Saving a Bad Layoff
by Lois MelbourneBloody Monday and Ugly Tuesday are big evidence that there are a lot of jobs being cut. Most people are anticipating more layoffs. That means HR personnel have a lot of work ahead of them. Here are some quick tips to consider to save yourself and the company from a little of the pain of a badly selected layoff pool.
- View the perspective layoff pool in an org chart. Are there big chunks of the pool too highly concentrated in specific areas?
- Have you viewed the critical hiring positions that will remain open and compared them to the layoff pool to see if you can do transfers and save some individuals?
- Have you over-layed the retiring workforce data with the layoff pool to make sure that you are not cutting your successor pool too deeply under current key positions? Many companies flag for key positions to avoid cutting them, but only a few wise companies are looking at the successor pool to feed into those key positions. You don’t want to lose your intellectual capital that will help pull you out of this recession as they climb the corporate ladder.
- Are you cutting entire layers out of the organization? Think of your hierarchy as a tree for a moment. You can’t cut a full slice out of the tree trunk and expect the rest of the tree to easily graft back and continue to grow. If you must cut large chunks of the organization, it may be much better to cut entire branches (i.e. divisions or product lines) than to try to cut entire layers. You may want to refer to the blog entry The Nightmares of a Flat Org Chart.
- Still with the tree analogy, look at the branch you may be cutting off and look for the vital fruit or seeds that can be used elsewhere to help your company grow and survive. Taking an ax to the corporation is not a wise move right now. If you do use an ax, make sure you first carefully select the key performers you need to keep and move them elsewhere in the organization. Do it before big announcements are made, because the good ones may find other jobs (even in this economy) and you will lose them forever.
Good Luck,
Lois
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