So your company had a layoff and you weren’t impacted. I’d say congratulations, but that would sound hollow. I’ll say I know this is rough, and I’ve been there.
Here’s the thing: Layoffs (also called RIFs, or Reductions in Force) are a part of corporate culture, and they have been for a very long time. For mostly financial reasons, companies sometimes make the difficult decision to reduce their workforce and let people go. I say “difficult decision” because I don’t believe any company (which is to say the human leaders of any company) come to a layoff decision lightly. They may come to it quickly, but that’s different.
A company comes to the decision to lay employees off, and senior leaders are asked to work in secret to determine who goes. These leaders, in many cases, are making choices to let people go who they know have mortgages, children, and other commitments. It’s an incredibly stressful process.
By the way, if you haven’t been laid off before, I can confirm that it sucks. But that’s a different post. In this space, I want to talk about how to lead your team after the layoff.
If you are a people (or process) leader who is still employed after a bunch of other employees have been let go, you have some immediate responsibilities:
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Find your compassion for those who got laid off.
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Clarify your own commitment to your organization.
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Actively support the team that remains through this transition.
Find Compassion for Those Who Got Laid Off
The “just-world fallacy” is a theory of human behavior that assumes the world is a just and fair place. Within this fallacy, we tend to believe that if a bad thing happens to someone, they probably deserved it. This belief can be deeply held, so a leader may not realize they feel that way until … well, they feel that way.
The result, in a layoff, is to discover a belief that the employees laid off probably deserved it (or it wouldn’t have happened, right?). Your work as a leader after a layoff is to recognize this just-world fallacy impulse and resist it. Resist blaming the people who were laid off and, especially, resist conversations with your remaining team that can be construed as blaming those people who were laid off.
Just now, some of you reading this are thinking, “Blaming the laid off people? What kind of monster would do that?”
It’s not monstrous. It’s common. Because if bad things can happen to good people, the world feels much less manageable. The goal is to acknowledge that impulse if you have it and not let it influence your leadership going forward.
Clarify Your Own Commitment to the Organization
Whether you’re part of the decisions about who goes and who stays, it’s natural for some criticism of your company to creep in.
Here’s the thing: Most companies are working to optimize shareholders’ or owners’ value first, not necessarily to take good care of employees. That means that while loyalty to the company is a great way to stay connected to the mission, that loyalty may be damaged in a layoff.
So decide how you’re going to re-engage with the mission. Listen to the messaging following the layoff: Is there a new mission or a new strategy? More importantly, do you believe in that mission? Is it a mission that gets you up in the morning and motivates you?
If so, and you recognize this as a rough patch to get past, that’s great. Breathe, talk to your loved ones, try to focus on the big picture.
If you can’t buy into the mission anymore, for whatever reason, use that conclusion to decide what action to take. Even if it takes a couple of years, if it’s time to move to an organization better aligned to your goals and values, your mental health will be better for that choice.
Support Your Team Through the Emotional Aftermath
Survivor guilt is a condition most often associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and occurs in individuals who survive a traumatic event when others do not.
While a layoff doesn’t rise to the level of trauma associated with PTSD, there is nonetheless a common feeling of guilt among people who survive a layoff. As a leader, you have the opportunity to acknowledge this reaction among your remaining team and to give them room for the real grief that comes with saying goodbye to friends and colleagues.
This could be as easy as giving a measure of grace to you and your team while everyone gets oriented to the new normal. People grieve differently, and you may see productivity fall off for some and pick up for others. In all cases, extend compassion to your team and help them find their own re-commitment to the mission.
This could also look like:
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Have a meeting as soon as possible after layoffs are effective. Answer what questions you can, and keep the focus forward. Don’t evade questions you can’t answer. Instead, be up front about what you can’t discuss (i.e., “Discussing individual performance would compromise those people’s privacy”). Clarify the mission and what’s expected in the short-term. Deliver all performance expectations with compassion.
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Discuss substantive and visible changes to departmental goals. How will you (and the organization you represent) accommodate the headcount reduction? Will some deliverables be canceled or delayed? Alternately, if the situation is that goals and deliverables won’t change, be clear with your team about your approach. If longer hours will be expected for a time, say that. Resist the urge to take an "If We Tell Them Nothing, They’ll Assume The Best" approach to this change.
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Don’t lie and don’t go dark. Take individual meetings. Discuss what you can in team meetings. Your willingness to be honest, even if (especially if) it’s a difficult topic, will go a long way to building trust in you and in the organization.
Here’s the bottom line: The thing about leading people is that we are at our best when we are vulnerable and open to learning. This will likely not be the last layoff you or your team will experience, so this is your opportunity to learn, refocus your priorities, and start fresh.
