Role of HR in Sustaining Employee Motivation During Downsizing - Dissertation Example

Some did achieve short-term benefits in terms of cost savings but in the long run, organizations paid for it in terms of loss of human capital. The neglect of human capital resulted in low employee morale which adversely impacted the post-downsizing productivity. Employee motivation is currently the major issue facing businesses today. The role of HR has changed from being mere personnel management to strategic human resources management. HR managers could play a vital role in sustaining the motivation of employees that are retained with the organization after downsizing. While downsizing affects both the leavers and those that remain, the scope of the study is limited to focusing on the motivation of those that remain with the organization. Thus, to evaluate the role of HR in sustaining employee motivation during downsizing, three objectives and four research questions were set.  After an extensive literature review, the study adopted a qualitative method for research-based purely on secondary data. The study finds that motivation is disrupted which is evident from an increase in political behaviors such as anger, fear, and antagonism. This in turn manifests in adversely impacting customer satisfaction, organizational efficiency, and productivity. Employee motivation is invariably affected in downsizing firms regardless of the downsizing strategy adopted. The attention during downsizing is focused on the process and also on trying to avert negative publicity. As a result, human capital is neglected, which results in lowered motivation to work and lowered commitment, loyaltyy, and inefficiencies. Various downsizing strategies have been reviewed and the study finds that a proactive approach to downsizing can avert neglect of human capital. This requires the involvement of HR managers right from the beginning in designing and implementing the downsizing process. The study recommends the role that HR should adopt in sustaining the motivation of employees during all the stages of the downsizing process.

Organizations try to implement different strategies in an attempt to survive in the turbulent and dynamic business environment. The dynamic business environment was characterized by changes in technology, global competitive pressures and a demanding customer-driven market (Sahdev, 2004). Organizations were compelled to examine their processes, structures and employee headcount. Amongst the numerous strategies to thrive, survive and gain competitive advantage, downsizing is one such popular strategy (Tsai & Yen, 2013). Downsizing of workforce has become a way of life for all types of organizations – profit, non-profit and government organizations (Gandolfi, 2006). It had become a common phenomenon in the 1990s, characterized as the “downsizing decade” when it adversely impacted people, corporations and economies (Dolan, Belout & Balkin, 2000). Lanciano and Nitta (2010) contend that downsizing is one of the strategies that organizations use to enhance organizational efficiency, despite the fact there is no evidence to demonstrate that downsizing as a strategy for improvement has been successful (Cameron, 1998). Moreover, downsizing comes in different versions and there is no single supreme downsizing strategy (Stjernberg & Tillberg, 1998).