Like many employees these days, you may be burdened with "ghost work"--the extra work employees have to take on after their coworkers have departed.
The Labor Department reports that more than 2 million American jobs have disappeared since September 2008. At least 2 million more jobs are expected to evaporate in 2009, according to the Conference Board Employment Trends Index. This translates into more work for employees like you who are left to fill the shoes of ex-employees.
Ghost work means you now have more work to do with less time. Ghost work also means you may even lack the skills or knowledge to master former coworkers' job responsibilities. After all, it wasn't just an employee who walked out the door. It was her training and educational background, contacts, system of organization, insider information, technical know-how, and much more. For many surviving employees, the extra strain brought on by trying to get up to speed in another person's job while trying to be confident, excellent, and competent can cause a great deal of distress.
Consider a recent study done by the training and research center Leadership IQ, which surveyed 4,172 workers who remained employed following a corporate layoff. Among their relevant findings:
- 74 percent of employees who kept their job amidst a corporate layoff say their own productivity has declined since the layoff, and 64 percent of surviving workers say the productivity of their colleagues has declined.
- 69 percent say the quality of their company's product or service has declined since the layoffs, and 81 percent of surviving workers say the service that customers receive has declined.
- 77 percent of surviving workers say they see more errors and mistakes being made.
These findings are not surprising. After all, talent is a resource, and when resources are cut, quality tends to go down.
But there's another aspect to ghost work that is not discussed: the emotional fallout. You probably feel survivor's guilt, resentment at your boss or company, low-level malaise from the plummeting morale all around you, and fear of not performing well and landing in the unemployment line next to your former coworkers.
The good news is that you're still employed. So how do you make the most of your current situation? How can you keep ghost work from haunting you and having a negative impact on your job performance? Most of all, what can you do to decrease the likelihood that your head will be next on the chopping block?
Here are six strategies:
1. Show your boss you want to master new responsibilities. Ask your boss or supervisor to provide you with detailed job descriptions of laid-off coworkers whose responsibilities you are now expected to shoulder.
2. Prioritize and integrate new tasks. Rate each newly acquired task according to its frequency or urgency--daily, weekly, or monthly. Reorganize the tasks into subgroups by frequency, and again into categories such as client relations, sales, administration, etc.
3. Seek constructive feedback from those above you. Set up a meeting with your boss or supervisor to review your new tasks chart, and to go over possible redundancies, wasteful practices, and unnecessary tasks.
4. Share accountability with your manager. Actively bring your manager into the loop, which enables him or her to be aware of and accountable for the excess workload and ghost work to which you are now subject.
5. Commit to working regular--not extra long--hours. Don't burn yourself out; manage your new workload. If you allow longer hours and workplace stress to take a toll on your mental and physical health, you'll be no good to your company and might jeopardize your career.
6. Demonstrate your indispensability. Identify three to five specific areas where former employees' tasks were inefficient or redundant, and show your employer how processes can be streamlined. Identify some areas where the employer can save money, and submit these cost-cutting proposals in an unsolicited report.
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