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15 Jan 09

Fear Factor in the Workplace - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

What really disturbs surviving employees about downsizings is that they cannot control or rationalize the events. If I have a co-worker who frequently arrives late and does low quality work, I can rationalize her layoff by saying to myself, “She didn’t carry her weight and deserved to be let go.” If, instead, my co-worker seems to work as hard and as well as I do and then, through no fault of her own, happens to be the victim of a “reduction in force,” I cannot rationalize that. More important, I fear that I cannot control my situation: in the first scenario, I have a sense of control over my fate by continuing to do high-quality work. In the second scenario, working hard or working well doesn’t seem to help me retain my job.

roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/...fear-factor-in-the-workplace - Preview

downturn downsizing organization performance fear management control pressure risk creativity generationy generationme crisis

: If six people are left covering the work of 10, no one has time to think up new and better approaches to work. Invariably, people work harder and not smarter after a downsizing.
Adding to the problem is that people take fewer risks and become less creative. Creativity requires trial and error, and no one knows what happens to those who experiment with a new approach and then fail
2 more annotations...
- The Generation Me workers are amending some of their beliefs; some recent surveys show they are suddenly paying more attention to job security, for example. But their other traits — including overconfidence and entitlement —
- Anxiety affects people’s memories and ability to concentrate. They forget names of people or forget what they need to do. They often don’t process information well, and have trouble understanding and following instructions.