In this issue:

• Dear Worklife
• Feature article: How to stay upbeat in a downturn economy
• What's new on the web?
• What's happening at Worklife this month?

Latest HR stats

A recent study by Drake International of more than 6,300 employees and managers who have recently experienced downsizing in their organisations revealed that:

• Only 21% of organisations achieved productivity improvements;
• 40% of remaining staff became less motivated after their employer downsized;
• 41% said that their respect for their employer had declined; and 
• 46% of remaining employees were less likely to recommend their employer to a colleague seeking a job

Quote of the month

"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."

Japanese proverb

A word from the MD, Peter Tobin

The first quarter of 2009 has placed myriad challenges on people managers.  Salary and hiring freezes, organisational restructures and job cutting all take their toll on managers, team morale, productivity and, eventually, the bottom line.  In this issue of Worklife News Alert we have some interesting research around the impact unplanned downsizing can have on an organisation, and our feature article provides some useful tips for keeping upbeat and improving enthusiasm and motivation in teams during tough times.

At Worklife, we offer a range of programs designed to help organisations and their staff during career transition.  If you would like advice on how your organisation could more effectively plan and manage its workforce changes, we would be pleased to assist you.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Worklife News Alert and if you have any comments or suggestions you would like to send us, click here now.

Dear Worklife 

This month, in lieu of our reader questions, Worklife is proud to present a high level summary of the results of our recent 2009 Career Survey. The survey asked career planning and development questions to 64 HR specialists in corporate Australia and private practitioner career coaches, and to download a complimentary copy of the survey results, click here now to check out the latest news on our website.

Feature article: How to stay upbeat in a downturn economy

This month's feature article was lifted from a recent issue of 'Thank God it's Monday', the free newsletter from our website of the month this month (see the next section for more details):

You’ve heard of the difficult times and the bad economy, the budget cuts and the layoffs, the bankruptcies and the belly ups. The result: Employee morale is sinking, and fear is in the air in many workplaces. But fear is not a strategy. So what should you be doing, and saying, as a leader, talent manager, or communicator? We offer the following suggestions:

• Don’t dwell on the negative. Don’t keep talking about the bad economy. What people focus on becomes their reality.
• Create a new focus for your team, or your organisation. Start a big initiative. Put your energy in productive work. Engage employees in an organization–wide, or a department-wide, service enhancement or process improvement effort.
• Get out of the 'limited pie' mentality, where people fight for pieces of a shrinking pie. Summon people’s creativity to create a totally new pie, or enlarge the existing one. Break up the walls between departments. Open up the organisation for the winds of innovation and change.
• Don’t waste time waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jump with both feet into the fray and get busy.
• Resist becoming paralysed, standing still, not taking action, waiting for things to improve. Waiting will only push you back as the world keeps moving forward. Instead of reducing your efforts, consider doubling them.
• Communicate often, delivering a message of confidence and hope. It’s not the end of the world. It may be only the end of an old way of doing business. This could be your exciting opportunity to create a new way of thinking about business, and turning that thinking into reality.
• If your organisation has gone through a budget cut or reduction in force, communicate the reasons for this action and then move quickly to communicate the expectations, vision, and plans for the future. You must model, in words and action, the message of hope you need to deliver. Ask everyone to become the change they want to see happening.
  

What's new on the web?
Check out www.humanext.com

HumaNext.com is a useful online hub for innovative programs on training and development, culture change, employee communication, collaboration and engagement.  It offers a range of free tools and publishes a free weekly online newsletter which often covers a range of interesting topics and issues.

Click here to check out HumaNext.com.

What's happening at Worklife this month?

Career Coach Certification Program (CCCP)
Sydney
April 27 - 29, Worklife presents CCCP. During this fun, interactive, 3-day workshop, you learn a structured approach to providing career coaching services to others in one-to-one coaching sessions. You also learn how to facilitate and debrief Worklife's Card Sort Discovery Tools as well as receive a set of card activities along with a CD of coaching resources. Contact Worklife for more details or click here to download the registration form.

Melbourne CCCP
May 18 - 20, Worklife is also presenting this workshop in Melbourne. CCCP is suitable for private career practitioners and life coaches, HR generalists and specialists, and anyone interested in helping others with their career. Places on this workshop are limited. Contact Worklife for more details or click here to download the registration form.

Auckland CCCP
To all our friends over the ditch - Worklife is coming over in late June (22 to 24 June in Auckland) to present the CCCP workshop to Kiwi coaches. Places are filling up and June will be upon us very soon. Contact Worklife to reserve your seat, and for more details, or click here to download the registration form.


New Resources
This month, we are proud to announce that we have finalised new resources in the Worklife collection:

My Career Development Journey (Self-Paced)
This program is our signature initiative for individuals needing career coaching but also needing the flexibility of working using self-paced resources (in conjunction with a career coach). Our 30 years of career coaching experience and research lead to a major development of this resource in 2006. Now, we have finalised our updated version. Contact Worklife for more details or click here to download the fact sheet.

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