The Third Round of Cost Cutting

It was about 9 A.M. when Danny L., a 34-year-old middle manager with an international food service company headquartered on the East Coast, pulled his red Jeep into the parking lot behind his office. He sat glumly behind the wheel thinking about the meeting he faced that morning with his supervisor with whom he had worked for 4 years. The ax had come down on several people in his division. Rumors were flying that more layoffs were imminent. Sales in the firm were shaky, revenue was shrinking, losses were posted, and efforts to develop new convenience frozen-food products had failed. Would Danny become the next layoff in his division? He had recently married, and he and his wife had made a down payment on a pricey condominium. Danny’s intuition was correct.

The firing was handled with so much emotion that both he and his boss ended up sitting in shock after the news was delivered. “Danny, I know this is a tough time for you, and I hate to do this. It stinks, but I’ve been given no choice. Who knows? I could be next if things don’t get better, or maybe I won’t stay. I’m sending out my r sum as well.”

Both men stared at one another. Danny’s eyes began to swell with tears; he blinked hard, and turned away. His boss reached out to offer some support; Danny turned farther away. “I guess I’ll go collect the stuff in my desk,” he said, looking down.

His boss put a hand on his colleague’s shoulder, “Give me a call and we can meet. I know I can help you. I probably can convince the right people to offer you some outplacement help. Give me some more time, and I probably can get the right folks in the company eventually to hire you back. I also know people at the company who know people, who probably could help get you a job or at least some introductions at the right companies. Of course, you will get good written recommendations. Let’s get together for a drink when you’re up for it.”

Danny rose, headed for the door, and continued looking away. He was upset and embarrassed. Although the boss was taking the right step emotionally and trying to offer support, his verbal efforts went overboard and were unprofessional. First, he made too many promises out of concern for his staff member but without the authorization of senior leadership. He told Danny that he probably could get outplacement help, that he probably could get rehired when the economy came back, and that he would have job options elsewhere, in part due to recommendations from company personnel.

Even more significant, Danny’s boss didn’t tell the truth. He hid the real reason for the termination. The company was in a cash crunch and had to cut back. Danny’s skills were expendable because his department was not terribly busy at that point. His boss was honest in explaining the poor company results that necessitated the layoffs, but he didn’t share the news that the company felt it should get rid of those like Danny without mission-critical skills.

In letting Danny go, his boss, who had never fired anyone before, said the wrong things—said too much—and behaved unprofessionally. In such cases it would have been better if he had carefully recited the termination communication from a piece of paper word for word, sentence for sentence to maintain consistency, meet legal guidelines, and ensure that the message was delivered correctly. The termination could have gone like this:

As a result of the reorganization and the company’s efforts to control costs, your employment with our company is being terminated and your job is also being eliminated. The decision is effective immediately, and it is a final decision. There is some important information I need to give you that has to do with pay and benefits. Outplacement services have been retained for you at the ABC firm. Here is a folder detailing your benefits and services. You are to leave the building after you collect your personal belongings. If you need to return for any reason, please call to arrange for an appointment. Do you have any questions for me at this time? If I don’t have the answers now, I can get back to you with answers shortly.

This scripted message should clearly specify the intentions of the company and events that will take place relative to termination. In some cases the employee is asked to leave on the spot like Danny; in others the employee is asked to stay on for weeks or even months. In any event the message should avoid unwarranted promises or personal opinions that do not reflect the policies of the company.