Parting Ways with Positivity and Possibility
Conduct terminations and layoffs with a sense of positivity and possibility.
There are two main reasons that positivity is essential: preserving your organization’s “employment brand” and maintaining high morale among remaining employees.
News travels faster than ever these days, and with the proliferation of instant publishing tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, your company’s environment and actions are always a potential topic of conversation. A disgruntled former employee can vent their feelings to the world, seriously damaging your organization’s ability to recruit high-quality talent in the future. Difficult times always pass, and you will have to compete for talent because, after all, aligning the right people with the right strategy maximizes your success. Maintaining a positive employment reputation and expressing empathy even in difficult times bears fruit beyond what you’ll see in the short term.
Your remaining workforce will likely feel the strain of any termination or layoff. Minimize tension to maintain morale and productivity. Transparency is key; current employees should be able to see and understand the process. Employees who feel their jobs are threatened will begin to look elsewhere.
These 5 tips offer guidance on what positivity entails.
Obviously, there’s no ideal way to conduct a termination or layoff session since each employee and each situation is unique. A few general tips, however, will provide you with some ideas for positive approaches to the potentially painful session.
Draw information from assessments. Ideally, the employee would have completed personality and conative profile assessments. These assessments contain information that can help you identify and highlight opportunities. For example, since these assessments profile the person’s natural ways of thinking, working, and relating to others, you can use these indicators to help the individual identify potential careers or roles that will suit them well.
Practically speaking, you can specifically mention the person’s unique qualities and strengths in letters of recommendation. You can also encourage the person to share their assessment results with potential employers during job interviews; this information may demonstrate to the possible employer just how compatible the person is with the open or future positions.
Express appreciation. Spend time expressing and discussing with the individual the ways they’ve improved the organization. Make sure to review their work before the session so that you’re thoroughly prepared to be specific. With the employee, review and emphasize their strengths, even if it is necessary to offer constructive criticism or critique their work. You can suggest new career areas and positions that may be a good fit for the person and enable them to achieve greater career satisfaction.
Provide (gentle) advice for their job search. Because you are well-acquainted with their assessment results and work history, you are in a unique position to provide practical advice. Suppose you know of open positions in other organizations that might be a good fit. With layoffs, it is the time to direct the person to another potential employer.
Help the person envision a positive future. Sincerely express your appreciation for the person’s work and empower them to consider the possibilities and opportunities that may now be available to them. Even encourage the person to explore their passions and interests, and how those might lead to a new career.
Remind them that unemployment is temporary and does not always reflect their competency or ability. You may even want to share a personal story about a time in your own past when an apparent setback transformed into a successful endeavor. Help demonstrate a future that supports their interests and provide a list of resources offering free assistance to aid their search.Pay attention to remaining employees. Your remaining workforce will be affected by the termination or layoff. Avoid the temptation to retreat into your office and withdraw all communication; instead, reassure and rally your employees with positive messages, updates about the organization's state, emphasize current goals, and keep information flowing. Ultimately, this will reassure workers, prevent a decline in morale and productivity, and foster a sense of purpose and hope.
What recommendations or tips do you have to offer employers who are forced into the difficult position of laying off employees?