Rectifying redundancies: how to raise morale after office restructuring

If you’ve recently had a period of office restructuring, you might find that your team’s energy is visibly reduced, which is understandable as many may have lost friends or close colleagues, or fear for the security of their own positions within the company. While they may all still be working diligently, it is likely that their enthusiasm may have diminished and unhappiness may be evident. Although it will be undoubtedly a difficult time for everyone, it is essential to redevelop a positive morale within the office to increase productivity, staff engagement, decrease employee turnover and ultimately achieve a happier workforce.

At Renovo, we can help your employees with the emotional effects of compulsory redundancy by using our structured outplacement programmes to deliver personalised career support. However, as an employer, being able to recognise the signs of low morale and knowing what you can do to boost it is a great step toward rebuilding a strong and attractive business. We’ve created the following guide to help recently restructured businesses retain morale and boost productivity in the future.

Be a good role model
If you are a team leader or manager, bear in mind that your team’s morale starts with you., If your own morale is suffering, it is imperative that you work on rectifying your own attitude and outlook first by identifying why your morale is low, getting organised and setting yourself achievable goals. It may be a challenge, but work hard to regain control and start thinking positively; the change will have to come from you if you want to be able to successfully reflect this attitude onto your team.

Reconnect with your team
Developing a close relationship with your employees after office restructuring doesn’t take much, but can help to re-establish trust and a good rapport. Remember that a lack of appreciation and recognition is one of the main causes of low morale and a decrease in productivity. You can reconnect by rewarding them for good work, arranging team outings or simply by walking around the office and approaching them, rather than remaining at your desk for them to come to you or handling all communication via email. By offering regular feedback and benefits when they are well deserved, your team will be encouraged to work to their best ability and feel happy doing so.

Educate your team
After letting members of your staff go, you will need to ensure that you have retained those that your business will benefit from the most. By offering staff members the chance to develop or improve their skills, you can create a more effective team as well as increase morale as the team will feel committed and secure. When arranging skill development courses or meetings, make sure your team are aware of the company’s goals and what you expect it (and them) to achieve in the near future. This will help to inspire your team and encourage them to think about how they can utilise their abilities to help the company.

Improve communication
Rumours can spread incredibly fast after office restructuring and when you have worked so hard to improve morale, the last thing you need is idle gossip sparking fear and causing it to fall again. To avoid this, do your best to keep your team in the loop at all times; offer accurate, timely information whenever possible, especially if it may affect them in the near future, it’s better they hear it from you rather than other people. Devote your time to holding regular and – if possible – weekly meetings so you can update them about the company’s progression or otherwise. Remember that communication goes both ways; as much as you need to approach them, ensure they know that they can come to you, should they need to talk.

Keep your team motivated
After office restructuring, once you have rebuilt your team’s morale and are on your way to successfully rectifying the effect recent redundancies may have had, you must work on keeping it high and motivating your team. Morale can be affected even when times are good, but by sticking to the above strategies, when it does suffer through difficult times you can work toward building it back up again.

Renovo is one of the UK’s leading providers of outplacement and career transition support. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please call 0800 612 2011 or email info@renovo.co.uk