would, "stand by me."