Case Study: Reenergizing Employees After a Downsizing

Kelsie Jasper
Organizational Behavior
Dr. Karen Jacobs
13 April 2025
Introduction and Background
This paper will aim to answer the questions for the first case study laid out in the textbook for

this class. It will give a professional analysis of the situation and recommendations based on

teachings from throughout the textbook.

Informational Justice

When Andrea conducts the morning briefing, she should be completely honest and candid to her

employees about the reasons why corporate determined a downsizing was necessary. When we

studied informational justice, we learned that “the justification rule mandates that authorities

explain decision-making procedures and outcomes in a comprehensive and reasonable manner,

and the truthfulness rule requires that those communications be honest and candid” (Colquitt, et

al., 2023, p. 206). The Bible also demands honesty; Proverbs 12:22 says that “the Lord detests

lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth” (NIV). Even though an extensive discussion

about the downsizing may be the last thing Andrea wants, she must swallow that pill so her

employees can receive informational justice. I think it would also be a good idea for her to

compose a written letter of explanation to send out to all of the employees who were dismissed,

and I think she should make a copy of this letter available to any remaining employees who want

to examine it further.

Job Characteristics Theory

The job characteristics theory can certainly help Andrea with some of her decisions about how to

assign tasks to employees. First, she should take advantage of variety as something that increases

job satisfaction. We learned that “evidence indicates that our preference for variety is hardwired

into our brains” (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 98). Since Andrea knows that she will have a lot of
tasks to hand out to people, she should consider giving people types of tasks that they have never

really had to do before – not so far outside of their wheelhouses that they will struggle and

become frustrated, but enough to add variety to their jobs that they did not previously have. She

can also take advantage of the fact that identity increases job satisfaction. The textbook defines

identity as “the degree to which the job requires completing a whole, identifiable, piece of work

from beginning to end with a visible outcome” (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 98). If large tasks were

previously broken up and split between people, Andrea could restructure things such that one

employee is more responsible for something from start to finish.

Big Five

Now that suggestions have been made about how to reassign tasks, the question remains about

who these tasks should be assigned to. The Big Five can be used to determine this. We learned

that “conscientiousness has the strongest effect on task performance,” so employees whose

records show that they have high levels of conscientiousness should be the first choices of who

to give heavier workloads to (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 282). On the other hand, employees who

show high levels of neuroticism – defined as “the tendency to experience negative moods and

emotions frequently on a day-to-day basis” – should probably not receive nearly as much

increase in workload (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 282). This reflects the biblical idea of the body of

Christ – Romans 12:4-5 says that “as in one body we have many members, and the members do

not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually

members one of another.” Andrea needs to recognize the different functions of her employees to

help them come together a single body.

Andrea should move ahead with her idea to give higher compensation to employees who are

being asked to take on more. It seems like common sense that compensation should reflect the

workload of an employee. Our textbook addresses a study done at Yahoo! in which this type of

compensation was implemented. The study found that “such forced distribution systems can

boost the performance of a company’s workforce” which Andrea’s company desperately needs

during this transition (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 183). Although this has the potential to cause

jealousy or competitiveness amongst employees, I believe it would be better than the massive

amounts of frustration that would ensue as a result of distributing compensation evenly but

workload unevenly. We know from Romans 13:7 that we should “give to everyone what you owe

them.” Thus, Andrea should give compensation accordingly.

Voice and Input

Andrea needs to give a large amount of voice and input to her remaining employees – especially

in light of dissatisfaction with the way the downsizing was done. Our textbook suggests that

“employees can respond to negative work events in four ways: exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect”

(Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 79). Of these four, voice and loyalty are obviously the desirable traits,

with voice being “an active and constructive response by which employees attempt to improve

the situation” (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 79). At this point in time, Andrea needs to steer her

employees towards the constructive reactions to this negative work event and away from

withdrawal. She can do this by openly inviting voice and input. To avoid being completely

overwhelmed by feedback from dissatisfied employees, she should first have department leaders

gather input from employees under them. She should then meet with the department leaders in a

roundtable discussion to hear a summary from each of them. The Bible extensively discusses the
importance of wise counsel in places such as Proverbs 11:14 which says that “for lack of

guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisors.”

Meaning and Significance

Our textbook describes significance by saying that “when employees feel that their jobs are

significant, they can see that others value what they do and they’re aware that their job has a

positive impact on the people around them” (Colquitt, et al., 2023, p. 99). Andrea should come

up with her own reasons why she believes the work at the Blaze is still impactful and share these

reasons with her employees. If she can manage it, she should also reach out to members of the

community and ask for their answers to the same questions. She should then accumulate these

responses into particularly resonant highlights and share these with her employees – hearing

about their impact from the actual people who they are impacting would have the best chance of

convincing them that their jobs are truly still significant. From a biblical standpoint, we know

that true meaning in work comes from the Lord alone. Colossians 3:23 tells us that “whatever we

do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

Conclusion

Reenergizing employees after a downsizing can seem like an impossible task. Even as I wrote

this analysis, I found myself wondering if this would be enough to reenergize me if I were in the

position of one of these employees. However, I believe that our textbook sheds an incredible

amount of light on the best ways to go about doing so. By communicating openly with

employees, assessing their individual strengths, and working to add meaning back into their

occupations, employees can reenergize even in the wake of a massively disheartening event.
 Resources

Colquitt, J., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2023). Organizational behavior: Improving

performance and commitment in the Workplace (8th ed.). McGraw Hill LLC.

New International Version. (2011). Bible Gateway. [Link]

search=Proverbs%2011%3A14&version=NIV. (Original work published 1973).