Professor Sir Cary Cooper explores the effects that changes in personnel can have on a workforce, and how managers can mitigate the impact on staff
For any workplace, employee churn is an expected part of the revolving world of recruitment and resourcing. Having colleagues coming and going enables an organisation to evolve, bringing new personalities and strengths to replace outgoing talents. But it can also cause disruption – with both positive and negative results.
Losing a colleague has a direct impact, but the actual effect it has varies greatly, depending on many factors. Did that employee leave on good terms? How valuable were they to the company? Where are they going – is it to a competitor? Why? What sort of relationship did the colleague have with their peers?
Quantifying the empathetic factors can be difficult, because different employees will see the loss differently. The challenge will be for managers to gauge the individual reactions of the colleagues who have remained, and coach each in their own particular way.
It is easier to quantify the effect of one less employee on the productivity and workload of the workforce. In an instant, workload will increase for all of those connected with the output of the departing person, and this can have several repercussions.
Increased hours can cause varying amounts of stress. Generally, those remaining will be accepting of challenging conditions in the first instance, but if a replacement isn’t sourced, or a revised structure implemented, in a reasonable amount of time, then unrest can begin to seep in.
In the short term, employees will often embrace the increased workload and look to cope with it, with productivity driven up as a result. However, managers should be wary of this as a longer-term solution, because increased hours, pressure and stress will soon have a knock-on effect of reduced morale, which in turn will cause productivity to fall.
The key to minimising these negative effects is by being proactive from the moment it is evident that an employee is leaving. Research into wellbeing and stress has shown that, by focusing on the elements that can be controlled, managers can combat the pressure caused by the unforeseen situation and better tackle any impact.
Management should first seek to evaluate the impact that the removal of the employee will have on workload, before swiftly moving forward with the recruitment process (if needed) to plug the gap as quickly and effectively as possible.
Next, they should take time to understand the reasons an employee has for leaving. It may be something unrelated to the work environment but, if there are gripes or anything specific to the work ecosystem, then those in senior positions will need to take stock and tackle any issues that need to be addressed. Exit interviews are a good evaluation method, and can have a positive effect in steering any changes that may be made.
Managers should then turn their attentions to the current workforce. What has the impact been? The departing person may be discontented, and it will be important to be aware of this and deal with any concerns that the remaining employees have.
In some situations, the workforce may feel the effects of job insecurity, they may question why the person left and they may feel that the grass is greener on the other side. For managers, it could be the time to galvanise the workforce, and assure them of forward plans and exciting possibilities for the organisation.
Steadying the waters will reassure the current workforce that they are valued, while any incoming replacements can add an air of excitement and possibility to proceedings
Dealing with the impact of losing a colleague can be a challenging time, but with careful management of stress, workload and the recruitment process, managers can minimise the effects and use the element of change as a springboard to future success.
Sir Cary Cooper is 50th anniversary professor of organisational psychology and health at Alliance Manchester Business School