After Layoffs, Help Survivors Be More Effective

If your firm has downsized recently, you’re now managing a bunch of survivors—the lucky ones who didn’t get laid off. But good fortune doesn’t make for good performance—at least not in this situation. Chances are, you’re presiding over a heightened level of employee dysfunction, even if you don’t see it yet. Here are areas to address to limit the damage, according to our research and influential studies by others, including Teresa Amabile of Harvard, Regina Conti of Colgate, Wayne Cascio of the University of Colorado, Joel Brockner of Columbia, and Priti Pradhan Shah of the University of Minnesota.