Developing adaptable and resilient leaders in a world of layoffs

Recently, several companies have grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons. Companies such as Dyson, Tata Steel UK, BBC, PWC, and others have either slashed jobs in the UK or plan to do so in the near future due to various reasons such as worldwide restructuring of the organization, lowering of production costs, shifts in consumer tastes and so on. Unfortunately, such layoffs can trigger a psycho-social problem among survivors (i.e., those who survive a layoff) called “survivor guilt” which refers to a mixed bag of emotions (depression, anxiety, guilt), attitudes (e.g., lack of organizational commitment), and behaviors (reduced risk-taking and motivation).

Beyond negatively impacting surviving employees, layoffs could also put surviving leaders in a precarious position: They are still expected to meet or exceed expectations from their top bosses, but they are now expected to meet expectations with limited company resources (e.g., a tightening of budget, reduced headcount).

Furthermore, leaders themselves are not immune to layoffs and, therefore, need to deal with anxieties related to the possibility of being let go. More importantly, with a layoff announcement comes the dreaded task of making decisions on the specific people to be let go from the team and to communicate the same to the impacted employees. This can leave the leaders with emotional scars.

These different aspects associated with a layoff may increase the likelihood of “leader derailment” or leader failure.

Unfortunately, the bad news doesn’t end here. With companies introducing AI to get work done or to save costs, a recent Forbes article states that layoffs could become more common in the coming years and it may impact jobs across a wide spectrum of industries.

This poses a major human resource development (HRD) challenge for companies. Specifically, how should they ensure their leaders remain adaptable and resilient during uncertain times and thus not end up getting derailed?

Functioning effectively as a leader in an environment that is characterized by layoffs and other disruptions requires competencies like self-awareness, empathy, resilience, change management, agility, crisis resolution, strategic thinking, and communication. Companies can develop a learning roadmap to systematically build these competencies in their leaders. This can involve a range of learning solutions like instructor-led learning, human process labs, coaching, and mentoring. However, the most important component of the learning roadmap should be carefully designed on-the-job learning experiences. After all, these competencies are best forged in the fire of crucible experiences.

In particular, companies need to design job experiences that push their leaders into dealing with uncertainty. These experiences should involve leaders working on challenges that go beyond the narrow confines of their existing roles and push them to interact with people (within and outside the organization) that they have rarely or never interacted with. In dealing with uncertainty on the job through these experiences, over time, leaders may come to develop higher levels of adaptability and resilience needed to protect effectiveness in a world marred by ever-increasing layoffs.

So, what types of learning experiences can help a company’s leadership pool become more adaptable and resilient at work?

Exposure to low-, medium-, and high-uncertainty experiences would be a good start. However, when considering who to place in which leadership experience, companies need to pay special attention to leaders’ readiness and motivation for undergoing such experiences. Those with low capability and motivation for such experiences may suffer from anxiety on how to respond or worry over performance failure, interfering with their attempts to learn from the experience.

1. Low-uncertainty experience: A low-uncertainty experience for leaders could be task forces, committees, or project assignments in addition to their existing jobs. For example, a junior Sales Manager can be assigned to a cross-functional team with a Project Manager and an IT specialist who is tasked with the job of implementing a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. For a Sales Manager, this is a low-risk exposure as he or she needs to collaborate with others to get the system implemented. As such, there is shared accountability for the outcome to be produced.
2. Medium-uncertainty experience: A medium-uncertainty experience could be a temporary lateral job movement wherein leaders cross functional boundaries. For example, a mid-level Marketing Manager who has been moved from the Sales and Marketing team to the Operations department is now able to analyze wider issues (production processes and logistical challenges) that impact product marketing. This exposure makes the Marketing Manager reexamine existing assumptions of product marketing, thus triggering potential ideas for revamping the company’s existing marketing strategy. For the Marketing Manager representative, this is a medium-risk exposure as he or she will be held accountable for transferring new knowledge gained from this lateral movement back to his or her Sales and Marketing team. Yet, this new knowledge may not necessarily result in urgent changes within the marketing strategy of the company.
3. High-uncertainty experience: A high-uncertainty experience could involve introducing new products, expanding manufacturing facilities, revamping operations that have been marred with financial or operational challenges, and negotiating mergers and acquisitions. For leaders given this responsibility, this is a high-risk exposure because they will be held accountable to urgently introduce or ring in massive changes in the operations while doing so by motivating and organizing people whom they may have rarely (if ever) interacted with!

Apart from helping the leaders build the requisite capabilities, it is most important that companies keep the leaders involved and informed on key decisions. This will not only help the leaders to build greater awareness of the company’s context and the rationale for the changes including layoffs but also encourage them to higher ownership. Blind leading the blind, is not a good model for leading teams through change and disruptions!

Companies must take a proactive stance in exposing their leaders to the uncertainty that an eventual layoff would create. By exposing them to varying levels of uncertainty through job experiences, companies are likely to cultivate an adaptable and resilient leadership pool, thus sustaining leadership and organizational effectiveness.