‘The nature of bad news infects the teller’: The experiences of envoys in the face to face delivery of downsizing initiatives in UK public sector organisations

Aim: This study builds on a previous research paper published by Acas (Ashman 2012) that explores the experiences of public sector employees that have been given the task of delivering the generally bad news of downsizing decisions face to face with the victims and then deal with the immediate repercussions – labelled downsizing envoys. The evidence from that paper is combined here with data gathered from envoys in the private sector in order to identify the similarities and differences in the experiences of envoys between the two sectors. The aim of this paper is to develop further our understanding of the envoy situation and to identify what instances of good practice can be garnered from either sector. Methodology: In combination with evidence from the public sector study a total of 50 envoys were interviewed; where 24 came from across 9 public sector organisations, a further 24 from across 8 private sector organisations and two independent consultants. The interviewees are all presently or recently based in the North West of England. Including the 2 consultants 30 envoys are HR professionals and the other 20 are envoys drawn from other organisational functions. Findings: A broad summary of the data gathered would indicate that in terms of how they undertake the role - that is, regarding attitude and personal conduct - the envoys are very similar irrespective of their sector or organisation. However, where the sector does have a differentiating influence is on how the role affects the envoys – in other words, the emotion and strain experienced in carrying out the task. Factors that make a difference here include how much support is available to envoys and what part they play in decision making processes. Suggestions for good practice: The suggestions for good practice include ensuring that envoys are involved in decisions that affect their role and impact upon their understanding of downsizing rationale; that envoys do not feel forced into the role; that realistic efforts are made to train and develop envoys – especially with regard to the emotional aspects of the role; and to ensure that envoys are properly supported throughout downsizing activity

Managerial Compensation in a Two-Level Gift-Exchange Experiment

In times of increasing international competition firms demand concessions from employees to carry out necessary restructuring measures, which can partly be resisted by workers, whose behavior at work can not be fully contracted upon. At the same time, management compensations are perceived as too high by the majority of the population. In our paper we explore to what extent these two observations are related. In a two-level gift-exchange experiment it is asked if the managerial compensation influences workers' effort decisions and workers' willingness to accept wage cuts. We compare sessions in which the managerial compensation is public information with private information sessions. Our data suggests that the managerial compensations in public wage sessions are signiffcantly negatively correlated with the workers' effort choices -in particular after wage cuts. The profit-maximizing strategy for the firm is to compress wages when the managerial compensation is public information.managerial compensation, social preferences, laboratory experiment, gift-exchange, e¤ort, downsizing

When are layoffs acceptable? Evidence from a quasi-experiment

Many authors have discussed a decline in internal labor markets and an apparent shift to a new employment contract, characterized by less commitment between employer and employee and more portable skills. These discussions occur without much evidence on what employment contract employees currently feel is fair. We perfomed quasi-experimental surveys to study when employees in the U.S. and Canada feel that layoffs are fair. Layoffs were perceived as more fair if they were due to lower product demand than if the result of employee suggestions. This result appears to be solely due to norms of reciprocity (companies should not punish employees for their efforts), rather than norms of sharing rents, as new technology was also considered a justification for layoffs. Consistent with theories of distributive and procedural equity, layoffs were perceived as more fair if the CEO voluntarily shared the pain. CEO bonuses due to layoffs lowered their reported fairness only slightly. Respondents in Silicon Valley were not more accepting of layoffs than were those in Canada on average, although the justifications considered valid differed slightly.New employment contract, fairness, justifications, layoffs, survey, Leex

Effects of exclusion on social preferences

In three party ultimatum games the proposer can first decide whether to exclude one responder, what increases the available pie. The experiments control for intentionality of exclusion and veto power of the third party. We do not find evidence for indirect reciprocity of the remaining responder after the exclusion of the other. Similarly, not excluding the second responder is only insignificantly reciprocated by it. Overall, we find little evidence that intentional exclusion has substantial effects on behavior.Exclusion, bargaining, ultimatum game, social preferences, experiment

THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF ORGANIZATIONAL DOWNSIZING

In spite of the frequent need for downsizing organisations, managers are in general badly prepared to meet such contingencies when they arise. There is thus a real need for educating managers to handle layoffs. This paper analyses the emotional dynamics at work in cases of downsizing organisations, the types of impact on layoff ‘survivors’ and the coping strategies that management may promote and deploy in order to minimise organisational trauma. Emotions are key factors in social life upon which a coherent sense of community ultimately depends. The idea advanced here is that understanding and managing emotions may enhance survivor coping capacities and thus prevent the major negative effects of downsizing for both the organisation and the individual. The paper concludes with practical recommendations to ensure that emotional well-being is prioritised as central to the process of downsizing in order to maximize cooperation and sustain collective endeavour.Downsizing; layoffs; emotional management; coping strategies; stress

