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Energising Employees
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hroughout the global economic slowdown, many companies have had to sharply cut costs, and many more will continue to do so even as the situation improves. These initiatives can be incredibly stressful for both executives and employees. Unfortunately, that stress often isn't justified by the end result. In fact, most cost-cutting efforts don't succeed in the long run. What goes wrong? Often these initiatives only consider numerical goals and don't address the bedrock fundamentals of a company. Productivity doesn't im24
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prove, and ineffective leadership strategies remain in place. As a result, these efforts at best generate ‘phantom’ reductions, in which any savings from eliminated positions creep back in the form of vendors or contractors performing the same services – sometimes at higher costs than the original staffers. Worse, these programmes fail in a more pervasive way, by alienating employees and convincing them that they shouldn't care about the company or its success. Much of this has to do with communication. All too often, cost cuts are man-
dated – driven by managers who use fear and discipline to accomplish their objectives instead of motivating employees to engage in the process in a more positive way. Targets are set, the axe falls, and everyone from the CEO downward grits their teeth and tries to get through it. Despite well-intended top-down communications – often led by members of a company's HR department – employees suspect they are not getting the whole story. Negative rumours circulate, insecurities build, and water-cooler scepticism persists.
Qatar Today september 10
9/28/10 2:01:26 PM