Economic crisis and employee engagement

Introduction

The current economic hardship in the country is expected to have far reaching consequences for the entire country, industry, organizations and individuals.

Ultimately, the impact on the individual will be manifested in the behavior, attitude and the outlook of the employee at the workplace.

At the corporate level, the impact will be felt by the individual worker, who will react in several ways with obvious impact on productivity.

Economic crisis has been de ned as: “a period of social change or instability that evokes feelings of fear, panic and danger amongst organizational members”. Such a situation will obviously draw negative reaction from stakeholders at the enterprise level, through industry to the national level.

Drawing upon this de nition, we will like to highlight HR’s role in o ering strategic interventions which can diminish such feelings among workers as HR works in helping to lead and manage individual and organizational change. In times of fear in whom will a worker place his trust? Of course, a rational being will ultimately resort to God; but before then, he will do a self-introspection, examine available opportunities as well as threats. The worker will also examine his strengths and weaknesses. He will then turn his attention to the established systems, including the legal framework, his terms of employment contract as well as the industrial climate.

In this write-up we will seek to focus on the individual employee at the workplace, the class he is identied with and his expected reaction to the crisis and what the HR Practitioner will have to do to mitigate the impact of the negative tendencies in order to make the most of the situation.

Categories of Workers

Generally speaking, workers may be grouped into four categories, particularly in the face of crisis, namely the Engaged, the Disengaged, Distracted and the Disgruntled. Let us examine these categories one after the other.

The Engaged, the desired class of workers, are those who have a high stake in the business and hold on to hope for better times ahead despite current challenges. To them, no condition is permanent as this phase in the history of the company will pass. They are disposed towards nding better ways of doing things and saving cost. They are the organizational citizens (old soldiers) who will bend over backwards to move the company forward despite obvious challenges. They exert positive energy at all times and seek to work on other workers to turn around the fortunes of the company.

The Disengaged are those whose commitment to the system has been undermined or waned by reason of their age and nearness to retirement. In terms of energy they appear drained; the spirit is willing but the body is weak. They exhibit the following characteristics:

• High Sense of Loyalty

• Good Institutional Memory

• Pride in the Company Brand

• Prepared to serve as brand ambassadors

• Willingness to work on projects

• Scatter-brained

• Physically present but mentally absent

In the circumstance, they cannot wait to leave even though unsure of life after retirement.

The Distracted like the Disengaged do not have con dence in the system and tend to be on a continuous lookout for better opportunities elsewhere. They are thus engaged in a process of job search within the industry and even beyond. Depending on their background, the job search may not be limited to local jobs but also international appointments. They are also not sure whether to go into private business/self- employment or stay in formal employment.

The Disgruntled are a shade worse than the disengaged as they are aggrieved by one event or the other in the course of their employment with the organization. They will naturally exhibit the following characteristics:

• Sense of Despair

• Betrayal

• Disconnection

• Disappointment

• Loss of Loyalty

• High propensity to Sabotage

• Disposition towards Disrespecting Rules and Authority

In the circumstance, punctuality and attendance will su er as the worker at the slightest opportunity will nd an excuse for not attending work. Naturally, the worker will be prone to all manner of stress- related illnesses. There will therefore, be a call for HR to put in place measures to reassure workers of better times ahead especially after the crisis.

The economic crisis, with a tendency to shrink budgets will exacerbate the sense of discrimination and will cause them to exhibit tendencies of sabotage and non-conformance. They will attend work late and close early. They will use company resources for personal gain without counting the cost.

Brazen disregard for authority will be their hallmark. They are often the long-serving ones among the workforce and have a sense of entitlement. They insist that they should have a better share of whatever is available because of their long service which has been overlooked by Management.

HR’s Response

HR will have to work on each class of workers to move them from the undesirable quadrants (Disengaged, Distracted and the Disgruntled) to the desired (Engaged). In the alternative, ways will have to be found to let go the undesirables. Let us look at the various ways in which

HR will tackle the problem of disengagement.

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Performance Management

The one instrument that gives meaning to HR Management is Performance Management which essentially seeks to align the individual’s work objectives and vision to that of the corporate vision. It involves setting performance targets and making resources and systems available to the worker to deliver his mandate. It is a system for setting up the worker to succeed.

