Thriving Through the Downturn: Layoffs

This blog post is part of a series titled Thriving Though the Downturn: Eleven Strategies that will make your Company Boom.

If your operational review has determined that layoffs are inevitable, be decisive about making the cuts. Make the decision sooner rather than later. Before laying people off, communicate honestly with your staff and ask them for ideas. Employees will have ideas on how to preserve all or a portion of their hours or job share.

Make your cuts all at once and offer stability for the remaining staff. If your staff thinks there are more cuts are coming, they will not be able to perform to the peak of their ability. Make sure you keep the people with the skills you will need in two or three years. Incent them to stick around for the long term. Mike Satterfield, Partner of Yaletown Ventures wrote about the staff remaining “they will understand that your business is stronger because you have better aligned revenue with expenses, and they will appreciate opportunities to advance their careers and compensation.”