How to deal with retrenchment rumours at the workplace

The office grapevine is alive and active. The latest ‘news’ to be making its way around the office is a massive restructuring. One of the first things you do is panic, then call your closest office buddies and panic together - over lunch, coffee, at the water cooler and drinks after work. Before you know it, there’s a deathly cloud hanging over you and you’re making sloppy mistakes. Now you’re sure you will be fired.

Restructuring and downsizing are things businesses go through in their normal course of growth. Sadly though, it is now something that many institutions will employ as a defensive mechanism in the next few months - it will be the only way to stay open and survive the severe economic downturn that we have to brace ourselves for.

So, if this kind of rumour is making it through the rumour mill in your office, what should you do?

Don’t panic

Saying that you should not worry or panic are easier said than done, right? Of course, you will be worried about what will happen to you and your colleagues. In fact, it might even keep you awake at night on more than one occasion. But remember that if you are so worried that you cannot perform at your role or if you start to have sleeping issues it will not help you prepare for an eventuality.

Keep in mind that while worrying might feel like the only tool you have at your disposal, agonizing over a situation does not make it any easier to deal with neither does it make it go away. And while it may feel as if meeting your friends after work for a ‘woe is us’ sob fest makes you cope better, it actually dulls your response mechanism instead of sharpening it.

The facts

In these kinds of situations, there will be very few people who have information on a move like this and they will be bound by their non-disclosure contracts. Even worse, once the rumour mill starts buzzing, they will be even more dedicated to keeping this information under wraps.

Be prepared that previous strategies of taking someone for a fact finding lunch may not work 100%, but you can try anyway. They key is to be non-threatening and say something like ‘The rumour mill is buzzing about unexpected layoffs and you have my word about keeping this conversation between just us. I also know that you cannot disclose the details to me, but is there anything you can tell me?’

If it is an unsubstantiated rumour, your contact will tell you upfront. If you or your department has nothing to worry about, they will also tell you. But if they are hesitant to comment or respond then there is likely to be some truth to it.

Next steps

If you get the sense there is some truth to the rumour, start reaching out to your contacts, mentors and professional connections for opportunities. Find out what there is out there, update your resume and start perusing job boards and applying for roles. Keeping proactive in this way will keep you busy and distracted from worrying, but most importantly it will put some control back into your hands.

TIPS

-          Avoid spreading the rumour about suspected changes within your company in the industry or within your contacts outside of the organization.

-          Be proactive - meet people, polish up your resume and start looking at opportunities outside of the organization.