Google, along with other big tech companies, chose to use email to notify employees that they were terminated. As I noted last week, this is the wrong way to terminate people, and your employees deserve better.
But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this impersonal form of termination is a better way than face-to-face layoffs.
I learned how to run layoffs and how to treat people who were losing their jobs from Jack Jampel, an HR master of project management and employee relations. Everything I know about handling people during a layoff, I learned from him.
So, when he told me that “for the most part, I don’t believe there is a big difference in how one feels when they find out they have been laid off,” I paid attention.
Layoffs are terrible for employees, no matter what.
Here’s Jampel’s logic:
To keep reading, click here: Layoffs Via Email: The Best Way to Say Goodbye?
I’m glad that you thoughtfully reconsidered your opinion. Coordination of layoffs is much harder than many people imagine. I think a big part of it has to do with culture (the company and the region) and size. I agree that what will leave the biggest lasting impression is how they mitigate the challenges of being laid off – severance, resume services, references, picking up your belongings, etc.
We have had people come into a meeting to get terminated and they are angry that we made them waste their time and gas money when we could have just done it over the phone.
I think one thing is very clear when dealing with people – you’ll never get 100% of people to agree on anything!