Dealing with job cuts
Current cases and their effects
Downsizing is omnipresent at the moment.
McKinsey is laying off two thousand people, Accenture as many as 19,000, and the same happens in numerous places. The post-pandemic wave of layoffs is in full swing. Not all sectors are affected, but some are particularly hard hit. Please refrain from using Anglicisms such as “rightsizing”, which, given the euphemistic nature of the term, is no longer fooling anyone today. Such steps have side effects for which you must be prepared.
How can your organisation be prepared for such steps?
Three aspects
Redundancies are part of the economic cycle. Sooner or later, every decision-maker will have to deal with them. Organisations also know that job cuts will happen in the economy’s cycles. Three factors you can check here to decide which people are a good fit for you and which are less so.
IQ — Intelligence Quotient. This aspect is not necessarily about a formality, a grade or a degree. It is about whether the person can represent the skills you need. If this is not the case or is no longer the case, then action must be taken. Offer help, develop people, and close gaps in the set of skills. It is also important to consider whether a possibly non-existent ability is a case of force majeure, in which case help is offered, or whether there is an unwillingness to contribute. In the latter case, after offering talks and help, a separation talk will be necessary.
EQ — Emotional Intelligence. This aspect is the ability to deal with each other appropriately in the organisation. These soft skills can be trained but require significantly more effort to see a positive change.
CQ — the cultural quotient. Does the person still fit the organisation and vice versa? Do working methods, values, and views match to a sufficient degree? If not, this must be addressed promptly.
Impact
Give clear reasons for dismissals. Provide the necessary material to support your decision. Prepare proactively for redundancies’ internal and external impact (more on this in this week’s podcast — links below). Prepare your PR, communications or similar department particularly well, as quick and accurate responses without mistakes will be imperative.
Reputation online and offline must now be well observed. Take corrective action at crucial points. Above all, pay attention to reasonable and unreasonable behaviour. In times of social media, this can quickly escalate virally. Although unacceptable behaviour is not only to be seen at the management level, it escalates much faster if that level misses the right measure.
Leaders
As a leader, you need to position yourself proactively and participate actively in the process. The days of denying responsibility by saying, “this is an HR process”, are long gone. Especially if you do not live up to the expectations during important moments, you harm yourself and the organisation. In a crisis, the truth of character is revealed. Therefore, it is important in such downsizing processes to answer one question clearly: where do you stand in implementing the downsizing? Your decision.
More on the topic of dealing with job cuts in this week’s podcast: Apple Podcasts / Spotify.
Handling extreme situations very well is important to you?
Let’s talk: NB@NB-Networks.com.
Network: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn.
