Getting laid off is never easy, but the coronavirus crisis has made the experience even more harrowing for many workers today. You may have already heard about organizations laying off employees en-masse via gigantic Zoom meetings or emails. When these terrible tales started making the news, I was truly shocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HR\u2014we can do better. It\u2019s true that the pandemic has transformed workplace norms seemingly overnight. But that doesn\u2019t mean our compassion and respect for people can go out the window. Companies still need to be very mindful that when the economy starts to normalize, these employees are going to remember how they were treated.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Layoff meetings may need to be held virtually for the time being\u2014but they can still be designed to help retain affected employee\u2019s dignity and to support them as they make their next step. Here are my top five suggestions for compassionate offboarding in the socially-distanced age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schedule individual termination meetings. <\/strong>Mass layoffs doesn\u2019t mean herd them out like cattle. Whenever possible, hold one-on-one meetings to show respect for the employee. If you\u2019re laying off a sizable portion of your staff, train managers and additional HR personnel so multiple meetings can be held simultaneously. If your organization is big enough to do a mass layoff, your organization is big enough to assign several HR people to the task of doing one-on-one layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be mindful online meetings can be recorded. <\/strong>What you say and how you say it are really important, so you don\u2019t inadvertently open yourself up to litigation when you\u2019re doing a termination or layoff. I recommend using a script to ensure you cover all the important details and to keep the meeting on track.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Give attention, time, and space, to the employee.<\/strong> Create a personal and distraction-free space for the virtual meeting. This means turning on your videos so you can see each others\u2019 expressions, but turning off everything else \u2014 phone alerts, Slack pings, event notices. Go into a space where you won\u2019t be disrupted by other people or pets that share your home. Pay especially close attention to the employee, and give them the opportunity to ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n