Downsizing

They also struggle to ascertain how to survive in hopes that they will not be next. And so they engage in efforts to secure another position without the knowledge of their current employer. As a result, morale, organizational commitment, and productivity are negatively affected. The announcements of layoffs may produce higher turnover, especially among employees that the company desires to keep. The highest quality employees often have little difficulty finding other employment opportunities. As a result the company may be left with fewer, less desirable and probably demoralized employees. The remaining employees may be unwilling to take important risks, for fear of being penalized."3 This assessment leads back to poor task performance by the survivors. .
             In the idea of Performance=Ability x Motivation x Opportunity to Perform, I feel that Ability and Motivation are the determinants of choice for this situation. The survivors simply don't have the ability to perform the tasks at hand without the proper training. It is not that they don't want to it is just that they can't. They are being rushed into the situation and so they may not be trained correctly. A lack of motivation is also causing problems. What person is truly motivated to do any job after downsizing? Since the recent lay-offs in my department at Monsanto, I have noticed a significant change in my teammates performance. The recent downsizing has affected my teammates sense of job security. As a direct result it has had a negative impact on their overall performance and motivation. Their ability to do the job technically has not changed but their ability to perform up to their job has changed drastically. Teammates are scheduling more days off than before. I believe this is related to the increase in workload. The enthusiasm to perform their jobs is gone because they feel they are the next to go. .
             The lack of motivation is one of the dysfunctional employee behaviors.