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Performance Management

Published November 2009

Managing Chaos

 

  Chuck Green

Even under normal circumstances, keeping a business on a steady course can be rife with challenges. But nowadays, with a stream of changes unfolding at a sometimes breakneck clip, a queasy economy and employees on edge over job security, more and more companies are managing chaos.

Yet work still must be done, deadlines met. In other words, it's business as usual in an environment that is far from it. This can be frustrating for employees and managers, but according to experts, workplace issues are not insurmountable if dealt with properly.

Marcia Riley, vice president of talent management and human resources for ESI International, said companies must be "very in touch, very agile and very nimble. There's simply no book on how to navigate the business climate today. It's a daily triage."

Riley said ESI International, which specializes in project and contract management and business analysis, frames the issue in terms of "owners versus renters." While many renters bail during difficult times like these, "when it's tense and uncertain," owners tend to be more resilient. "[Their mindset] is to get through it, ask questions and put out fires instead of fanning them," explained Riley.

In fact, Gint Baukus, senior vice president of global talent management at Western Union, said in this economy, it's prudent for companies to hone in on how to deal with the business climate, even if it means other areas receive less attention. After all, he said, the "real trick" is to allay employees' fears, as they are understandably unnerved by external forces, such as the blitz of bad news coming at them from multiple sources. "You can't turn on the television or pull up Yahoo news [without hearing] about the doom and gloom. We have our arms around the day-to-day [issues]; we just can't predict how people are going to react when news on the outside gets worse."

Western Union conducted an engagement survey to measure employees' moods and priorities, despite internal debate about the wisdom of doing so in this market. Ultimately, the organization felt the need to pinpoint what employees were talking about and reinforce its interest in the workforce. "It's one of those age-old questions: whether to be careful of what you ask," Baukus said. "But if you fail to engage people and learn how they're doing, a company can't make [things] better."

When the results of the survey came in, Western Union found key employee engagement measures had actually improved since the previous survey — "a real accomplishment in this climate," said Baukus.

These days, employees need all the reassurance they can get. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers took 2,933 mass layoff actions in May that resulted in the separation of 312,880 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month. Each action involved at least 50 people from a single employer.

The national unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in September 2009, seasonally adjusted, up from 5.8 percent a year earlier. In September, total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 263,000 over the month.