YOU'RE... CYBER-FIRED? WRONG WAYS TO HANDLE EMPLOYEE LAY-OFFS
In a troubled economy, it's no surprise that so many companies turn to downsizing to stay solvent. What is surprising is the callous way some employers go about it. For example, via e-mail - yes, e-mail.

In late August, for example, according to an Associated Press (AP) report, an electronics retailer used e-mail to let employees know that it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters. The layoffs were necessary, the company's e-mail explained, to cut expenses and "improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace."

On August 29, the company followed through with this e-mail: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."

In its defense, a company spokeswoman explained that company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically.

But many outside observers aren't buying it.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I'd say, 'Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me?'" commented Derrick D'Souza in the AP report. Others agreed with D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, that the move could be seen as dehumanizing.

"In most layoffs, you're releasing employees who had performed up to standards," said Gail Jern, Westaff's Human Resources Manager. "So, you really have to appreciate the work they've done and treat them as respectfully as possible. Acknowledge that they did get up every day and go to work faithfully to take care of clients and make sure the business was running right. Remember that for most people, a layoff is a major upset for both them and their families."

More Unhappy Goodbyes

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 115,000 people lost their jobs in July in mass layoffs - those in which companies let go 50 people or more.

In an era when "somehow layoffs have become an almost everyday event, it's easy to treat them cavalierly," said John Challenger, chief executive of the outplacement and human resources consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc, in a recent Washington Post article.

This summer, for example, a worker in London learned she was fired from her sales job by text message, according to the Post. "We are a youth business, and our staff are all part of the youth culture that uses (text) messaging as a major means of communication," the company, a chain body-piercing studio, told a local newspaper via - naturally - e-mail.

In yet another example of employer callousness, a former director of admissions at a Boston law school told the Post how he was let go in the midst of interviewing a potential student for admissions. When asked to go to the new dean's office, he left the potential student (who was none too happy) mid-interview. There, the dean told him that he was being replaced with a computer system that would figure out which students to admit. The job was over, immediately.

Other Downsides of Poor Downsizing

These kinds of faux pas are not only demeaning to employees who are being let go, they can also be damaging to the employers who have lost sight of the importance of respect. The consequences are sure to be far worse than bad PR, said author Ruth Haag in a recent press release from Rocks-DeHart Public Relations. For example, being cyber-fired can make them wonder if they were ever important to the company - and raise similar questions in the minds of remaining employees.

"While quick and expedient on the part of management, letting someone go in such a disrespectful way is destructive to morale and worker loyalty," said Haag, author of Hiring and Firing: Book Three, the third book in a four-part series entitled Taming Your Inner Supervisor. Haag is also the CEO/CFO of Haag Environmental Company.

"First of all, the remaining workforce will be spending an inordinate amount of time talking about the layoffs, rather than working," Haag said. "And as they will fear that they could meet the same fate, your best employees will begin looking for new jobs."

"To top it all off," she added, "the e-mail layoff method will most likely lead to trouble attracting dedicated workers in the future. What promising candidate will want to work for a company that treats its employees so inconsiderately?"

Using a Little Compassion

Laying off employees may always seem like a lose-lose situation. But if done with compassion and respect, a company can avoid damage to its reputation (See Side Story).

A company also stands a far better chance of hiring back its best employees at a future date or possibly working with former employees on a contractual basis, Westaff's Jern said.

"In any business, as the saying goes, you never want to burn your bridges," she added. "And from a human point of view, treating employees with respect is just the right thing to do."