Restructures - What to and not to do

The past year has been a tough year. Settling in a new country has taken a lot longer than I expected. In addition to that, I've not gotten a stable job. Last year, there was a major restructure in the firm I am working in. It has been an ongoing this and it is still happening. I'll share my thought on the experience and what I think employers should and shouldn't do:

Be honest

If you are going to fire an employee and then lie about it to the other employees, what do you think it will do to the morale of other employees when they find out? People will find out. It is simply not possible to keep secrets in the industry.

Update frequently

Employees hate uncertainty as much as you do. Don't give major updates only once a quarter. Your employees will start looking for other opportunities and you will start losing valuable and experienced talent. 

Honour your commitment

We all know there are loopholes to everything. Once you've given your word to an employee that he/she is there to stay in the same capacity they are currently working in, don't go back on your words a month later. Do not lie. Be honest. Nobody wants to work with liars. Nobody respects liars.

Communicate changes in a timely manner

Do not call your employee who will be affected by the change 2 hours before the meeting to inform him/ her about the change and then tell him/her that you didn't want him/her to first hear about the change at the meeting. Respect your employees. They are working hard to generate revenue for the company. Inform them in a timely manner.

Focus on the bigger picture

And by this I mean the future and growth of the company and not on securing your own positions as CEO and COO and all the C*Os and paying yourselves a big fat cheque at the end of each month. It is not doing the company any good in the long run and if the CEO of the company fails to see this, then that is definitely not the company you want to work with. Run before it sinks. 

Do not micromanage

You might think the one way to increase revenue is to have all your employees at the end of the leash and whip them. You hired these people. If they are actually good, they will produce results irrespective of whether or not you are in the office, or they are working from home. If you are having doubts about how committed your employees are, you might first want to question what it is that you are doing wrong. Do not micromanage. This is not a nursery. Your employees are adults, not babies. We do not need you telling us when to sit at our desks and when to leave our desks.

Increase sales to increase revenue

While this seems like Economics 101, some employers might fail to note that to increase sales, they need to increase their sales staff. How can sales increase with the current number of staff? It hasn't worked before and it isn't going to miraculously work now.

These are only my thoughts based on my experience. If you want us to respect you, do not do anything that makes us think any less of you. Respect is so hard to gain once lost.

Yours sincerely,
Halley