Comments on: Letting People Go – the Do’s and Dont’s http://myceolife.com/2008/11/letting-people-go-the-dos-and-donts/ Real Business, Real Problems, Real Solutions Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Georgie http://myceolife.com/2008/11/letting-people-go-the-dos-and-donts/comment-page-1/#comment-207 Georgie Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:59:04 +0000 http://myceolife.com/?p=372#comment-207 Treat people with respect is absolutely the first rule!! Today I heard a friend had been let go from an hair styling apprenticeship. She walked in and was told, "We have good news and bad news. Good news is, we found a new apprentice. Bad news is, we don't need you anymore." Unbelievable. Treat people with respect is absolutely the first rule!! Today I heard a friend had been let go from an hair styling apprenticeship. She walked in and was told, “We have good news and bad news. Good news is, we found a new apprentice. Bad news is, we don’t need you anymore.” Unbelievable.

]]> By: SergeK http://myceolife.com/2008/11/letting-people-go-the-dos-and-donts/comment-page-1/#comment-205 SergeK Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:01:44 +0000 http://myceolife.com/?p=372#comment-205 I found this e-mail from Jason Calacanis to TechCrunch very useful as well: How To Handle Layoffs http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/22/email-from-jason-calacanis-how-to-handle-layoffs/ Especially those parts in addition to your recommendations: 1. Don’t spread layoffs over multiple rounds: This is a horrible idea because it creates massive fear and uncertainty inside of your organization. If you’re going to do layoffs, do them once, do them quickly, and explain to people that you’re doing just that. 2. Don’t lay people off one at a time, do it as a group. When I did layoffs at Silicon Alley Reporter the first time, I brought people in one at a time thinking it would be more humane. I thought I’d give folks more one-on-one time. The result was that folks were waiting at their desks and talking to people on IM the whole time waiting for their call to come into my office. 6. Don’t drag it out: It’s better to do these type of things at the end of the day, and if folks are done with their questions, let folks leave. Folks have families and a lot of issues to deal with, and there is no need to keep them around for the entire day or for a couple of more days. The folks who are left can clean up the loose ends. 7. Get everyone focused again: After the layoffs, you have to make sure everyone understands what the goals are–even if they haven’t changed–and get folks ready to kill it again. I found this e-mail from Jason Calacanis to TechCrunch very useful as well:

How To Handle Layoffs
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/22/email-from-jason-calacanis-how-to-handle-layoffs/

Especially those parts in addition to your recommendations:

1. Don’t spread layoffs over multiple rounds: This is a horrible idea because it creates massive fear and uncertainty inside of your organization. If you’re going to do layoffs, do them once, do them quickly, and explain to people that you’re doing just that.

2. Don’t lay people off one at a time, do it as a group. When I did layoffs at Silicon Alley Reporter the first time, I brought people in one at a time thinking it would be more humane. I thought I’d give folks more one-on-one time. The result was that folks were waiting at their desks and talking to people on IM the whole time waiting for their call to come into my office.

6. Don’t drag it out: It’s better to do these type of things at the end of the day, and if folks are done with their questions, let folks leave. Folks have families and a lot of issues to deal with, and there is no need to keep them around for the entire day or for a couple of more days. The folks who are left can clean up the loose ends.

7. Get everyone focused again: After the layoffs, you have to make sure everyone understands what the goals are–even if they haven’t changed–and get folks ready to kill it again.

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