dangletech

As the recession took hold, your Company developed and executed on a plan of survival. A key component of the plan involved regular and detailed communications with employees. Substantial time would have been invested by leaders in explaining to employees the nature of and rationale for the cuts. This was important to retaining and continuing to engage employees.
The problem is however that employees are still living in this world of expected ongoing expense reductions and job loss. No one has told them any differently, and as employees believe only what they hear from their immediate leaders, they continue to work in an environment where they are reluctant to take initiative given a perceived risk of being let go. While this may not be the case in your Company, a good way to gauge the mood is to find out what employees are talking about around the water cooler.  It may be that they are discussing and waiting for further job cuts.
To then ready the Company for renewed growth, leaders may wish to consider the following actions:

1. Review revenue and expense projections going forward and have contingency plans for any unexpected dips in revenues (that do not involve further reductions in staff).

2. Only when certain to not have to further reduce staff, communicate as regularly and in as detailed a manner as you did during the operating expense reductions, that the Company is now through with recession-related staff reductions (while always reserving the right to end employment for non-performance), and is once again focused on growing the business.

3. Share details of the new revenue and expense projections and be honest in letting employees know that there may still be some revenue shocks ahead and how these will be addressed by the Company (emphasizing that staff reductions are not a consideration).

The recession has been extremely tough on all employees. Many organizations are still very fragile in terms of employee morale.
Leaders though who have planned for renewed growth and have contingency plans in place to address unexpected revenue shocks can quickly gain competitive advantage by being the first to communicate this positive news to employees, and in turn renewing employee engagement and commitment.