Unexpected Succession Planning: What to Do if a Key Executive Unexpectedly Quits

You may not be the CEO yet. But as a company executive, an executive’s unexpected resignation, termination, or even absence is cause for alarm. Best case scenario, you may be chosen by the board to serve as interim CEO or executive. On the flip side, you may lose your job or the company may go down in the dumps as…

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How to Administer Exit Interviews to Laid Off Employees

When you’re the boss, one of the hardest things you’ll have to do is tell an employee that they no longer have a job, sometimes through no fault of their own. When an employee loses a job through termination, layoffs, firing, downsizing or reduction in force, the manager or supervisor should complete an exit interview. That might be the second-hardest…

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A Primer for Compassionately Dealing with the Emotions of Laid Off Employees

It’s the hardest part about being the boss – you will inevitably have to lay off one or more employees at one point in your career. If you haven’t had to do it before, you might wonder: Why is it so hard to lay off an employee? After all, it’s not your fault – you had no say in the…

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Lessen the Guilt You Feel After Giving the Pink Slip to an Employee

Many managers have experienced it at one time or another; an employee just didn’t work out or fit into the workplace culture. But even when it’s the employee’s fault – a history of tardiness, no-call or no-show behavior, or performance issues at work – it’s hard to let go of someone. It’s hard, even with the knowledge that it is…

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4 Wrong Ways to Announce a Layoff

It’s the hardest part about being a boss – delivering the bad news nobody wants to hear. With a global economic downturn comes cutbacks, and they are happening all over the country. Companies are slimming their budgets and making some difficult cuts. If this includes your company, you might find yourself having to deliver some rather difficult news. Nobody likes…

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How Layoffs Affect 3 Types of Employees

Employees in different levels of an organization are all affected when a layoff occurs, but not in the same way. Just as every employee plays a different role in a healthy, productive company, they also play a different role, and act differently, in times of distress. Leaders and Executives Through thick and thin, leaders are there to guide the company…

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Suspicious Tactics Companies Use to Get Rid of Older Employees

Just last month, two friends told me how their colleagues lost their jobs under dubious pretenses. The five people who were laid off were skilled and tenured professionals in their early 50s. They haven’t had any attendance or performance issues, as far as my friends could tell. That’s why everyone in their office was shocked. Is this the newest tactic…

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3 Step Guide to Building Employee Morale after a Layoff

Layoffs serve to prevent a struggling company from capsizing. But if not done properly, a layoff may damage the company more than it saves it. Layoffs affect the company in terms of lost workforce and massive restructuring but that’s just the surface. Deep down, it traumatizes surviving employees even if they don’t want to admit it. Whatever circumstances surrounding the…

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Five Myths and Facts about Layoffs

If your business is undergoing a layoff, you must understand what’s really going to happen. Don’t be misled by myths of what you think is supposed to happen. Myth 1: Reducing “people costs” will result in an indirect organizational productivity gain the next week. Reality: The surviving employees will not be more productive, in most cases. Don’t hope for the…

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