Louise Moser Illes helped implement the downsizing process that closed a factory and put her and 900 coworkers out of a job. In January 1992, Illes (pronounced ILL-liss), a human resources manager, was notified along with her coworkers that the semiconductor plant where she worked would shut down by year's end.

Turning down an offer to relocate, Illes turned to the task at hand: consoling fellow employees, developing retraining programs and communicating the plant closure process to employees. Illes had no time to grieve for her own uncertain future, for her hours were spent encouraging displaced employees to envision a bright future despite the adversity they faced. It is this paradoxical perspective that makes Illes's book, Sizing Down: Chronicle of a Plant Closing, a valuable treatise on plant shut downs. In one paragraph, Illes suggests ways employees can set ground rules in a layoff situation and in the next, she counsels corporations on ways to sustain morale and be sensitive to employees' needs.

Sizing Down: Chronicle of a Plant Closing is available from ILR (Industrial and Labor Relations) Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press. ILR Press focuses on workplace issues.

The 224-page book details the 1992 closure of the Signetics semiconductor plant in Orem, Utah, that displaced nearly 1,000 employees. The company moved its operations to more modern facilities in New Mexico and California. Once the plant closure announcement was made, Illes said, the corridors and factory floors filled with anger and resentment on the part of employees. "It's like a death in the family," Illes quotes one employee. "You are shocked at first, then you go through disbelief and denial that it could really be happening to you. Now I'm feeling angry at the company and those guys who made this decision to close down a place that I have devoted my career to."

"These feelings of anger and resentment were shared by many at Signetics," said Illes, who now is an assistant director at the Faculty Center at Brigham Young University. "I believe it's a healthy part of the grieving process and grieving after the loss of one's job is something that needs to be done."

Illes, however, warns against panicking and adopting an adversarial tone with the company. "I found that those employees who panicked tended not to see all the possibilities the company had to offer, such as retraining and outplacement. Employees who expressed anger at the company were also slow to react to the impending change." Illes notes that there are things employees can do to minimize these strong emotions and turn the crisis situation into new opportunities. Some employees took the initiative to enter into negotiations with the company about their future. Some had positive results from their discussions because they understood the company position, she said.

Illes says employees facing layoffs should remain productive and take advantage of all the services provided by the company. Signetics offered retraining programs and opened an on-site outplacement center that featured services including rèsumè consulting, job hunting tips and job postings.

Other ways for employees to feel empowered during this time, include:

• challenging downsizing or closure assumptions; " attempting to diffuse emotions, and not displacing anger to other victims;
• providing input to management on concerns and problems; " resisting a tendency to withdraw;
• learning from other employees experiences; " taking advantage of services provided; " engaging in career planning, new-skill acquisition and financial planning.

Sizing Down is full of evidence that downsizing is an emotional and bitter experience for employees. Illes recounts one hallway argument in which a human resource manager was confronted by an employee who said he was promised a pay increase, which now, because of the plant closure, was uncertain. "Lies, lies, and more lies," Illes quotes the disgruntled worker. "When are they going to stop telling us one thing and doing another."

Another unsettling incident painted by many as proof the company lacked sensitivity for its employees was when, only one month after the shutdown announcement, the company notified employees of a "celebration with ice cream sundaes for all" to applaud unexpectedly good fourth-quarter profits.

This blunder, Illes said, was magnified when the management attempted to correct the situation by e-mail. "Let's consider this a celebration for our good efforts here in the plant and for all of the good times we have had together." The damage control failed and many plant employees did not attend the celebration.

These examples dramatize Illes' big beef with company policymakers: miscommunication. She notes throughout the book the importance of communicating all facets of the downsizing process to employees in a sensitive and understanding manner.

"Be clear from the beginning about the reasons for a plant closure or major layoffs," she writes. "Employees should expect management to have solid business reasons for closing a plant and will often demand to know all considerations in the decision-making process."

Other tips for management include:

• respond honestly to questions and rumors; " express confidence in employees and provide encouragement; " seek out minority and majority employee opinions on process and direction;
• understand employee perceptions;
• allow job searching on company time and facilitate networking;
• celebrate employee success.

Sizing Down contains a sample question and-answer script for companies to use to communicate issues such as benefits, release dates, retraining and other plant closure-related topics, as well as an inventory of items to be used in an employee farewell package.

The story of Signetics Utah plant shutdown has a happy ending for many. Illes reports that more than 100 employees relocated to the company's other facilities, that many technical and professional employees found jobs with companies in Utah and other states, and that others who elected to take special benefits and return to school are now working in completely different fields. Still others used the shutdown as an excuse for early retirement.