As companies downsize, employees are asked to do more

Sun Sentinel (MCT) - Iris Harris has two jobs.

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First, she was recently promoted from an executive assistant to an office manager for Daszkal Bolton accounting firm when it opened a new office in Sunrise, Fla. Then, she was asked to assume additional duties of an executive assistant.

"I was thinking, 'Wasn't I promoted from that?'" she says.

But Harris saw the company's need and recognized she could generate revenue for the firm by working with its professionals.

"At the end of the day, we all have the same goal," she says.

Employees today are often being asked to do more than one job. Sometimes, a layoff has occurred and the work still has to be done. Other times, there is a need to add staff but the business is taking a cautious approach to hiring in a slow economy.

More companies are looking at improving efficiency. Sometimes, that means merging two functions into one, says South Florida compensation specialist Ralph Parilla. "Employees are really responsive to it. They see it's difficult out there," he says.

Workers' response to being asked to do more is often tied to how they feel about their job and their employer. The more engaged employees are in the business and the work they do, the more likely they are to pull together after a layoff or when times are tough.

When companies have to make decisions about combining positions, they should involve employees, says Keith Ayers, author of "Engagement is Not Enough." Ayers works with CEOs and executive teams to build trust, as president of Integro Leadership Institute, which has offices in West Chester, Pa., and Sydney, Australia.

"If people aren't involved in the decision and it adversely affects an employee, it's going to decrease motivation and decrease productivity," he says. "The more you stress people, the less productive they are."

Respect is the foundation of employee engagement.

"The tendency in large organizations is to operate on the assumption that people should be thankful they've got a job. Whatever we throw at you, suck it up," Ayers says. "If you're treated with disrespect, how switched on are you going to be about work?"

Beyond respect, there are ways employers can motivate workers even in times of mounting work and responsibilities:

_ Provide opportunities to learn and grow. That keeps employees motivated, he says. Even if a business can't invest in outside training, managers can give employees the chance to try a job in another department or learn a new skill.

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_ Help workers understand the value of their job and the contribution they make to the organization. Workers have the need for "meaning" in their work, especially the younger generation entering the work force, he says.

Understanding their contribution makes workers feel like "insiders," he says, and "that's when the passion really kicks in."

_ Show workers the connection between their role and the organization's purpose. This is important because "if you're not delivering something of value, you go out of business," Ayers says.

_ Recognize that workers want to be part of a winning team. "Many people haven't had that experience. The organization isn't placing an emphasis on teamwork and working together to be successful," Ayers says.

_ Allow workers to be creative. "The only way we can do more with less is to be more creative," he says.

"Some managers feel the more we control people the better we do. In reality, that's not true. When you stop trying to control people and trust them to do things differently, things start to improve."

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© 2008, Sun Sentinel.