The core issues to be noted during the layoffs

 

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Editor’s note: In the face of this sudden outbreak, the whole society has been affected more or less to varying degrees. Among them, for many companies, I am afraid this is an extremely difficult period. In the face of a sudden drop in revenue caused by a sudden drop in sales, and at the same time, the hard costs of personnel and rent remain high, many companies have scratched their heads. Under desperate circumstances, many companies have made layoff choices. In such difficult times, how to plan and manage the layoffs of enterprises? This article from David Ulevitch, a partner of the well-known venture capital firm A16Z, originally titled Planning and Managing Layoffs. In the article, David proposed the best practice method based on his personal experience from planning and specific management. Inspired. This is the next part of this series of articles, mainly sharing the issues that need to be paid attention to during the layoffs.

Several issues that need to be noted during the layoffs

Communication and communication are important

As a business leader, your personal communication is very important. The reason why employees join this company is because of your personal vision of the company and your own personal factors. Now, you may want to let them down. Therefore, you need to personally communicate with the layoffs about the layoffs and take corresponding responsibility for the company’s current situation. But no matter what, in the end, whether the laid-off employees can feel the company’s respect and sympathy for them depends mainly on the leader’s decision. Usually, this is the key to building mutual trust and confidence.

Once you start to notify the layoffs, the layoffs will soon be heard within the company. Therefore, for every layoff communication, you should also complete it as quickly as possible. If conditions permit, one-to-many layoffs must be avoided to make the process as private as possible. As for how many rounds of layoffs need to be addressed, this is not important. If your business has grown to a certain scale, then you may need the relevant management team to take part in the responsibility of layoffs and communication. This means that for how to train and educate core management team members, let them communicate in the layoffs processIn, showing the company’s sympathy and corresponding consideration for the laid-off employees, this is your personal responsibility.

After the layoffs are completed, you also need to directly inform the company ’s employees about the layoffs as a company leader, and let them let go of the hanging stones in their minds. Whether he is also on the list of layoffs. You must be mentally prepared, and the layoffs and even the general public may eventually read this notification email. Therefore, we must prepare in advance the drafting of the content of this email, explain the changes facing the company, provide corresponding explanations and explanations, and pay special attention to the special contributions of the layoffs to the company and the company’s deep gratitude. Remember, the main communication object of your letter is still the people who stay in the company. In the email, you should also announce one thing, (ideally) convene a plenary meeting within the company before the end of the day or early the next morning, so that the remaining employees have the opportunity to interact with you and can hear from you. the sound of. If the process of convening all the staff to boost morale drags on for too long, this will make a serious mistake. In short, the remaining employees hope to hear your voice, the sooner the better.

How to notify the laid-off employees?

 

Note: The following suggestions are particularly applicable to remotely notify laid-off employees in case of an outbreak. Of course, it also applies to face-to-face layoffs.

Use common sense to plan ahead : In the process of communicating with the laid-off employees, at least two company representatives need to be arranged “present”, one of whom is the most Fortunately, it is a senior human resources expert to avoid possible “he said” or “she said” and other situations, while also protecting the company and the individual from the legal point of view.

What you need to know is that it is not particularly appropriate to send laid-off employees an email inviting them to participate in the communication conversation where their line manager and human resources representative are present. It is advisable to arrange the time of the relevant conversation separately with the human resources representative, so that they are not in the original invitation mailing list.

In addition, do not reuse the “personal meeting room” function of conference software such as Zoom or WebEx. For every communication, it is best to create a new meeting room.

Everything is ready : It is a wise practice to prepare the manuscript in advance. You can summarize and organize a manuscript for your own use through the relevant content in the following text. It is also normal for people to be nervous or flustered when communicating notifications of retrenchments to employees. Personally, this is also the process of rehearsing in advance. The content of the conversation should not deviate from the content of your manuscript, and do not let your carefully prepared plans with great consideration and empathy go to waste.

For preparation, turn on the camera in advance to ensure that you are in a quiet place without any interference. For example, if you start this conversation while driving, it is very inappropriate. At the same time, prepare electronic texts related to layoffs and severance, so that these documents can be shared in time during or after the communication.

