NEC Australia’s general manager of HR and corporate response Peter Hoy says: “A lot of people aren’t sleeping well at the moment. It is not an easy thing to do.”
For the 822 NEC staff that have survived this round of job cuts, it is business as usual. Hoy concedes that staff are worried about the future. “They are asking us, are we viable?” Hoy hopes that NEC’s new financial year on 1 April will have been a turning point after a tough year.
Wakefield emphasises to her clients the importance of individual performance management during and after corporate restructures. “You’ve got to engage with staff, ask plenty of questions, and keep walking the floors.”
When a company sends inconsistent messages to staff (staff must use up annual leave but senior executives don’t, travel budgets cut in some but not all departments), employees switch off and reduce productivity and efficiency (unless you count surfing job sites and polishing up the CV as work).
Shen likens this situation to a virus. “The culture of the organisation becomes infectious,” he says. “Staff become negative, unhelpful and poorly motivated.”
Chairman of Quest Serviced Apartments Paul Constantinou is determined to remain upbeat, despite the slowdown. “It’s not a doom-and-gloom atmosphere. There are loads of opportunities out there,” he says.
Constantinou has been in business for two decades, and has seen slumps before. “Quest customers may not be travelling as much as they used to, but they are still doing business,” he says.
His franchise company operates 120 properties and has 55 employees. “A lot of people are reacting to the media and all the bad news.” Constantinou advises Quest Apartment operators to listen less to the bad news and concentrate more on customers.
“Six months ago people were complaining about how they can’t find good staff. So why, six months later, are they taking out the machete and cutting their employees?”
One of the simplest, easiest and most popular morale booster in Australian workplaces is the humble footy tipping competition.
Food wholesaler Kirkfood only has a staff of 12, but there are more than 200 participants in its 2009 footy tipping competition. Clients have been encouraged to sign up (for $40). Kirkfood manager Stephen Kirk can’t believe how successful it has been.
“We actually use it as a bit of a tool to tell people about new products and services,” he says. There is even a Kirkfood Facebook page where Kirkfood footy tippers can discuss the game kick by kick. “People get engaged in things they enjoy.” Kirkfood has turned a bit of fun into an extremely valuable and painless way to regularly connect with customers without doing the hard sell.
Source: Christopher Shen Consulting
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