"Being laid off is a 1, but how you were treated and the personal support you are provided is a 10."
Through economic ups and downs over the past few years, looming fears of recession and general uncertainty have made the possibilities of layoffs a near-constant. Headlines change but we continue to be inundated with economic concerns.
From a career perspective, there are few things more devastating to people who have supported your brand’s growth for years than being laid off. And even the fear or possibility of layoffs can wreck havoc on your teams' piece of mind and ability to do their best. Recent news stories show there’s a price to be paid by companies that ignore the emotional impact, or do nothing to soften the blow or actually help those affected by layoffs.
The stories your employees tell will define your company’s reputation for years to come, so it’s well worth considering both how those affected will feel, and how your company should conduct itself at each step in the process.
How to get layoffs right? It's an odd thought, at least at the human level. But they do happen in business and when they do, here are some thoughts on how to get it right.
How to get it right: Put your employee's feelings at the center
Before going into press briefings, PR teams brainstorm the ideal headlines they’d like to see. They identify the spokespeople they want to tell the story and where they want it to show up. And they reverse engineer the strategy back from there.
Use this same approach - start with what you want the end "headline" to be - remember it could potentially be a literal headline, but more importantly, reflect on the headline in the affected employee's life and career.
After this reflection, share and discuss with a cross-functional team across leadership, human resources, employee experience, communications -- and the rest of the team who will have action to take (e.g., IT or security). Design the experience you need to deliver to get the headline you envision. Take it a step further and journey map it.
Then ensure your people (who), systems (what) and processes (how) are tuned to support that desired end-result in the actions and experiences delivered at each step, from leaders hosting separation conversations, to IT and security completing practical and logistical steps, to executives sharing the news with the company, to others involved in excuting the plan. Keep it real, sincere, and focused on the human part of this story. Fake it, and you go viral.
Put your people at the center. If you are in a position to invest in kinds of material support for them, please do so. But set the bare minimum at putting their feelings and their dignity at the center. Use your Values and Employee Value Proposition as your guide as you design intentional experiences that leave everyone - those being laid off and those "left behind" - emotionally intact.
We suggest the end-result you aim for is something to the effect of "obviously getting laid off is a 1, but they did it well and I felt supported as a human. That was a 10." Or "we were gutted to lose these people from our team, but I believe leaders when they say they are supporting the affected employees and wish them well." What has to happen to result in your people feeling that way at the end? That's how you "design an experience."
Even when done well, layoffs are unpleasant and hard. But your reputation (and integrity) are in your laid off employee's hands - so putting some thought into the experience is strategically and morally important. One step toward how you get layoffs right is simply to be thoughtful. More extensive support and investments? They're great when possible, but it doesn't cost you anything to thoughtfully design what the experience will be.
Want a human-centered or an experience design perspective on an upcoming reduction in force? We're sorry if you're going through this but we can help.
Want to Keep the Conversation Going?
We are interested to hear your perspective about the challenges you face in your organization. If you have any questions we will be more than happy to advise.