Why do managers often find it difficult to motivate empolyees who remain after downsizing?

The fact that you state the question so generally indicates that you already know the answer.

1. Am I next?
2. Why am I doing the work that three people were doing last week?
3. Am I next?
4. Am I still here because they wanted to retain me or is it just my overly long tenure with the company?
5. Am I next? If I’m next, will I get more or less severance?
6. Why didn’t I take the buyout offer six months ago?
7. Is this place going to be in business in three months?
8. Maybe I should spend the afternoon working on my resume?\
9. Why is my asshole boss, the one who screams at every one and likes to look down the front of my blouse still here?

Etc. Etc Etc.

SRM

“The downsizing will continue until morale improves.”

Maybe because manager’s refuse to take paycuts themselves in order to keep staff.

Usually the people who are cut are not the decision-makers.

Is this by any chance a homework question?

There was a happy mule who worked in a village. Every morning he carried a load of 4 crates full of goods to the market and was rewarded with
a carrot. Life was acceptable. All the mule’s basic needs were met.

Then one day the owner of the mule realized that he could make a better profit if he tripled
his inventory at the market. So he loaded up the mule with 12 heavy boxes and whipped the overburdened mule forward until the mule dropped of exhaustion.

Once the owner saw that the mule could not carry the load of three mules he threatened to take away the carrot. The merchant then went to his computer and logged on to fluther and asked why his mule was not motivated.

Downsizes generally aren’t related to performance. Which means if my company is laying people off (which it is), the idea that doing a good job comes with rewards goes out the window. I can bust my ass for 70 hours a week to be absolutely perfect, and still get canned Monday morning. So what kind of motivation should I have to do well?

It is like trying to sell retirement plans on death row.

Downsize doesn’t mean less work, it means fewer remaining people to do it, with no financial compensation for doing so. Not so much of a problem if your staff doesn’t have a lot to do during the day, and spends a lot of time surfing the internet, but if your department is already putting in a lot over overtime, then it just means more overtime. Investment in infrastructure to streamline processes rarely occur after downsizing, which means staff has to get creative about how to manage more work, and come up with cost-effective process modifications. That type of work is work unto itself, but often becomes work you do in your so-called “free time.” Otherwise, the alternative could be efficiently managing inefficiencies in order to survive.

Unfortunately, after a downsizing is not the time remaining employees feel they can confidently look for other employment, so they may feel trapped. This is were the management style of leadership becomes critical.

I should also add that salaried positions usually do not compensate workers for overtime, unless it’s with comp time, which may or may not be an official company policy, cannot be accrued, and is not compensated at time of termination (Comp time is off-the-record time off when things are less busy). In theory, salaried individuals are considered “professional” and are expected to do whatever it takes in order to get the work done, and their salary is supposed to reflect this demand. If you take an annual salary, and divide it by 2,000 (40 hour work week, less two weeks time off) you get an hourly rate. Divide that same salary by 2500 (50 hour week) or 3000 (60 hour week) and the hourly equivalent falls dramatically. Which explains morale issues.

This is important for new students out of college to realize when starting a career. When you’re asked desired salary, it’s important to know how much overtime is expected in certain positions. $60,000 a year equates to $30 an hour at a 40 hour work week, $24 an hour at a 50 hour work week, and $20 an hour at a 60 hour work week. The amount of work done by one person working 60 hours a week equates to 1.5 full time employees, or $90,000 in annual salaried time.