{"id":631641,"date":"2023-04-20T19:55:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T00:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/20\/how-your-organization-can-navigate-layoffs-with-humanity\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T19:55:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T00:55:48","slug":"how-your-organization-can-navigate-layoffs-with-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/20\/how-your-organization-can-navigate-layoffs-with-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Organization Can Navigate Layoffs with Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Layoffs will probably always be part of business. They are certainly a prominent feature of this year\u2019s climate. Other companies and industries will have their moment to right-size their workforces. And then once this wave subsides, another will come in the future. Letting people go will never be fun or easy.<\/p>\n

But layoffs can be done with humanity. And as leaders who aspire to be humans first, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to conduct layoffs with humanity. Given what we know about the power of current, past, and future employees to make \u2013 or break \u2013 our brand, it is also in our business interest. Letting people go humanely can be done in three dimensions.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Do Layoffs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It might be too late, or you may not have control over whether layoffs are done at all. But for leaders in a phase and position to consider whether or not you actually have to let anyone go, think twice.<\/p>\n

The negative impact of layoffs in terms of lost productivity, disengagement among remaining employees, and decreased employer loyalty is huge and frequently underestimated. Companies that were quicker to cut costs were less likely to recover well from the 2008-9 recession, according to Harvard Business Review<\/a>. So while immediate cost cutting might be a non-negotiable, if you can do it in other ways than letting people go, try that first.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Do you really have to push those people out, or might there be another option with less long-term … [+]<\/span> cost?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>getty<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Better still, plan your hiring to minimize the risk of future layoffs. Don\u2019t overhire \u2013 use project-based work, contractors, and other forms of flexible arrangements that sets clear expectations for you and workers, avoiding a dependency that you can\u2019t honor. And when layoffs do happen, encourage reflection and openness from the leaders who made those hires about whether they could have hired differently in the first place.<\/p>\n

How To Do Layoffs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once you reach \u2013 or receive \u2013 the decision that people will be let go, you have unlimited options in terms of how you will do whatever your role is in that process. Whether you are delivering the news, watching it happen to your direct reports, or learning about it after the fact from colleagues, you control your behavior toward the people who were laid off. And your choices will impact them, as well as the team left behind.<\/p>\n

Transparently<\/h3>\n

No matter how scary or difficult it feels, transparency always wins. Communicate as early as possible, and often, before, during, and after the layoffs are announced. Honor legal and risk mitigation needs, but push back against overly cautious approaches that serve the company but hurt the individuals being let go.<\/p>\n

If you are an observer to the layoffs, don\u2019t pretend you don\u2019t know they happened. It doesn\u2019t serve anyone to bury your head in the sand. Avoid survivors\u2019 guilt and reach out to teammates and friends who\u2019ve been laid off to let them know you\u2019re open to whatever requests they may have for help, whether a rant or cry, introductions to future employers, or help retrieving personal items from the office.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dignity is an important part of humanity that can be protected – or destroyed – in layoffs.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Fortune<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kindly<\/h3>\n

Again, your legal team might have strongly worded advice about the \u2018cleanest\u2019 way to do layoffs. These considerations are important. But they must be tempered to maximize kindness to the people being let go. Remember that these were, until moments ago, people who you paid to literally be on your team. The value and trust of that relationship does not evaporate instantaneously because your business cannot sustain the financial obligation.<\/p>\n

Prioritize kindness as a lens as you define the process, language, and terms of layoffs.<\/p>\n

Supportively<\/h3>\n

Provide as much support as you possibly can for the people you are letting go. Consider what you might offer to help them land next jobs, as well as managing financially and emotionally until they start that next job. Resources to provide include informal \u2013 and free \u2013 things as well as severance payments, COBRA insurance, and coaching or other outplacement services.<\/p>\n

Open source lists of \u2018available talent\u2019 organized by peers on behalf of their former colleagues have become commonplace since the WeWork collapse. Do whatever you can to facilitate and support that and other forms of peer support. It doesn\u2019t cost you anything other than perhaps some hours of [remaining] employee time, but has huge benefit for those remaining employees feeling useful, as well as those who\u2019ve been let go.<\/p>\n

Finally, offer support for the \u2018survivors\u2019 as well. And not in the form of free pizza. They\u2019ll need ongoing transparent communication and reassurance about what\u2019s next; help and recognition for the additional work that falls onto their plates; and coaching or counseling for the grief of losing colleagues.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Provide as much resource as you can for people on the way out.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Getty Images<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clarify Why The Layoffs Happened<\/h2>\n

Engage as broad an audience as possible in an honest evaluation of why the layoffs happened. Recognize external factors that surely played a role, but don\u2019t exclude the internal issues that could have made them less likely. The goal is not to cast blame for any of those internal issues, but to learn from mistakes, such as over-investing in a new product line too quickly, or failing to retrain staff in line with shifting consumer demand. Owning errors like this is what differentiates organizations that weather inevitable economic downturns better than others.<\/p>\n

Finally, connect the higher purpose that your organization was and is still trying to pursue to the fact of these people being let go. Make meaning of the layoffs as an enabler of that organization-level \u2018why,\u2019 and double down on the why, connecting it to the day-to-day work of everyone who\u2019s still there. This does not look like a na\u00efve and blindly optimistic recitation of the mission, vision, and values. But rather an earnest and specific explanation of why the layoffs were necessary, and what they will enable the organization to achieve going forward, toward its higher purpose.<\/p>\n

For a textbook example of all of these humane approaches to layoffs, read Brian Chesky\u2019s open letter<\/a> after Airbnb\u2019s round of layoffs at the start of the pandemic in 2020. From which they have brilliantly recovered, by the way.<\/p>\n

Letting people go is never going to be easy or fun. But it is highly likely to be part of business for most leaders. So if you aspire to be a human, or people-first leader, you\u2019ll have to learn to do layoffs with humanity.<\/p>\n

Follow me on <\/em>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a>. Or <\/em>email me<\/em><\/a> for a free habits worksheet to start building the muscle of humane leadership now.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Nell Derick Debevoise, Inspiring Cowgirl Queen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Layoffs will probably always be part of business. They are certainly a prominent feature of this year\u2019s climate. Other companies and industries will have their moment to right-size their workforces. And then once this wave subsides, another will come in the future. Letting people go will never be fun or easy. But layoffs can be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":631642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33265,40111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-631641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-navigate","category-organization"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}