As a Senior Manager in the federal agency, I am tasked with leading my team through the uncertainty of the DOGE era. My team has experienced the termination of over 20% of their colleagues. These 20% were probationary employees who were learning the job and eager to soak up the knowledge that they experienced team members has to share. As difficult as it has been for these individuals to get laid off and reinstated, and immediately placed on administrative leave, the remaining employees also are living with the disruption to the team.
I refer to those remaining as the survivors. There is a certain amount of guilt as we wonder if there is something that we could have done to protect the others from being arbitrarily terminated even though we know that there is nothing that could have been done. Those remaining are left to pick up the pieces, distribute the work of those that left and still do everything we can to continue the mission of the agency servicing the taxpayers.
As a Senior Manager I have 8 direct reports who are front-line managers with teams of 8 – 14 employees. My primary challenge is how to motivate my team of managers so that they in turn can motivate their teams to continue the work that we do on behalf of the taxpayers. I have been through this before about 15 years ago when I was in a leadership role at Sprint. I led a team of professionals through a series of lay-offs and leadership changes that negatively impacted the culture and the team dynamics of the organization. From that experience, and other experiences of working with great leaders over the course of my 30-year career in both the private and public sectors, I have identified some common actions to take to lead in times of turmoil and uncertainty.
Listen – The most important thing to is to be present and listen to the concerns of the team. While the teams knows that they have made it through the initial round of terminations, the uncertainty of the future is unsettling for those remaining. It is important to provide a forum for them to express themselves and share their concerns. One of the traits of a good servant leader is to know the condition of one’s team. In Proverbs 27:23, we are reminded to “remain diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds”. There is no more important time to practice this than times of uncertainty,
Communicate – An effective leader communicates news, and updates are they are available. You team has questions, hears the rumors that are floating around the office and sees the dire predictions in the press. Communication is your opportunity to own the narrative. Even if the news is less than positive, your team deserves honest, opinion communication. And they should hear it from you.
Resources – Many organizations have employee assistant programs. The federal government is no different. You team may have concerns about how they will get through the stress of the next months and how to deal potential issues that they will face. Making sure that your team is aware of the resources available to assist with mental health, financial, childcare and relationship issues is one way to show that you care and to support them outside of the workplace.
Attitude – You team will look to you as an example of how to move forward in the organization. It is important to model the behavior you want to see in your organization. Show up and project a positive attitude. The resilience that you show in moving forward will go a long way to easing their uncertainty and help them to focus on the mission of the organization. In times like this when decisions are being made not for the betterment of the organization but rather to gain political points and to capture the news cycle, there is little that one can do to change the outcome. However, you can determine how you react to it and strive to lessen the impact to those around you.