Can the employee co-operation negotiations be an inspiring new start?
There are a lot of employer-employee co-operation negotiations going on in Finland at the moment; both in the private and public sector. Uncertainty and fear are the common emotions amongst the people in these situations. News of the such a development create shudders and anxiety, but still we click the tabloid headline, which informs us about massive layoffs. It is comforting to notice that you are not alone.
Must it be so that these situatiuons are always full of uncomfortable silence, suspicion and nerve-racking times for the employees? No! How about transforming something (that is in itself) challenging into something positive? Would that even be possible? Could we view the layoff process as a time during which hard issues can be and are addressed directly. We all appreciate direct and honest talk, at least we say we do.
I argue that a company which handles its layoffs in an open, honest and employee respecting fashion will have a flying start into the future after the negotiations are finished and business is back to normal. Thankfully there are some companies like this in Finland, but all too often I hear stories about nearly inhumane practices, where the staff is kept in the dark, layoffs are conducted by e-mail and the employees are made to stand behind the manager’s door.
I argue that a crisis situation like this is an excellent opportunity to focus on what is essential in the company. How do we make it in a future filled with uncertainty? How do we respond to the changed customer behaviour and stay ahead in international competition. We must find a common enemy outside the company. The crisis situations bring people together, and so should the layoffs. If we use the this time for mapping out the company’s future instead of stubbornly flying our own trade union or industry federation flag in the barricades, the result can be a tremendous uplifting of spirit.
Top management´s number one justification for layoffs is saving money, nearly without exception. Money is a solid argument, and often justified. However, the problem is that as expenses and labour force are reduced, there isn’t enough courage to change company´s operations and strategy. This often results in the employees getting the disturbing feeling that the same work is simply done by fewer people. Only by genuinely changing company operations and strategy can one come out a as winner. In such a company the remaining employees are really motivated, want give their best and help the company to succeed.
The manager or supervisor who has to tell a person that he or she is being laid off is always in a tought spot. On many occasions the experience is almost equally traumatic to the boss as it is to the person being laid off. Emotions run high, people are scared and every boss who has been in this situation knows that he or she has to carry the executioner’s cape on his shoulders for the rest of his life. I consider the highlights of my career the reactions to be from the people whom I have personally notified of their job termination. I cannot imagine a more important achievement than a genuine greeting from a laid off person who offers heartfelt thanks for humane and just treatment in this very difficult occasion.
Top 5 of Inspiring and Humane Layoffs
1. The CEO needs to be highly visible in the entire process.
2. The staff needs to be informed on the basis and the timetable of the negotiations face to face. In this situation more is more.
3. The company’s situation must be laid out very clearly, not just through numbers.
4. The management needs to genuinely listen to the staff and the staff needs to think about both their own and the company’s best interest in the long run.
5. All layoffs must be conducted personally, the end goal being a humanely treated and happy laid off person.
After a well managed layoff process the management can walk the office halls without having to hide in the conference room or corner office. Nobody has to change sides when the laid off person and the manager who handled it meet on the street. Mutual respect is still present, even stronger than before. A company like this has the chance to flourish.
Let us take care to do our very best as we manage these incredibly difficult situations.
Tuomo Meretniemi
The writer is Head of Strategy at Kissconsulting Ltd. He has experience from multiple re-structuring processes and too many layoff situations.
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