At the end of it all, the worker will be rewarded for a good job done or be sanctioned for non-performance. In the extreme situation, the worker may lose his job for non-performance. The disengaged, the disgruntled and the distracted may be whipped into line by a robust and e ective performance management system regardless the harsh economic crisis.

• Performance Counselling

A natural fallout from performance management is counselling for non-performers. In that process, the worker’s attention is drawn to his weaknesses and ways of reversing the trend and improving performance. Regardless of the category a worker falls into, the counselling session will serve as a wake-up call for him to shape up or shape out. This may take the form of a Performance Improvement Program.

Performance Counselling is, however, not limited to non-performers. Good performers may be taken through Career Counselling wherein the worker will be exposed to a process of knowing and understanding himself and the world of work in order to make career choices in order to realize career ambitions. Thus regardless of the category a worker falls into, counselling will work to instill in him a positive attitude and a sense of purpose.

• Psychological Therapy Workers with undesirable traits may have to be referred to Industrial Psychologists for examination and advice or treatment. HR may commence the process with self-administered psychometric tests, including the Myers Briggs type indicator, Assessment Centre, the DISC Personality Test and the Change Style Indicator (CSI – Centre for Creative Leadership) just to mention a few.

In extreme cases, the Disengaged and the Disgruntled may be referred to Psychiatrics for examination and treatment.

It is important to note that stress-related illnesses could be traceable to breaches of the psychological contracts between the employer and employee as a result of the economic crisis.

• Multi-Skilling

In the face of shrinking business opportunities and job losses, HR may want to make multi-skilling an integral part of the Training Program of companies. That way workers can become versatile and take on multiple tasks in order to keep their jobs. This may confuse approved career plans for sta , but it will be better than a redundancy.

• Hybrid Work Models

With improved technology and Arti cial Intelligence, HR may want to introduce a exible work model that supports a blend of in-o ce, remote and on-the-go arrangement to enable workers operate from home and o -site locations without compromising productivity.

The issue of regular attendance and productivity will not be a priority as workers would not need to put in physical appearance on daily basis. Cost may be saved in terms of o ce space, transportation, electricity and centralized computerized systems.

Re-engineering of the Mix of Workers

The economic crisis will naturally lead to organizations right/down-sizing or in the alternative placing employees on short-term contracts as against long-term permanent employment contracts. This will be a more preferable option than a complete loss of jobs by job holders

HR may in the circumstance consider establishing ratios among the following identi able classes of workers: I. Permanent II. Contract III. Temporary IV. Casual V. Outsourced

This will be on account of the real likelihood of organizations resorting to cost saving and the fore-costing of their operations for purposes of e ciency. In the process, the Employee Value Proposition will be greatly a ected.

Redundancy Planning/Outplacement

The one thing that will preoccupy the attention of HR will be the declaration of redundancies as a result of loss of business and the share of the market. Though simple and clearly laid out in the Labour Act, 2003, Act 651 the exercise will require a lot of planning, including the determination of numbers, the selection criteria, the formula for calculating benets, union buy-in, and the initiation of mitigation measures.

Arrangements with outplacement companies will be a primary pre-occupation for HR as victims of redundancies will expect some form of support from their employers in linking them up for alternative jobs.

Retirement Planning

Economic crisis with the attendant job losses will place an obligation on HR to continuously expose employees to retirement planning be it early retirement or compulsory. Such programs will have as part of the highlights the following: a. Personal Financial Planning b. Business Planning and Accounting c. Investment Opportunities h. s e. Sole Proprietorships/Partnerships f. Taxation and Tax Avoidance g. The National Pension Scheme i. Health Related Issues after Retirement j. Job Search and Preparation of CVs

Conclusion

We set out in this write-up to examine the impact of the current economic hardship on organizations with particular emphasis on the employee at the workplace. For purposes of analysis we categorized employees into four groups, one being the desirable and the others not desirable. The response of HR to each class with a view to moving them into the desired quadrant has been discussed and suggestions made.

It is expected that HR Practitioners will take a cue from some of the suggestions and do the needful while we wait for a return to normalcy.