Organizational Changes....Now what?

Companies have been forced to make major changes in order to survive, and employees are resisting these changes. When organizational decisions become more centralized, there tends to be some resistance from employees. Organizations go through major changes, and employees tend to resist as they are unsure of the change, concerned about their jobs, and worried how the changes will affect them. These negative feelings regarding the changes to be implemented could impact the business, and the positives that should come from the change are not seen. Organizations must approach change with the whole organization in mind.

Today, organizations must change or die (Robbins & Judge, 2007). If organizations stay the same with the new technology, political, regulation, and product changes, the organization will eventually be outside the marketplace. Change is essential. But, we must to adjust the organization by providing training, creating new policies and procedures, and communicating these to employees early in the change process. Technology changes so fast that once we update the computer system, a new and improved model is already on its way. If employees do not learn a newly implemented computer system, they will be left behind. In essence, employees are forced to learn new computer skills or risk becoming obsolete.

The changes are intentional to improve the organization, so employees must adapt to the changes. This can be scary for employees, but if managed properly, the changes can create opportunities for innovation and improved efficiency. The success of an organization lies with the employees, so it is imperative that changes are managed properly. There are techniques organizations can use to help manage change in order to help employees to be positive about the changes.

Continued in the next blog….



Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th edition).
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Corp.

Memorial Day Tribute

Thank you to all Servicemen servicewomen, and Veterans.

Thank you to all the veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Freedom is not free. This Memorial Day, I am humbled by those who are willing to risk their lives for our country. When my son was in Iraq, I decided to send his platoon some goodies for Christmas. Due the overwhelming response I received from family, friends, and even strangers, we adopted three platoons. My emails asking for help reached out to hundreds of people, and it wasn’t long before my living and dining rooms were full of food and sundries to send to the troops. I was at the post office so many times; the postmaster and I became friends. When my son came back from Iraq, we went to the Base to welcome him back. While in the nearby town, we realized that almost everywhere we looked there were Marines, servicemen either on their way to Iraq, or they just got back. I still had some funds left in the account, so at the spur of the moment, we decided to buy dinner for every serviceman in the restaurant. It was a great experience. These men (no women there at the time) were just kids in my eyes, just like my son, but in another way, they were men, but bigger than life. Thank you so much for your service and for keeping me safe and free!

Oh no, not another layoff!

Handling Lay Off's Professionally

Unfortunately, across the nation, organizations have cut back on employees which is one of their most expensive commodity in an organization, but also, the most valuable. One of the most difficult tasks of an HR manager is handling terminations. However, an involuntary termination is different from a lay off. With an involuntary termination, the employee has usually been warned more than once, so the termination should not be a surprise. The HR manager is usually very ready for the employee to have an opportunity somewhere else. A layoff usually is a surprise to those affected, and is usually not due to work performance. The HR manager is the bearer of bad news, and advising employees they have been selected for the layoff is very hard emotionally for the HR manager as well as the employee. The HR manager must keep their composure during the layoff notifications. How do HR managers handle this?

First, be prepared. Be prepared mentally. Be prepared with a script and try not to waiver from it. Be sure to not say “sorry,” as that could indicate the organization is doing something wrong. I like to use the phrase “it is unfortunate...” Next, be prepared emotionally. Do not get emotional even when the employee does. Have tissues ready. You can show sympathy by tone of voice, speech, and body language. If you must, act like a robot to get through it, do it. If you have several terminations to perform in one day, being regimen and having an agenda may be the only way to get through them. Then, after the terminations have been done, be sure to get away from the office for at least an hour to recoup. Go ahead and be emotional when you are by yourself. Then, come back to the office composed and ready to have a meeting with the remaining staff. Provide encouragement that this was a business decision for the survival of the company, and we must carry on, and we are still a great team. Again, the emotional state of mind will help the HR manager get through the face to face communication with staff. If executive management can conduct the meeting, it will mean more to the staff. The morale will be low but with positive attitude towards the future and sympathy towards those lost will help the environment of the organization to come around eventually.

I had a terminated employee give me a hug and tell me my job sucks...they were right. The task of laying off employees has been the hardest task of my career.

Pam Binns