Less is more : Since communication takes place via video telephony, it ’s best to avoid chatting with other online people. You should directly cut into the theme, “I have something to announce. After a difficult decision between me and the management team, and for the purpose of saving and keeping the company’s business, we have to remove your current position. We regret to inform you, Affected by this decision, you will be one of the company’s layoffs. “I found that in the process of announcing this news, it is very important to repeat the core words at least twice (taking the foregoing as an example, which “Remove your post” and “You are one of the targets of layoffs”). After all, sometimes the other party may quickly enter a state of shock or frustration, so that other information may be ignored.

Next you just need to wait quietly. The other party must take some time to digest. That time may be a very awkward silence. But that’s okay. The other party may feel sad, embarrassed, or even angry, so let them digest it slowly. Then they will ask you questions. For example, “What does this mean to me?” “When will my salary be paid?” “How many people are there for this layoff?” “If I work harder, can I get the company to withdraw layoffs?” Decision? “” Can you lower your salary a bit, but don’t cut me? “

For any problems that may be mentioned by the laid-off employees and the related responses, you can respond by the following ways:

  • If the problem is related to layoff related arrangements (what does this mean to me? on what day will my salary be paid?), then you can answer, “I know This is a huge amount of information for you. I will also send you a document to let you understand the company ’s plans and measures, and provide you with additional information and resources as soon as possible after the adoption of this channel. ”Based on these You can tell them about the specific amount of information, but I suggest not to involve too many details, otherwise the other party may have innumerable problems. In short, ensure that you have the corresponding documents prepared in advance, and you can quickly and timely return relevant information to the other party.
     

  • If the problem is something else (how many people are there for the layoffs? If I work harder, can the company make the decision to withdraw the layoffs? Can it? Cut your salary a little, but do n’t cut me?) Or if the other party begins to vent their anger, the best thing to do is to listen carefully to them. At the same time, you must not break away from the original “script”, repeat the main points of plan communication, and then keep listening. In this conversation, the protagonist was originally them, so they must also be regarded as the core focus. In addition, you need to remember that since the decision has been made, do not easily overthrow your decision and do not give them any false hope. You just need to tell them the layoffs in a clear and compassionate way as much as possible. Sometimes you may be soft-hearted and say “I haven’t realized that this result is so bad for you, then let me see what else I can do”. Among them, this is extremely terrible. Therefore, it is best to publish the news according to the original plan. If you really feel that you have done something wrong and need to adjust, then solve it in a private way.
     

  • If the layoffs are too excited after hearing the layoffs, or ca n’t calm down, you can end the conversation early and tell them that you Realizing that this news caused an unimaginable blow to them, it may also bring huge changes to their lives. You need to let the other party know clearly that if the other party is ready, you are happy to continue this conversation.

    What can you do? What can you say?

    • Be a true leader. You can also see from this aspectShow true leadership. In the process, show your empathy and be a listener, while emphasizing that this is the company’s decision. If you are only responsible for communicating the layoff notice, not the final decision maker, then you cannot say that you are “just a microphone.” For you who are announcing the layoffs, if you all question this layoff decision, it is quite sad. If you really have this idea, then you can at least not be the person who announced the news.
       

    • You can say, “I know this news is hard for you to accept. Of course, if you have no problems now, but if you think of any problems later, also Very normal. Therefore, I assure you that you can contact me or the human resources department at any time. In short, as long as you have a problem, we are always available to solve it for you, and do our best to help you. “
       

    • You can also say “I know you need time to digest this news, but I believe you will definitely be able to overcome this difficulty.”
       

    • If appropriate, you can also make it clear that you or other person in charge of the company is also willing to write a recommendation letter for him, so as to find new jobs in them It helps when there is an opportunity.
       

