I had just landed my first real (non-HR) job at an international company, fresh out of university, full of ambition, and eager to prove myself. I loved the work, worked hard, stayed late, and genuinely believed I was making my mark. So when I was called into a meeting with HR one sunny Wednesday morning, I came in smiling, half-expecting praise. Surely, my efforts had been noticed. Maybe even a promotion was coming.
I walked into a glass-walled meeting room to find Susan from HR sitting alone, visibly uncomfortable behind her laptop. After a few awkward pleasantries, she launched into a stream of corporate jargon about “shifting priorities” and “evolving strategies.” I nodded along, trying to connect the dots.
Then it hit me. “Susan . . . are you firing me?” She nodded and hurriedly mumbled something about exit services.
It wasn’t just the layoff—it was the series of faux pas that came with it. No manager present. No warning. No privacy. Just a rehearsed speech, a bad PowerPoint, and zero empathy. At the time, I didn’t know better. But years later, working in HR myself, I looked back and saw it clearly: a masterclass in how not to handle people.
Why are we so bad at layoffs?
You could argue that this was two decades ago, and things must have improved since then. But have they? Consider the CEO of Better.com firing 900 employees (almost 15% of the workforce) over Zoom in 2021. Or Tesla’s 2024 mass layoffs, announced via a Sunday-night email revoking system access immediately. For all our talk about employee experience, empathy, and psychological safety, we still fail the most basic test: treating people like people.
We know that business change is inevitable. Strategies must evolve. Restructuring is often necessary. Agility is a business imperative. But if layoffs are going to happen, and they will, there are better ways to handle them. More human ways. Here’s how:
1. Minimize Uncertainty
Employees don’t need perfect certainty. They need honest, consistent communication. No one can work efficiently in the dark, and uncertainty breeds anxiety, rumors, and disengagement. One former colleague described his layoff experience as “well-executed, empathetic, and matter-of fact.” Why? Because employees were kept in the loop. The level of uncertainty was reduced right from the start. No surprises. No corridor gossip. Just timely, transparent updates from leadership and direct managers.
2. Communicate, Again, and Again
In too many companies, strategic changes are discussed only at the top, never cascading down. This leads to confused employees who feel blindsided when change hits. A 2024 survey by PwC found that over half of employees feel there’s too much change at work happening at once, and 44% don’t understand why change is happening at all.
Explain the “why.” Share the rationale. Communicate clearly, regularly, and with authenticity. A well-executed change management plan is key for an organization in transformation. Transparency, even when it means delivering bad news, is better than silence. Trust is built not by pretending everything is fine, but by communicating honestly and early.
Read the full article here.
We know that business change is inevitable. If layoffs are going to happen, there are better ways to handle them.