Mergers and Layoffs and what’s in Between

When a patient resides in palliative care, effort is usually taken to make the person’s last days as comfortable as possible. It is truly unfortunate that the same consideration is not taken in other, similar situations. A couple months ago, my company was in the final stages of restructuring and although neither I nor my co-workers were facing the end of our lives, we were, in a sense, facing the slow inevitable death of our jobs.

The company where we were employed had been acquired by a hostile takeover. What ensued was a mass exodus as many people scrambled to find other jobs. Once the dust had cleared, those of us remaining looked around and took stock. We were the ones who had decided to continue until the end. Knowing that we would be jobless in mere months was not an easy realization. To the new company we became the expendable ones.

We reluctantly settled in and tried to remain proud and positive. A new dress code was implemented with less than four months left. For most people it seemed ridiculous and unnecessary. Vacations were limited, coffee breaks were monitored and appointments were scrutinized. It felt like the entire department was slowly eroding. We became stressed, worried and had a difficult time concentrating. Instead of adhering to the new rules, many people began to push them to the limit. It was almost like watching an unintentional social experiment. One wonders why we even bothered to stay.

Many of us owed the new company no allegiance at all, but stayed because we felt loyal to each other. What remained of the old corporation, as it was slowly assimilated, were relationships with our co-workers, past and present. Had it not been for the many others surrounding us, who were in the same situation, it would have been much harder getting through the last month. If the new company had not been so focused on the bottom line or how they looked to the press, they would have seen that the rules they had set to increase productivity were actually having the opposite effect.

To cope, I turned it into a learning experience. I took two important things away from this. The first thing was how you cannot underestimate the importance of camaraderie among your co-workers. I had read articles that said caring co-workers were the number one reason for job satisfaction. I can personally attest to this. The second thing I took away was how not to treat a group of potentially loyal employees. There is no easier way of alienating your people than by suddenly changing, for the worse, the environment on which they depend and have become most comfortable. Employees should be treated as the assets and investments they are rather than expenses, regardless of how long they will be there, because the only thing worse than losing a happy employee is keeping an unhappy one.