WHAT'S NEW Managing an Effective Lay-off Perhaps the one most significant yet highly unpleasant work for HR professionals to manage is a lay-off. It does not matter if the lay-off is impacting one person or an entire division, the resulting sense of lessened morale over the event remains with us long after the lay-off has become a distant memory. At NRG HR Consulting, we have become leading experts in the area of lay-offs and corporate downsizing. Working intensively with senior management, we set the stage for the lay-off from the top, down. Our experience has shown us that active engagement from C-level executives and their senior management teams serve to stabilize employees - both exiting and remaining - and instill a sense of dignity and integrity to the process that would otherwise be lacking without their direct involvement. At times such as these, when the risk to financial security is high, employees need to hear directly from the responsible decision makers the details and rationale behind reducing employees, as well as knowing what their operating plan is for the future. NOTE: We also have experience effecting a reduction in force in a union environment. Our approach to managing a lay-off is simple and consists of the following: Total confidentiality from all people who have knowledge of the event. Typically, this is the senior management team, the ranking Human Resources person, and one or two trusted executive assistants. Review of all regulations governing lay-offs, including WARN, EEO discrimination reporting (i.e. age trigger), and so on. Development of an end-to-end communications process Careful planning of the benefits received by impacted employees. Developing exit packages for departing employees. Intensive pre-event communications training with senior staff about how to deliver the lay-off ‘message.’ Coordination of the notification to impacted employees and those remaining with the company, including providing the elements of severance and benefit packages to employees who remain with the company. Discussion of employee safety and the need for discreet on-site security. Post-notification management de-brief. Next day All-Employee Meeting(s) facilitated by the ranking senior officer. 2nd Day: Management Training - How to Manage with Less Perhaps the single most important element we have discovered about managing lay-offs effectively is this: All employees will judge management on the implementation of a lay-off; everyone will be keeping score about how well the lay-off was managed and executed. We make sure a lay-off is handled with the utmost care, which in turn imparts a high level of dignity to those people who have lost their jobs. We have managed numerous lay-offs and the outcome has consistently been the same: High level of employee acceptance of management's decision No violence No lawsuits If your organization is faced with downsizing for any reason, call us - we are THE experts in this field and can guide your management team through this process. For more about managing a reduction in force, feel free to download our whitepaper, Managing a RIF. © 2008, NRG HR Consulting. All rights reserved.