So tomorrow morning I have to fire 4 people

It also goes with the territory. Part of the reason your paycheck is (presumably) larger than theirs is you have to make calls like these.

Not all bosses have the stones for it. Worst example I’ve heard of was the one who simply sent “you’re fired” text messages to his employees.

Anyway, having been fired out of the blue (due to cutbacks) myself once, the best advice I can tell you is to be blunt, direct and to the point. The boss that fired me was clearly uncomfortable, especially when he saw the (as expected) shocked expression on my face. But he was all straight talk and no dancing around the issue, and that actually helped.

Respectfully

krise madsen

Since this is pretty much my one year anniversary to losing my job due to cutbacks, lemme add on top of what Krise said, don’t be patronizing. And I realize that sounds obvious, but it’s very easy to accidentally be patronizing when you think you’re being sympathetic. My boss kept saying ‘I understand how this feels’ and ‘I’m so sorry that I have to do this’, but those statements didn’t make me feel better. They made me want to hurt him physically. Give them exactly as much comfort as it seems they want, then give them the space they need.

Unless you have to follow up their termination with a guard walking them to the door with a box of their stuff. If that’s the case, then there’s no right way to do it. Cos when a termination has to happen that way, everyone ends up looking like a monster.

The consumer part of my IT business has slowed immensely since September. Let’s hear it for contracts!

True. The last thing they need is for you to pity them (even if that’s not your intention). They can probably see on your expression that you don’t exactly enjoy having to let them go anyway. Just keep it straight and honest. Also, don’t expect them to remember much of what you tell them. So if there is stuff they have to do when they get home (fill out papers, bring bank statements next day or something) make sure they get a list of bullet points (and hope they remember they got the list). Having something tangible like a to-do list can actually help.

Respectfully

krise madsen

This is such a bullshit “employees are human resources” attitude. Take as much for the company as possible, and fuck over those laid off as much as possible – I’ve seen it result in people getting deported. It’s especially nasty if you know they’ll have to sell their house.

You could instead let everyone know as early as possible, so they have a chance to handle the transition. Showing that you actually care what happens to those canned is much better for morale than the “last second shocker”. In particular, after surprise layoffs, employees almost universally look poorly upon management, and wonder whether at any moment they’ll get the tap for the inevitable next round of layoffs. Moreover, most of your best talent will immediately start shopping around for a new job, and may well leave.

Seriously, fuck people who treat their employees like so many cattle. The programming industry in particular is terrible about this.

Jeff, if you have any pull, the right thing to do is postpone the layoffs for say, two weeks, even more if you can. The resulting morale boost is well worth the cost.

So they have a chance to fuck up the computer? So they have a chance to e-mail customers? So they have a chance to photocopy company secrets? So they have a chance to shit in their desk drawer? So they have a chance to steal someone’s coat? So they have a chance to stuff their pockets with ill-gained staplers? So they have a chance to punch a coworker? So they have a chance to place an order for fifty thousand cases of periwinkle copier paper? So they have a chance to pour grape juice in the coffee maker?

There are lots of very good, very valid reasons not to let someone know beforehand.

Robert, if you have any pull, the right thing to do is postpone the layoffs for say, two weeks, even more if you can.

And hey, if they vandalize the bathroom before they leave, you know it’s not Jasper’s head on the chopping block next, so it’s all good for Johnny Gives Advice over there.

Does the most loving way possible involve a reach-around?

I try to avoid hiring psychos. But that’s just a little hangup I have.

There are a million reasons to not let someone know. I’m a manager at a company and yes it sucks to let someone go but you take a lot of risks letting them know beforehand. If your company deals with sales AT ALL you run the chance of having someone walk out with your contact database, etc… That’s how it goes. It sucks but so does losing YOUR job in a bad economy.

It’s a shitty economy. Unemployment is hitting a twenty year high. It doesn’t look like we’re going to see an upturn any time soon. Anyone worried about the future who suddenly finds themselves without a job has the potential to do something they normally wouldn’t. Stress can really mess with a person’s mind.

Perhaps the reasons for not telling people beforehand assume the worst of people. Hell, they clearly do. However, there are good reasons for assuming the worst of people. The above scenarios have all happened in one place or another. The way human resources handles these things is done for a reason, and that reason is to protect the company from worst case scenarios.

Or to take a much colder view of the whole thing? If you tell someone that in two weeks they’ll be losing their job, that’s two weeks during which their job performance is going to take a real hit.

No one has any idea how all their subordinates will act in such a situation. Even family members can shock you.