Collective Turnover at the Group, Unit, and Organizational Levels: Evidence, Issues, and Implications

Studies of the causes and consequences of turnover at the group, unit, or organizational level of analysis have proliferated in recent years. Indicative of its importance, turnover rate research spans numerous academic disciplines and their respective journals. This broad interest is fueled by the considerable implications of turnover rates predicting broader measures of organizational effectiveness (productivity, customer outcomes, firm performance) as well as by the related perspective that collective turnover is an important outcome in its own right. The goal of this review is to critically examine and extract meaningful insights from research on the causes and consequences of group, unit, and organizational turnover. The review is organized around five major “considerations,” including (1) measurement and levels of analysis issues, (2) consequences, (3) curvilinear and interaction effects, (4) methodological and conceptual issues, and (5) antecedents. The review concludes with broad directions for future research

Conceptualising managerial and leadership wisdom - how many wise managers and leaders do you know?

The term ‘wisdom’ is used frequently in terms of managerial and leadership functioning and development. However, when asked ‘How many wise managers and leaders do you know?’ most people struggle to firstly name people and secondly, to explain what ‘wise or wisdom’ means because they tend to consider wisdom from a particular paradigm – philosophical, spiritual, cultural, psychological or ethical. This conceptual paper raises different perceptions of the meaning of ‘wisdom’ before broadly critiquing literature that deals with wisdom in terms of philosophical, spiritual, cultural, psychological and ethical constructs. This leads to summations that wisdom is largely contextual –someone might be considered wise in one context but not in another – and that a knowledgeable person is not necessarily a wise person. However, wisdom appears to comprise elements of knowledge, integrity and compassion. The paper then discusses wisdom as an ethical construct in management and leadership and concludes with a conceptual discussion of the vexed question ‘can wisdom be developed?

Response to increasingcompetition by business organizations in India: Voluntary Retirement Schemesand their Outcomes

Companies in India have responded to the challenges of globalization in various ways. One of the strategies to survive in the market was to reduce the cost by reduction in the number of employees with the help of Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS). This paper examines different types of VRS offered by the companies in the year 1999-2000 in India. It also examines the effect of VRS on the profitability of companies. Findings are based on the VRS of 30 companies from diverse sectors. Findings indicate that there is no fixed pattern of VRS among companies in India. Different companies adopt different forms of VRS. The implementation of VRS also differs significantly between companies. The results indicate that framing an attractive VRS by offering high compensation to employees is not important. The success of VRS depends on how the scheme is implemented and the perception of the persons opting of VRS and the survivors. The key concerns for the successes of VRS are effective communication, building trust among employees about procedural justice and involvement of multiple stakeholders.

Europe's emissions trading scheme: taxpayers versus sthe industry lobby

The European Commission plans to tighten the greenhouse gas emissions targets in the Emissions Trading System. Ralf Martin and colleagues examine the likely impact on affected businesses, and conclude that industry is exploiting concerns about competitiveness to obtain free emission permits according to criteria that are too lax.industry, R&D, carbon policy, carbon trading

Ethics and Downsizing : A Policy-Capturing Approach

Downsizing has become a prominent part of the business landscape and is reshaping the way people work and deal with their organizations. The present study investigated how the context and process behind a downsizing decision can influence people’s perceptions of the organization. Using a policy capturing methodology, subjects read 67 scenarios about downsizing organizations and were asked to rate the fairness of the organization and indicate if an ethical violation had occurred. The cues manipulated included the size of the organization, whether the company is currently losing money, whether the company tried other options before considering downsizing, whether the layoffs were performance based or if they were laying off the highest earners, whether the victims were given notice and an explanation by management, and whether the company provided career outsourcing. Analysis of results found that a majority of subjects utilized the cues of whether the downsizing decision was performance-based, whether ample notice was given by management, and whether the organization provided career assistance, in determining whether the scenario was fair and whether an ethical violation had occurred. A minority of subjects used the cues of organizational size, whether the organization was losing money when they made the decision to downsize, and whether the organization tried other options before making the decision to downsize, in determining perceptions of fairness and whether an ethical violation occurred. Between group analyses of demographic variables were not significant indicating that gender, ethnicity, and work experience did not influence which cues individuals used to make decisions about whether the scenario was fair or whether an ethical violation occurred. The study found that variables influencing how an organization conducts downsizing contributes to whether downsizing is perceived as fair and ethical. Limitations and future directions are discussed