How do you reinvigorate morale after a lay-off?
I’m posting this question on behalf of a few interested parties:
Layoffs are a reality of the startup trade. Executing a layoff is tough, but maintaining the morale of your team in the aftermath is even harder, and arguably more important.
Could the Found|READ community chip in with some tips for how to manage the painful process constructively? How do you prepare for a layoff? How do you manage your remaining team in the days and weeks afterward to reinvigorate their commitment to your company’s mission?
Tips from people with hands on experience in the before and after would be ideal.
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Being honest and as transparent as possible are important.
If there are good reasons for the lay-offs and the people who remain accept those problems and understand that laying off was the best solution, then motivation will dip, but return.
Post-layoff motivation is directly tied to pre-layoff leadership.
The people who will be most effected by the layoffs are the people who think “Bobby should have been fired before Sally”. Listen to the employees who are effected. Take the time to meet with them directly and listen to what they’re saying. Since you’ve already acted by laying off staff, simply being there for the remainder will remind them that they’re valued.}
I’m going to echo the previous comment. Just be honest and forthcoming with what’s wrong. There has to be something that’s really wrong to be having layoffs. It could be a bad business plan, mismanagement, or whatever. Glossing over the problem or trying to act like nothing is wrong just tunes your employees out and it sends your best workers heading for the door because they have the most choices.
Never never say “This is the hardest part of my job” or try to even say how this is bad for you because it’s always worse for those getting laid off. I’ve heard this before and you just lose all credibility in your employee’s eyes.
Never do it in a large group. Have it done by the managers or directors or both but by all means have it done by someone the worker works with on a daily basis because they are going to be more sincere and make the process human. And get the manager some training on what not to say. This is the only way to do it in my opinion.
Never never do it by e-mail. Oh my, I could not believe it when a company I worked at did it this way and then there was a problem with the e-mails. People were told to go back to their desks and they would have an e-mail if they were getting laid off and then EVERYONE got an e-mail. sarcasm alert That went over sooooo well. end sarcasm alert The worst part of all this? The same company made the same mistake a second time!}
When we recently laid off two employees we made sure myself and my business partner did it personally. It’s always going to be a big shock and very disappointing for the employees, so we focused on the positive first (what a great job they both did), then give them the reasons why it had to happen, again mentioning it’s not their fault. We also thought this was something that should definitely done in two tiers. First you give them the information, then let them absorb the blow and wait til the next day or later to discuss some of the details for transitioning out of the company. In this case we kept it simple: “You did a great job, this has nothing to do with you, and why don’t you take off early today and we can discuss the details of how we’re going to handle this tomorrow”. For those employees remaining, transparency (as mentioned above) I agree is important. We gave them the specific financials on why we had to do it and why it was beyond our control and why it was not simple capriciousness. Then, here is something we thought very important for morale that hasn’t been mentioned yet: Infusing the remaining staff with hope and excitement about the future of the company. Make them feel secure first in their position and then go on to talk about all the new and positive things the company is moving into. This is sort of the ‘pep talk’ portion. It seemed to work well, a few people said “this is a great new project” and “I’m excited”.}
I’ve been through a few layoffs in my time, and its never easy. At the end of the day, someone is losing their job, and there really isn’t any sugar coating that makes that any easier.
The key to keeping up morale, is to show that you’ve made the necessary changes to the organization to prevent future layoffs from happening. After a layoff, most of your employees are thinking, “that could have been me” and are probably thinking about freshening up their resumes so they can get out before the axe falls again. Its up to you to show them that you’ve taken the steps to keep their jobs secure and that there is a plan to get the company viable again.
Also make sure you offer the laid off employees a better than fair severance package, and do everything possible to help them gain employment elsewhere. Its how you treat these people leaving that will effect your morale the most.}