Hard Messages - Letting Employees Go

I am working for a healthy and profitable company and have not had to deliver these hard messages. And I hope I do not need to deliver them anytime soon. But this week I saw good advice on

How to execute orders from head office to pare down the workforce as a means of reducing cost?

Because the reductions will be general in nature, the most common reaction of the local management is to deal with the problem in a general way as well – usually by sending emails or having mass meetings. However mass communications of a negative nature almost never work.

The following series of tips help to make firings and other hard messages more palatable, both to those staying and those leaving:

• Keep it legal: be familiar with your company's rules of employment and relevant labor law.
  
• LISTEN. Everyone knows this is key, but how good are you at empathizing? Are you sure you're giving the right level of feedback?
  
• Do NOT fire on a Friday! Early in the week gives people time to sort out issues, have support from colleagues, and to not fall into despair over the weekend.
  
• Similarly, earlier in the month is better, and after holidays, not before.
  
• Keep it private. As an example of what not to do, one company actually held an off-site seminar and gave everyone an envelope: some with blue notes (keeping their jobs) and some with yellow (losing their jobs). They then held a "farewell dinner" afterwards, at the same location, for those leaving.
  
• Except in extreme cases, there's no reason to have security accompany the person off the premises. Avoid humiliating the person.
  
• Keep the meeting brief, and to the point, but allow your soon-to-be-former staff to vent, without you becoming defensive.
  
• Losing a job is shocking news for most people, unless you've done the performance monitoring right all along. Some people will immediately go into denial and not even realize they're being terminated. You need to make it very clear that the decision has been made and is final.
  
• Be open from the start of the conversation about your own feelings. If true, something like, "This is going to be a difficult conversation...it is tough for me."
  
• Avoid making any promises or phrases like, "I'm sure everything will work out all right."
  
• Be prepared with what assistance your company is offering--counseling, interview coaching, or other outplacement help.
  
• Remember, the person you fire will have an impact beyond him/herself. They can cause others to leave, or lower morale of those who remain, or they can become still positive spokespeople for your firm.
  
• How they perceive you as a manager is how they will perceive your company.

The full article was published by Terrie Lloyd, an influencer on the foreign business community in Japan. It is based on advice from our mutual friend Andrew Silberman, whose company is my partner on our HR training needs. Two years ago Andrew and his team gave me the book that started this blog.

Thank you Andrew and Terrie. I hope I do not need this advice in large scale anytime soon. I decided to blog it anyway, because my blog exists ”to summarize and internalize the knowledge I need during my management career.” Even if I hate it, I am sure I will need it during the next 20 odd years of my career.