A survey of work trauma on post redundancy survivors in Kenyan organizations
Abstract
The Kenyan businesses have been faced with strong economic factors that have forced
organizations to review their cost posture and structures. Inevitably, staff reductions have had to
be an option most organizations have considered, in-order to stay afloat.
Statistics show organizations increasingly engaged in redundancies, but there is limited data
showing how survivors of redundancies have coped with the impacts of this process.
Unlike what is commonly believed, survivors of redundancies in organizations go through
psychological trauma, just like the victims of change. These trauma factors resulted in low staff
morale, which impacts negatively on staff productivity. Existing literature show the different
forms of trauma staff underwent post redundancy exercises. It also shows survivors of
redundancy were keen to re-negotiate the employment contracts with their employers.
The research design used in this study was a cross sectional survey, and the population used in
the survey was 76 organizations, all listed in the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) and
Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) Management Databases.
The findings were that a significant number of survivors of redundancy i.e. 70%, suffered
various forms of trauma during and after redundancy exercises. Ironically, a significant
percentage of survivors overcame all emotions of the redundancy exercise, and settled over time,
although they had not integrated well into the new working systems.
Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi
Subject
Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE)Institute of Personnel Management (IPM)
Work trauma
Post redundancy survivors
Kenyan organizations