Working World

Dear Jewish Fairy Godmother,

I am a manager and need to lay off several people. I have never done this before and am getting no guidance from upper management. Do you have any practical advice for doing this unpleasant task?
—Hating This

Dear Hating This:

Sadly, I’m getting many questions like yours. There’s a hierarchy of rules you’ll need to follow, and someone from upper management and/or human resources should help you find them. Consider laws related to protected classes, such as whether there’s a contract ranking seniority for retention, the weight of performance standards or reviews. You must, must, must get this information before you proceed.

Gather your staff and tell them some cuts are unavoidable and you will try to keep them shallow. Ask if anyone is willing to share the pain by lowering their FTE to keep the number small, or if there are any volunteers who want unemployment. Ditto for salary cuts, which you might consider offering to take yourself.

After that look at performance and productivity as the key indicators of which employees to keep. You need your best producers with you to keep the operation afloat.

You’ll also be able to gauge something from how people respond to your announcement. Those that come to you swearing loyalty are probably also preparing their resumes. But those that start slacking or job hunting on company time should go on the cut list. Use this horrific opportunity to create the team you think will work best for the future.

This recession will be long and ugly. Think being in a lifeboat with not enough water. Think Donner party. Choose the team you think will survive best together, the ones with the most loyalty and teamwork, the ones you think you can sustain through the dark until things improve. Then fight for them and write great letters of reference for everyone you need to let go.  


Dear Jewish Fairy Godmother,

I work for a small company that laid off 12 people, and now we’re down to 40. There are a lot of closed-door meetings and I’m wondering about the financial health of the company and losing my job. Any advice?
—Scared

Dear Scared:

If the company is really going to go under there’s probably nothing you can do on your own to stop it from happening. It’s sad but true. But if the company is being stripped to the bone and you want to ensure you’re part of the last shred of staff clinging to that bone, you can try to position yourself. Unfortunately, the means of finding out whether to jump sooner than later (for example, asking tough questions of managers) might attract the negative attention of the people you want viewing you as dedicated, loyal and ready to stay until the lights go out.

If you’re looking to stay, ask your manager if you can meet with him/her and the ultimate boss. Explain you want to talk about your plan to ride out the recession with the company. If they turn you down for even a polite meeting, move quickly to the next paragraph of this answer. Assuming they’ll meet with you, say you’ve been watching the shrinkage but you want them to know you’re there for the long run. Ask what additional responsibilities you can take on and how you can show your loyalty. By the way, be prepared for them to ask you if you’ll work longer hours, take a pay cut, etc., etc. for changes you might not want, which are all negative signals. Say yes if you think you need to, then start looking elsewhere while you work harder for less.

If you’re looking to go, don’t stick your head in the sand. Start working on your resume, read Working World and visit WorkingWorld.com, and post yourself on all the job sites. Your bosses are too busy trying to stay afloat to worry about who may jump ship.  

YourJewishFairyGodmother.com: What does she do? What do you need? Motivation. Inspiration. Support. Problem-solving.