Don’t let lack of loyalty in your furloughed employees represent lack of loyalty in the company
I read a statistic when Corona virus first emerged as a threat across the World that more people will face bankruptcy as a result of this pandemic than will actually die from it.
On the surface, that’s a good thing – people recover from bankruptcy a lot better than they recover from death – but the possibility of either puts people into an element of fear.
The reality for business owners and directors is that this threat to them personally only emerges if the companies they oversee no longer become viable and cease to exist. This will happen in some cases, but in others leaders will remain in post, possibly having to make cuts to the workforce or furlough non-business critical colleagues in order to give the best chance of survival to the trading entity they control.
Whilst furlough is a highly beneficial tool, it creates significant uncertainty for those placed into it. Going from a position of working hard every day to help maintain business to suddenly being asked not to contribute places that employee into the “at risk” category regardless of recent performance.
Clearly the flip-side of furlough is that it stops people being made redundant immediately and preserves their employment status, but the reality is that, had the scheme not existed, that person would now be out of work with the prospect of loss of income and the need to look elsewhere in an uncertain and overcrowded job market.
That prospect, coupled with the uncertainty as to when it might end, will put people into the fight or flight mode that is a natural reaction when under threat. Those furloughed colleagues have little or no control over what happens in the company and when and how their employment status will return. Losing the ability to work removes that control, so they will look at what they can have influence over. This will mean that they look at their finances, tighten their belts, and if there has been a loss of income may look at how they can remedy this.
The reality is that the lockdown process for the majority means less spending and so reduced income during furlough doesn’t affect the day-to-day budget, but it does affect the long term thinking.
That money sat in savings for future holidays and house improvements now may be needed to cover a period of being out of work or it may be required to fund the start up of a new venture – nobody knows what the employment market will look like when some kind of “normality” returns.
Applying theory to the madness, a furloughed employee is only left with the physiological part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs whereas a month ago they may have had all elements in place from the role they performed. Without getting too carried away with the theory, losing self-actualisation, esteem, belonging and some aspects of Maslow’s safety could be seen as a massive disruption in people’s lives.
The key is honest communication during this time but the reality is that situations are changing on a daily basis so you cannot give guarantees to employees, but in return they cannot give them back to you.
This period will see people looking at what jobs they might be able to do, connecting with recruitment advisors and considering other options – these are all natural responses when income is threatened. People may be considering new careers, new opportunities just in case they are no longer available to return to their current roles.
Business owners and directors have to accept this. If they were suddenly placed in the same situation then they would do the same. It doesn’t represent a lack of loyalty in the company – the majority of people on furlough want to work, they want to support the company and they want some control of their professional destiny, but in this difficult time they can’t have it.
When they return, the elements of trust and motivation will play a big part in getting them fully back in the fold. A recently furloughed friend told me he realised he didn’t love the company he worked for like he thought he did, but his realisation through this was that he loved working with his colleagues and that’s a significant difference. Things won’t return to normality overnight when people are asked back to their roles. They will need reassurance, greater levels of clarity on the financial position and a clear way of making themselves “business critical” so the cloud of uncertainty will not darken their lives again.
This will be a challenge. Some talented people will seek new careers, some may come back slightly less motivated, others may look to become even more engaged. It’s important, though, to not judge people on how they react during furlough or question their loyalty before it happened, because uncertainty reigns in this difficult period.