Lay Off Employee And What You Should Know

Why a lay off of an employee is stressful and what you can do about it

A lay off of any employee is usually a result of economic stresses, a company’s change of direction and cost cutting. Lay offs are a dirty business, but necessary for a company to survive and compete successfully.

Jobs lasting a lifetime no longer exist. Today an employee lay off isn’t a black mark on a worker’s record, but just an unpleasant fact. By definition, a worker isn’t at fault when you lay him off. His performance and professional conduct have been good. He’s just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Stress Associated With Laying Off

While it no longer carries a stigma, a lay off is still stressful for all parties. This includes you as the firing manager, the terminated worker, his family and the coworkers left behind.

Before we explore the layoff procedure in detail, let’s discuss how it’ll affect you emotionally. The circumstances will cause many stresses in your life. This is especially true when this is your first reduction in force as a terminating manager. You’ll be on an emotional rollercoaster.

Let’s recognize some of the causes of your stress. First, you’ll layoff good people who depend on you and your company to support their families. You know your actions will turn their lives upside down, and none of it’s their fault.

Second, you may blame yourself personally for the company’s decline. You and your management chain may have caused your business’s decline through management missteps or a failure to recognize the changing marketplace.

Third, you understand these layoffs will economically harm your community. If your community has recognized you in the past as a prominent, local business leader, you may feel added guilt.

And finally, you may have concerns about your personal security and that of your co-workers. A former worker committing an act of violence because of the layoff is a possibility.

Since we’ve recognized these concerns, we can now talk openly about the reality of your circumstances. While these worries are genuine, you shouldn’t be too worried. This is why.

• All of your former workers will land on their feet, and usually get better jobs than they had previously.

• You may have made some mistakes in the past. Everyone does, so don’t beat yourself up. You did more right than wrong or your company would’ve already shut its doors.

• Your actions will save jobs! While this seems counterintuitive, it’s a reality. If you don’t layoff some people today, you’ll bankrupt your business and no one at your company will have a job. Further, your bankruptcy may lead, in turn, to your suppliers laying off their workers
  
• A reduction in force is part of a sensible strategy to reduce costs and improve competitiveness. In a few years, your firm will return to its high community standing. If anything, your reputation as a solid business leader will grow larger.

• Violence by fired workers doesn’t happen often. Understand working for a company facing a reduction in force is stressful. Therefore, most workers are (paradoxically) happy when they find out about their termination.

To learn how to terminate properly, you should consider the Employee Termination Guidebook. You can find out more at lay off employee procedures.

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