It destroys informal bridges between departments, disrupts the information grapevine, and severs ties with customers. Moreover, it eliminates the friendships that bond people to the workplace. It can take a long time to rebuild social networks. When General Motors reorganized a few years ago, it so ruined the informal network that the company never recovered fully. Just as repeated bloodletting increased, repeated downsizing is very dangerous.
Survivors struggle to reorganize and rebuild relationships.
Additional reductions nip these relationships in the bud. Eventually, the organization devolves into a sullen, resigned, demoralized crowd. Those who survive in the new business culture must learn how to work in downsized organizations, how to tell when jobs are in jeopardy, and how to secure new jobs. Thriving In downsized companies. Because downsizing destroys the social fabric of a firm, the best strategy is to repair it.