HR leaders must support employees who survive layoffs, or risk low morale, high turnover and other side effects “Most employees have no idea that workplace survivor syndrome exists.” So says Dr. Anthony Silard, director of the Center for Sustainable Leadership at Luiss Business School in Rome, as well as distinguished visiting professor of leadership at Tecnológico de Monterrey. But the phenomenon is real and spreading as high-profile employers across the United States, especially in Silicon Valley, announce mass layoffs ahead of an anticipated recession. Dr. Silard says “workplace survivor syndrome is a conflation of guilt, betrayal and remorse” in employees who’ve witnessed their colleagues lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Fellow academics have compared the emotional rollercoaster to what people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience. “Employers must be aware of workplace survivor syndrome and create an emotion processing culture in which employees can identify what they’re experiencing,” Dr. Silard told HRD. “Whenever people feel trauma, being able to share it helps to mitigate it. If they’re not to express their emotions, we’ll see them psychosomatize in unhealthy ways, just as we see with loneliness, depression and other challenging emotions.” Low morale, potential turnover and […]
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
