What do layoffs and Road House have in common?

Something I never had on my Bingo card: John Dalton – Patrick Swayze’s character in the infamous movie Road House – helping employers making layoffs.  Here’s how.

Layoffs in any major economy are inevitable.  While some companies harshly refer to them as “reductions in force”, it’s important to never lose sight of two key facts.

First, layoffs are almost never the fault of the people being laid off.  They are typically the result of decisions made by people much higher up in the organizational chart. Second, a job loss is one of the most difficult professional things any person may go through.

Do it in a way that allows the company to achieve its goals while also making the process less bad for employees.  I often help clients design and implement a process that will enhance the company’s reputation but also ensure the people being laid off are put first and foremost.

The overarching theme is straight from the cooler himself.  John Dalton had a simple ethos when dealing with difficult situations at the Double Deuce: Be nice! 

“If somebody gets in your face and calls you a *#@!, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice.”

Now, I would never equate a layoff situation to a bar fight in a fictional movie but there is a simple analogy: If you care about the reputation of your establishment, you should take care in how you run it. 

What does this mean in practical terms?

Ensure key functions collaborate.  This includes HR, communications, legal, operations and IT (and investor relations if it’s not housed in one of those functions already).  They have different, and valuable, considerations.  Make sure they are part of a confidential decision-making team, or are at least adequately informed.

The privacy of the process is key for the employees being laid off.  Treat it with the utmost respect.  You can do this through a well co-ordinated , professional process. 

Co-ordinate with IT and Operations to ensure they know in advance when to terminate access, and have staff in the right place to ensure there aren’t any unwelcome business interruptions.  Keep them informed if timelines change.

Co-ordinate with Legal to ensure the different laws and regulations are being followed. This is particularly complicated if the lay offs are happening over multiple jurisdictions.   Are these actually layoffs or terminations? If it’s the latter, there are big severance and litigation considerations. Does a release need to be signed?  Does government or a regulator need to be informed?  Should independent legal advice be required?  What does a manager do if an employee threatens to sue?  How does the company ensure employees aren’t taking confidential documents on their way out?

Co-ordinate with Communications to ensure clear, concise, consistent messaging.  Train up all those involved from the C-suite to the day-to-day managers who will likely deal with the fall out.  Ensure stakeholder analysis has been done properly so messaging is ready for remaining employees, the media, investors, etc.

(Side note for folks on Communications. If you’re doing longitudinal reputation tracking in the field (You should be!), try to time things so that one is done right before the layoffs.  That way, if there is any drop afterwards, causation is a bit more clear and the bounce-back efforts from all the co-ordination, reputation management and crisis management are more obvious too. Communications staff can then show their worth with a real metric.)

Actions and messaging should lead with authenticity and empathy.  Tell the people being laid off, tell the folks remaining on the team; and tell stakeholders.   

If the company can’t muster up authenticity and empathy, it’s not ready.  Back to the drawing board. 

Crafting this process isn’t easy and is filled with landmines.  Care needs to be taken to get it right for the sake of company reputation but, more importantly, for the folks who will inevitably being having a bad day.

Get in touch so we can tailor things for your situation.  Big or small.  One employee or one hundred, it needs to be done right.