    • At the same time, they also need to make sure that there is a certain transition period for this layoff. For example, you can say, “From now on, you no longer need to go to work in the company, nor do you need to do any related work. Your company’s mailbox and other internal system permissions will also be cancelled in time. If the company misses a certain In this respect, what you need to realize is that you have a responsibility to stop using company resources. “

       

      About the handover involving IT: Usually, many employees may ask “how to deal with personal files in the system? Can I still retrieve these files? How do I take them? Back to these files? “Strictly speaking, although employees should not store personal information on company computers or systems, the reality is that almost everyone is doing this. I prefer that employees do not do it out of negligence, so I also promise to allow them to retrieve relevant documents for a period of time. In the epidemic, many layoffs were held through video telephony, and the company ’s computer was still in the hands of employees, so from this perspective, the company can actually control limited.

      Image source: impactgrouphr

      What other issues should be noted during the layoffs?

      • Do not mention the existence of “you”. At any time, you should not tell the other party to inform them about the difficult decision to layoffs, or how painful it is to make the decision to layoffs. It’s the other person who lost the job, not you. This is not particularly difficult for you, at most it may make you uncomfortable. But without a job, it is extremely difficult. This was the case with a manager before. After he was responsible for completing the layoffs, he said in a meeting, “This day is really too difficult for me.” I will never forget the manager who said such a sentence, and I never want to work with him again. In short, don’t be like him. Now I think of him as angry.
         

      • Do n’t make jokes or show relief. There is no relief in layoff communication, even if you are very nervous and trying to ease this atmosphere. Even if there is an embarrassment in the air because of quietness, then you should maintain this quietness and listen to each other well. In short, give each other room to let them digest the news slowly.
         

      • Do n’t tell them “you will be fine”. Do n’t tell them that you can definitely find a better job. You do n’t even know if they can find a better job. Therefore, don’t make too many precise remarks about the future. Do n’t commit to each other, you can help them find new job opportunities (you can help, but do n’t guarantee that you can find a job for them. But I also found that providing unpromised help can sound people I feel like talking on paper)
         

      • Do n’t blame others. Do n’t point the finger at viruses and epidemics. Do n’t blame the market. Do n’t blame the company ’s board of directors or investors.
         

      • Do n’t ask the other party “Are you all right?”. After all, after you notify the other party of this bad layoff decision, such an inquiry will ultimately only be comfortable for you, and it will not make the laid-off employees feel your support. In short, it is recommended that you directly ask the other party and ask them in what areas they need help.
         

      • Before starting the layoff communication, if you have not let the company ’s legal department or human resources department check the possible problems in the layoff process in advance, ensure that your layoff decision will not Disproportionately affect (based on race, gender, etc.) certain groups of people, then you are considered unqualified. This is even more important in relatively large enterprises.
         

      • Finally, if you do n’t plan ahead for this day ’s arrangements, especially for the communication content (including listening to the legal and human resources departments), and prepare in advance Relevant communication texts, if necessary rehearsals, then it is considered unqualified.

        In short, when facing layoffs, do n’t try to avoid it. If you really make a layoff decision, that is probably one of the worst experiences in your career. But no matter what, compared to the impact on the laid off employees, you are not so bad, or how difficult. The employees you hired have been working diligently since you joined the company. However, when they did not make mistakes, they were affected by the layoffs, and this was a particularly difficult period. However, in the layoff communication, if you can balance sympathy and clarity, you can relieve them of the burden and help them begin to prepare for the next career change, while building mutual trust in the remaining team With confidence.

        Finally, I would like to mention how to deal with the question of “Can I lower my salary, but do n’t cut me?” In theory, this question sounds appealing. This approach usually helps to share the overall pain in the short term, but it also has side effects.

        First of all, from the perspective of financial analysis, unless your company has hundreds of employees, this approach will not basically ease your cash flowPressure. If the salary is reduced by 10% or 20%, then the labor cost you need to invest in him is still very high.

        Second, such an approach may also have a risk of affecting employee morale. In the next two to three months, when employees start to see their paychecks decrease, they will usually look for other job opportunities on their own (provided they can find it, otherwise it is at most self-trouble).

        Even so, for founders, leaders and even the entire leadership team, salary reduction is still an important symbolic gesture. Under these circumstances, I personally agree to pay cuts. But it is more a symbolic gesture, and can not really save a lot of cash expenses. For individual contributors, or employees whose wages are lower than the average, such a pay cut is not recommended. If I want to take pay cuts, I will exclude them.