The implications of downsizing (rightsizing) to the employees, Research Paper

The implications of downsizing (rightsizing) to the employees, communities, and families of the employees - Research Paper Example Downsizing can have many implications on employees, their families as well as the communities in which rightsizing organizations operate. The impacts on employees may include loss of morale, financial loss and emotional and psychological stress among other effects. Similarly, their families are bound to suffer a reduction in standards of living and may also be subjected to psychological torture in the period that their bread winners remain jobless. Downsizing can also negatively impact on societies in which they operate. Through massive layoffs, the living standards in the societies decline and robbery may take lead in communities which are deficient of job opportunities. Irrespective of the motives, corporate downsizing may yield considerable consequences on the superficial corporate social responsibility of any organization. This paper explores the implications of downsizing on employees, their families and communities. How Downsizing (Rightsizing) Affect Employees Downsizing is a practice that has become synonymous with contemporary organizations. The experience of working in an environment with high likelihood of redundancy and seeing co-employees leave an organization has become part and parcel of workers. Downsizing in organizations makes employees to feel anxious. It affects the morale and also threatens the welfare of employees in numerous ways. In most occasions, employees may perceive the organization as unfair and behaving in unwarranted manner. Besides affecting the morale of employees, downsizing also thwarts trust, employee commitment, loyalty and performance. According to Redman and Wilkinson (2001), downsizing causes â€Å"downsizing syndrome† on survivors. It also imposes psychological impacts on leaving employees. i. Downsizing Implications On The Morale Of Employees Employee morale is a crucial determinant of organizational performance. In the event of downsizing, both surviving employees and downsizing victims tend to exhibit low work morale. Downsizing creates adverse emotions among remaining workers who feel withdrawn from executing their organizational duties. Moreover, surviving employees usually feel irritated, grief, betrayal and are psychologically estranged from their organization. Despite the fact that employees usually struggle to perform better in order to retain their jobs after downsizing, their attempt is usually compelled and not out of free will. Surviving employees are always ready to try new approaches to task execution. With few employees increasing, work burden increases and so does the stress level for employees. Consequently, a downsizing organization may fail to realize it anticipated better performance because of deteriorating morale of employees. In some cases, downsizing might even lead to protest and rampant absenteeism among employees, who feel uncertain as to what might become of them in the near future. The loss of longtime workmates and close friends adversely affect both leaving a nd surviving employees. The idea of separation flattens the morale of remaining employees, which in turn lowers the performance level. It is quite obvious that employees are bound to loss morale in the event of downsizing. Therefore, organizations should be ethical enough to mitigate the impact of downsizing on employees by ensuring adequate