If the following comments sound familiar, they may be representative of what many people hear or fear, in today’s workplace.

If you want a job here, you’ll do more with less.

You’ll demonstrate and communicate your worth to and for the organization every day you’re on our payroll.

You’ll retain and re-train qualified personnel at no cost to the company.

There are more reasons than space to describe why organizations pare their payrolls and tighten their belts. Bottom line, they want to stay in business and provide incomes for the owners, employees, vendors, and support services that depend on their continuing existence.

Reasons, no matter how prudent and sound, don’t stack up if you’re the one who gets the pink slip. The only good news about your bad news is that you know it’s over and if you want food, clothes, and shelter you’ll find another job.

What happens to layoff survivors? They’re the ones who sort through the aftermath and divide the workload that’s left. They go through the motions realizing that they’re commodities to be bought and sold; they’ll be asked to terminate others; told to do “more with less” and that work isn’t supposed to be fun.

For the past several years, employees were riding high because unemployment was at an all time low. Companies were jumping through all kinds of hoops to woo them, only to lose them to the competitor down the street.  Just showing up became reason for celebration. Suddenly, or so it seems, businesses find themselves back in the ‘80’s when everyone was more mean than lean, and the handwriting on the wall said “like it or leave it”.

In truth, employers don’t like it, they don’t expect that you will, and they don’t want you to leave. If you go, you’ll take knowledge, productivity, and reliability with you. If that isn’t bad enough, it will take time and money to replace you. All are in short supply.

Where does that leave the employer? Hopefully, learning from

experience. The last time the economy shuddered and businesses quaked, employers withdrew from their employees. They shut down communication with the people they needed most and created the workplace of  “what’s in it for me?” Without intending, they gave employees a reason to be cynical.

Employees are more street savvy now. They’re more independent, self reliant, and self-protective. They’ve learned to deal with change, get retrained, and negotiate their worth. They aren’t mad when they leave, they just leave.

You’re the boss. Level with them. Tell them what’s going on, where you want to take the company, the challenges to overcome, and the part you’d like them to play in making it happen. When employees are part of the solution, they’re not part of the problem. They need to hear that you need their intelligence, creativity, and flexibility to be successful.

If layoffs are in the cards, tell them. If you’re not sure, say so. You have an obligation to lead. If you turn around and no one’s following, that’s a strong indication that what you’re doing isn’t working.

If more of the same isn’t the answer, and you don’t know what to do differently, invest your money where there’s a high rate of return: enroll in quality leadership development programs and take your key players with you.

Read what leadership practitioners and gurus write on the subject. (John P. Kotter’s Leading Change; Morrell and Capparell’s Shackleton’s Way ; Buckingham and Coffman’s First Break All the Rules are examples of good reads.)

Create a team of diverse thinkers who can rally around a central vision and mission. Over communicate: say the same thing seven times in seven different ways. Celebrate victories, no matter the size.

Keep it simple, keep it honest, and lead by example.

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Joyce Richman (www.joycerichman.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.