Layoffs are meant to strengthen the bottom line. And they do, numbers-wise, just in time for upcoming quarterly reports.
Yet cutting costs is only one part of the story. Sustained growth through mass layoffs and cutbacks is the real trick.
Not to mention how do we keep remaining employees engaged while they are feeling uncertain, shouldering extra work, and missing their cubicle buddy?
Culture Amp’s research found that employees’ present – and future – commitment to their employer dropped over 13% in companies with layoffs, as opposed to companies without layoffs. Motivation took a similar hit, dropping 9.3%.
Tech layoffs continued into 2024, with 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.FYI.
Strategies for Growth in Post-Layoff and/or Hiring Freeze
We don’t have to tell you—it’s hard for teams to feel the love during layoffs. Finding a balance isn’t easy, let alone prioritizing the Forshay Four essentials for team health: creativity, learning, well-being, and DEI+belonging (which, regardless of the politics, is at its business essence about people having the courage to tell you the truth – the infamous “psychological safety” that is a cornerstone to a high-performing team).
Sometimes, the best thing to do in times of uncertainty is to look at what’s working. So, you might ask, what are we seeing at Forshay? What’s working for companies – from startups to giants – in coaxing out growth in the midst of cutbacks?
This month, we’re bringing you some strategies we are helping companies use for post-layoff growth.
Strategy one: Expanding Sales
If you want to stimulate growth, sales is an obvious place to look. At Forshay, we help with classic consulting…listening to what’s going well (what can we build on), what goals are most pressing (understanding constraints and prioritization), and identifying where clients might need some help hitting their numbers.
Recently, we partnered with a client to increase revenue growth. Even though the answer felt complex in the beginning, our discussion helped surface an easy first step: placing an interim recruiter to fill open sales roles and provide fractional leadership.
Strategy Two: Smarter Compensation Strategies
Another often-requested improvement to a company’s growth is having clear metrics for which roles need to produce what results…and the work we can do ranges from interim compensation design, to organizational clarity in roles and results, to change management with better communication.
In the world of finance and operations, we are also filling key open roles as our PeopleOps leaders often see missing cross-functional roles that stitch these goals together with better execution. We love, love, love clear goals that are well communicated because execution is the beautiful result.
Strategy Three: Interim help for PeopleOps crunch time
Moving into the second half of the year, budget planning is fully underway for many companies. Top PeopleOps priorities include open enrollment, performance management, and learning and development, which can feel higher stakes with culture being questioned post-layoffs.
Fall is typically a crunch time for HR teams to handle this increased workload, and it will be especially hard with slimmed-down staff. We’ve got you. We can help with qualified interim or fractional hires who give just the right amount of fluidity to what can otherwise be a higher-friction time.
Strategy Four: Brainy humans to help create systems.
Systems are the key to scaling with fewer hands on deck, especially for early-stage to growth companies.
Where there is complexity (or messiness!) in systems architecture, at Forshay, we have seasoned experts who love helping teams think through the systems of humans and the systems of tech—both in engineering org structures and in connecting HR tech.
For example, the AI challenge lies beyond simply plugging AI tools into existing workflows. It’s about thoughtfully integrating them and, more importantly, building the skills needed to use them effectively. How are you growing better systems?
Strategy Five: Leverage Interim Expertise
In addition to strategic hiring, hiring generalists and utilizing interim expertise can be a game-changer, especially for startups. With increased workloads and project deadlines, your existing team may be stretched thin.
Bringing in seasoned professionals (read: hit the ground running with little direction needed) on a temporary basis can provide immediate support, allowing your core team to focus on strategic initiatives. We’re doing this across Finance, Operations, and PeopleOps.
Identifying and acquiring top talent with specific skill sets is essential to fill critical gaps and drive innovation.
Don’t let the post-layoff hangover hinder your growth potential. Reach out today for a coffee or video chat to explore how we can help you continue to grow in spite of uncertainty!