I’ve been in the position Jeff is in now and it sucks, but unless you want to be next on the list, you have to do what you must. Part of the reason you’re a supervisor is because you have to make the tough and uncomfortable decisions. Keep in mind that the four people he fires means a few others get to keep their jobs. It’s little consolation for the four getting the heave-ho, but it’s the only way for the guy doing the firing to keep sane.

I’ve always let people down easy, giving them at least a weeks notice, severance and things like that. It’s always worked out fine. I may be facing the same situation in the coming months, but I’m not letting anyone go before Xmas.

The deal with psychos is that they are really, really good at hiding the fact that they are psychos.

It may be nice to give people a head’s up, but in practice it doesn’t work. In their eyes, you screwed them over. So, some people are going to make sure they screw the company back. Might not be directed at the firing manager, but towards the “cold faceless” CEO’s that fired them.

They could be perfectly nice people in everyday life, but they won’t be in a normal frame of mind.

That said, it really sucks that you have to do this. It REALLY sucks that you have to do it now, before Christmas, and in an economic shithole. Damn.

As I said, we gave our folks several weeks warning (NCsoft until very recently has been really good in that regard). But even with that, there’s always going to be a time where you know and they don’t. Unless you have a 3 person office where everyone’s in every meeting and there’s no advance planning, that’s just the way managing a team works. As someone mentioned, there’s usually a very painful period where you don’t know WHO is going to be axed, just that someone has to be. Which also sucks.

I’ve always tried to be as open as possible about that sort of thing and when layoffs did start happening no one was terribly surprised.

I’ve also been laid off at a company where I was literally out the building 5 minutes after I was tapped on the shoulder and my chair pulled from my desk, no chance to get my personal effects (they were mailed to me). Which sucked. But on the other hand, this was a company who had bungled several previous rounds of layoffs to the point where the police had to be called to get people to leave the building.

I’ve been on the receiving end of this on more then one occasion. Graduating right in the middle of the internet bubble bursting was rough. Last in, first out. Life goes on though - at least they’ll have a lot of time to play the great video games out now. :P

So you’re paranoid, and can’t trust your employees. I bet that’s good for morale!

The sort of thing you describe is far more the exception than the norm – especially if you’ve made a practice of treating your employees well all along. Case in point, this tendency towards Machivellian “human resources” practices is a modern trend, and not done in every industry. Clearly it is not necessary, even though if you want you can always find a million justifications for treating your employees like cogs.

The flaw in your logic is that not all companies handle layoffs the way you describe. But please, bust out some more circular logic.

Or to take a much colder view of the whole thing? If you tell someone that in two weeks they’ll be losing their job, that’s two weeks during which their job performance is going to take a real hit.

Even if all you care about is what the company gets out of the deal, this is short sighted. If you don’t say who’ll be laid off, job performance goes down for everyone as they all make plans in case it’s them. Well, unless you manage to keep it a complete secret… in which case job performance goes down afterwards for a period well beyond 2-3 weeks, as everyone plays it safe and assumes it could be them getting the surprise tap next. Then there’s the hit for halfway completed jobs being dropped cold.

The very recent “conventional wisdom” about this is just flat out wrong, from my personal experience. In fact I’ve seen it both ways – letting people down easily never back fired, and surprise layoffs were always bad for the morale of the remaining employees. The assumption that secrecy is somehow mandatory is unsupported.

Absolutely, there’s no way everyone finds out at the same time. That’s a separate issue from knowing for weeks and not saying, in an effort to be as secret as possible.

I’ve always tried to be as open as possible about that sort of thing and when layoffs did start happening no one was terribly surprised.

Places that layoff without warning also tend to be secretive about this, for fear of tipping their hand.

I’ve also been laid off at a company where I was literally out the building 5 minutes after I was tapped on the shoulder and my chair pulled from my desk, no chance to get my personal effects (they were mailed to me). Which sucked. But on the other hand, this was a company who had bungled several previous rounds of layoffs to the point where the police had to be called to get people to leave the building.

As have I. Even from a purely “for the company” standpoint, it was the worst handled layoff I’ve ever heard of. Down at the pub afterwards, everyone canned was relieved, while all those who stayed looked shell shocked. Word of mouth was that this fear continued for months maybe even a year afterwards, during which most of the best developers left.

Anecdotal evidence warning!

I’ve also seen it done both ways, and I’ve witnessed the really bad consequences of giving someone a good couple of weeks notice. That person decided to basically lose their shit and cause as much trouble as possible before leaving. She sabotaged the client database, made horrendously insulting outbound calls, and lowered morale substantially by giving her coworkers a hard time.

Keep in mind that this was previously a pretty steady worker and gave no indication to anyone that she was going to be a nutjob later on.

I never said that all companies handle it this way and my logic isn’t circular. But please, bust out more strawmen.