One of the biggest complaints about human resources and employers is the cold and impersonal manner in which they lay off workers. How a company communicates and facilitates job cuts is essential for demonstrating empathy and providing immediate support to employees during a difficult and emotional time, as well as maintaining trust with its remaining staff and anyone looking to join the organization in the future.
Employers today are using email notifications or one-way videos to alert workers of companywide layoffs, often due to the scale of the workforce reductions. The sheer number of pink slips would be overwhelming for HR personnel to handle one by one.
Having a remote, dispersed workforce also presents challenges for companies and its workers facing layoffs. The reliance on technology can feel one-sided, impersonal and sometimes insensitive.
How To Make It Better
Since being downsized is a traumatic experience in people’s lives, companies should conduct the job cuts in a more respectful and dignified manner, as it also has long-term impact on the organization’s remaining workforce and culture.
Alternatives Companies Should Consider
If possible, employers should always prioritize conducting one-on-one conversations with employees being impacted. This makes for a more meaningful, personal and empathetic interaction, which provides employees with the opportunity to ask questions and receive immediate feedback. It shows them that you actually care about them, despite having to let them go, and these workers aren’t just another cog in the machine or metric on your spreadsheet.
For companies with remote, distributed workforces that must rely on one-way video conferences to announce job cuts, it would be fruitful to also hold individual meetings with the affected employees. Just because you are leveraging digital communication does not mean that the layoff has to be impersonal or one-sided. The downsizing is happening to them; therefore, they should be allowed a voice in all of this.
Is A Layoff Even Necessary?
In tough times, business leaders will immediately jump to headcount reductions as a solution for their company’s problems. However, layoffs should be viewed as a last resort rather than the go-to, quick fix. As more and more companies announce job cuts, their peers see it as socially acceptable to do the same.
Instead of a knee-jerk downsizing, companies should offer temporary furloughs with an option to return once the circumstances improve. The firm could convert employees into temporary or contract assignments for the short term until the economy rebounds. Rather than automatically defaulting to layoffs, employers could consider pruning the employees’ pay and reducing hours worked.
Organizations can also enact a four-day workweek or provide the option of going on a sabbatical and returning when things are looking better. The firm could initiate work-sharing programs or institute hiring freezes, allowing attrition without replacement. Companies can use the time wisely to train people, teach them new skills and give them new projects.
Businesses should rethink their real estate footprint, as a remote model could be a real cost saver for them. Instead of getting rid of their workers, employers can just shed their offices.
Moreover, C-suite executives should not be immune to the vicissitudes of the marketplace and should be earmarked for downsizing if they have not met the standards set for them.
Why not terminate the well-paid executives who made the poor business decisions, such as hiring too aggressively and burning through cash reserves?
Senior-level managers receive large salaries and stock options that could make them extremely wealthy. If their performance doesn’t match the amount they are paid, their separation from the payroll would save a fortune compared to letting go of rank-and-file workers.
Source: Forbes
